Rasa Penang

I ate here for the first time with two friends the other week - the only positive thing is that the staff are very friendly and nice. I am from Malaysia, and I can say that I was terribly disappointed with the food. We ordered some chicken and beef satay for starters with some squid in chilli and I have not tasted such poor quality in a very long time. The chicken and beef was very dry and didn't taste fresh at all, nor did the squid taste of anything. The peanut sauce for the satay had the thickest layer of oil I have ever seen! The mains we had was not much better, we ordered a laksa, and a mee goreng and a char kway teo noodle, and the laksa was so so, but the mee goreng and char kway teo was absolutely awful - have never tasted mee goreng that tastes like that before! My friend left most of it, and I didnt eat more than half of my char kway teo - it had no resemblance whatsoever to the real thing! The food was disappointing to say the least and is not authentic tasting at all!!! As a Malaysian, I really wish restaurants wouldn't serve dishes that they cant cook since Westerners will try it and get the wrong impression of Malaysian cuisine. I have been eating at Satay House in Paddington for years but I thought I would try something different for a change; wish I hadn't...
Comment on this reader review

Taster - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Friday, July 22, 2011

Definitely do not agree with all the other reviews which are giving this place 1 star the food is. Amazing the service is great and the people who run it know how to make you feel welcome.
Comment on this reader review

John richards
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, May 05, 2011

Went there last night with some friends, found the food to be equal to my local take away chineese, wish I had done that instead. Not impressed by the service either, very cold and abrupt, this woman hasn't learnt to smile yet!

Don't like putting a place down, but I'm sorry to say....one out of ten..
Comment on this reader review

1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Friday, May 28, 2010

Great Food, Great Value and Great service. Great mix of dishes. Well worth a visit.
Comment on this reader review

10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, January 10, 2010

I really love the owner who runs the business. The food is good. The service is good. Enviromnent is friendly.
Comment on this reader review

John Bishop
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 6
Saturday, January 02, 2010

I really love the owner who runs the business. The food is good. The service is good. Enviromnent is friendly.
Comment on this reader review

John Bishop
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 6
Saturday, January 02, 2010

I really like this place. Can't comment on the authenticity, but who cares if it tastes good? Good ingredients, well cooked with a reasonable price; can't ask for more than that. The salt and chilli king prawns are great, as is the crispy duck.
Comment on this reader review

Dan T
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Monday, September 14, 2009

Not good, joke malaysian food. One step up the rung from a greasy chinese on tonbridge high street. Value for money?

Some of the reviews tell it all - "I live opposite so I eat there", "I've been going for 10 years" (there are other restaurants!), "I'm malaysian and I tell you I wouldn't eat there!"

This place is someone's idea of a cash cow. The food follows the McDonald's principle: give them sugar, salt and fat. It's cheap, and frankly, terrible food.

Decor was as cheap as can be, someone investing just enough to prevent the illusion of a reputable and decent restaurant collapsing beneath the weight of the combined clues to its parsimony.

Service was no better than tonbridge high street. Rude, pushy and dismissive.

Go to Bugis Street restaurant in the corner of the Millenium Copthorne hotel just off Gloucester Rd (10 mins drive) for an indication of what this laughable eatery is pretending to be. It services Singaporeans and Malaysians spending a little time in London. They're notoriously close to their money, so the prices are very keen, and the service is excellent - proper cordial and hospitable bunch.

Have nasi lemak there, then if you must, have it at Rasa Penang. When you realise what you've been eating and experiencing all these years, and what you've been paying for it, you won't go back.

Otherwise in Putney, go to: Royal China, Thalad Thai, Cho San, Fresh (or whatever it is opposite Royal China).

The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.
Comment on this reader review

Walter
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Friday, August 07, 2009

I ate there recently, for the second unfortunate time in my life.

It's a joke restaurant, laughed at and avoided by all the many Malaysians I know. Why? Because it's been sitting there for years and years with few apparent customers, and awful food. The food is hygienically presented, but ridiculous - some kind of parody of Malaysian food. Food in Malaysia is so utterly important, and in this place, suffers an undignified treatment.

I had nasi lemak - a key dish in the Malaysian palette. If I had 30 grams of chicken with it, I'd be shocked. Three slices of cucumber, a tablespoon of salted peanuts, and some rice with a "hint" of coconut. The dish is famously based around coconut rice, and this had barely a squeak of coconut flavour that made it in at the last moment. The anchovy sauce was so sweet it made me laugh out loud.

Sorry, but this place does not deserve to be in business.

Service was fairly rude and dismissive, with the female member of staff pushing us to have coffee and deserts more than necessary, especially as we'd already refused.
Comment on this reader review

Walter Billington
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Thursday, August 06, 2009