Chai Whai

JT (16 May 2008)

I went there for a meal last night and had a very bad experience. I had ordered a vegetarian starter as I have been a vegetarian for eighteen years. It looked like a potato cake and on eating a mouthful I realised the texture was totally wrong, it turned out to be lamb. There was no real apology and one waiter explained it was a mix up in the kitchen advising me it was in fact lamb, while the other waiter said it was vegetarian! The rest of the meal was tasteless, and the service was slow and inattentive. It took a while to flag a waiter down in order to get a drink. They also expected me to pay for the incorrect starter.

KCS (16 April 2008)

My husband and I took my nephew to Chai Whai for dinner as a birthday treat. Our first impression was good, we were pleasantly surprised to come off the street through a rather non-descript entrance to find a tastefully decorated interior. We were aware of the dishes on offer from a take away menu posted through our door as we live in the area. Like any self respecting Malaysian, I love Malaysian food and expectations were high. It was supposed to be an evening to rediscover the wonderful taste of home food but it turned out to be a disappointment. Starters of popiah or spring rolls were full of potato and peas, which was unusual and unappetising. I ordered nasi lemak – coconut flavoured rice with a spicy prawn relish, which is a typical Malaysian dish and what arrived didn't resemble it in appearance or taste. We also ordered the mee hokkien - fried noodles accompanied by seafood, with great anticipation but it was dry and had a few small prawns. The sotong sambal, a squid dish, fared much the same and the food was pricey. They have an extensive menu and may do Indian dishes well but the Malaysian dishes were a disappointment.