Satay House

Four of us visited a few weeks ago on a Friday evening (the 6th visit for two of us). Ordered a wide range of dishes and all were excellent, very on-form that evening.

The only thing that put a dampened the evening was a rather strange (?) way of calculating the total bill. We rounded the bill to £125 or so, including a tip. We gave 2 cards with the bill to be split 50:50. The waiter put through £75 on the first card and was about to do the same with the second. Luckily, we were sober enough to notice. Could have been a mistake but he was not at all apologetic. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
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D
7 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, September 07, 2011

I have been going to the Satay House for many years, including prior to it's major makeover, when it used to have plastic tablecloths! I continue coming back to the Satay House for it's food - if you're after traditional, tasty Malaysian food, you're hard pressed to find it anywhere else in London.

Although no longer on the menu (I smile cheekily and ask nicely, they always check with the cook for me) - the Sambal Telur is still my favourite and oozes depth of flavour with a good kick of chillies to boot.

I can understand why the reviews on this restaurant are a bit mixed, the service can be slightly remiss and slow, but the staff are always polite and friendly - it's not silver service, but then it's not silver service prices either. You just need to be a little bit patient, the food is worth waiting for.

So if you have the time and aren't in a rush to get anywhere, then sit and savour the food at the Satay House - this isn't fast food.
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8 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Thursday, April 21, 2011

Dinner tonight was awful.

I first used The Satay House approx. 30 years ago and then ate there on a regular basis for four or five years - the food was always wonderful AND GENUINELY MALAYSIAN. What we were served this evening was NOT Malaysian food.

Satay sauce with no garlic, coconut milk or lemon grass (and I'm fairly sure was made with peanut butter!!).

Mutton Mysore which was not mutton and the sauce with so much sugar and salt it had to come from a jar.

Murtabak which should have been a complete bread stuffed with Malaysian magic arrived as four small slices of dryish stuff with a strange dip.

Thirty years ago The Satay House was always full of Malaysians - cooking, serving and eating. Tonight we saw not one Malaysianl.

Awful.
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David Morling
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Friday, October 29, 2010

I was visiting my daughter, Syazana, in London (Cheniston Gardens, in High Street Kensington area) for 2 weeks in September / October 2010.

We had lunch at Satay House on Sunday, 3 October 2010, together with Ms. Amira who is doing her post-graduate study at Imperial College. I know her mother, Juliana, my office mate for the past 15 years or so.

We ordered nasi ayam, white rice with daging rendang and kuey teow. The drinks were teh tarik, cincau and syrup bandung. The food was good & tasty, service was good and the environment was condusive. The price was reasonable.

I do recommend Malaysians who are visiting London to have their "makan" at this Satay House.
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Kamaruddin Hassan
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Sunday, October 17, 2010

Great food, but only if you have the time.

The food aspect of some of the reviews on this restaurant seem to be a bit mixed and I sit on the "good" side of the fence on this one. I was impressed. The flavours and presentation of what arrived really reminded me of my days in Malaysia, which was what I was hoping for.

However.... The staff are quite slow. There is the impression that they run the restaurant in a somewhat ad-hoc fashion. For example, we were shown to our seats but then had to wait almost 10 minutes to see a menu. Times between courses were between 20 and 30 minutes. Attracting attention in order to get or pay the bill was similarly tedious.

I'm really not a fan of the new and trendy look of this restaurant. Malaysian food, as far as I'm concerned, is either cooked in the street or cooked at home. Since cooking in the street is inadvisable in London, the home look is the one to go for. The gastro pub look just doesn't suit the purpose. Sorry.

We were very happy with the bill.

Some points that may come in useful: 1) Don't even think of parking in this area unless you live here. Unlike other parts of London, it is not legal to park here after 6:30pm. It is residents' parking only. Take public transport or park somewhere nearby and walk. 2) This restaurant is a member of the "Malaysia Kitchen Dining Card" scheme. You can find out more about this through Google.

I'd go back for the food, but be prepared for the slow service.
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Alan Ingham - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 8
Friday, October 01, 2010

I have been here a number of times and enjoyed it each time.

The food is tasty and well cooked, and its reasonably inexpensive.

The downside is the staff are a bit slow.
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pete - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, March 25, 2010

Beware!!! Very bad service! Rude waiter. Told me to 'be quiet' after I asked about my drink which i have waited half an hour. Service very slow plus very very rude waiter. Do not go to this place unless you are willing to wait for an hour for food.
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0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, March 05, 2010

Came here again during last Sunday evening. Service was marginally slow but then the restaurant was completely full. Food is still as good as ever. Strongly recommended!
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JR
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Went there last night for dinner, our group was running a little late but well aware that we had to vacate the table by a certain time. This waitress proceeded to shout at us about the lateness of our arrival - not once, not twice but three times. And by shout I mean raised voice and all. We were shocked and my friend told her off for her lack of professionalism which shut her up but boy if that's what they call customer service then I won't be going back there again in a hurry. Unless they get rid of that waitress with the customer relations of a bumbling godzilla. And oh, we left right on time. Ridiculous, the worst service I've received at any restaurant in London, bar NONE.
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- View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

I visited this place as having honeymooned in Malaysia i was missing the food that i had there. in fact i found this place on this website.

i went unplanned with my wife without reservations on friday night. the waiter was kind and made space for us very quickly. looking at the menu brought back lots of good memories.

the food arrived fairly soon and was amazing, every item was authentic, bursting with flavour and it was perfect!

the only downside was that the items werent enough!! or maybe we were eating too much...in either case we loved it and would highly recommend it to any one who appreciates good fresh food.

ps the prawn starter was arguably the best prawn i ever had, and i have had them all.
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zeeshan tariq
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, October 07, 2009