Jom Makan (Westfield)

The soulless restaurant was far quieter than its neighbours – and it soon became apparent why. I had been to the Jom Makan in Trafalgar Square soon after it had opened, and had been underwhelmed by the experience. How I longed for this visit to touch the giddy heights of ‘underwhelming’. Alarm bells started to ring as soon as we sat down, when the waiter informed us that three dishes were unavailable.

When the food arrived, the quality of the ingredients was abysmal. Jom Makan is not even on nodding terms with chicken breast – the ‘boneless chicken pieces’ in the ayam pandan was thigh meat, complete with gristle and bone. The kari ayam kentang – ‘Malay style chicken curry with potato’ – comprised two manky pieces of chicken and two tiny potatoes in a sauce that that tasted as if it had come out of a supermarket jar (and the ‘value’ range, at that).

The biggest disappointment was the kentang goring, which was described as ‘deep-fried potato chunks flavoured with curry leaf and served with garlic mayonnaise’. Perhaps foolishly expecting a Malay version of Bombay aloo, we were served a bowl full of rock-hard fried potatoes that would have been more at home on a Little Chef Olympic breakfast. Rather than being cooked in curry leaves, a couple of tiny slithers of something green were placed on top. And the ‘garlic mayonnaise’ was tomato ketchup.

What’s more, every dish was no warmer than tepid.

I only wish that I’d read the previous reviews before ‘dining’ in this establishment. If you eat in Jom Makan, it will be one of the most memorable meals of your life – for all the wrong reasons. Don’t be intrigued by the menu, as we were. Stick to Busaba Eathai or Wagamama.
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Chickenronnie - View all reviews by this user
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, January 10, 2012

My husband and I were looking for somewhere to eat at Westfield on a busy Friday evening, we were pleased to find this restaurant to be significantly less crowded than everywhere else...in hindight that should have been our first warning to take heed of! We waitied for an unusually long time for our order to be taken, no appology for our wait. We ordered two side dishes and two mains, they all came at different times and even the prawn crackers came after the mains!! Who wants prawn crackers after their mains?!? The food was cold and over priced, I had a vegetarian dish, which was only noodles and some grated carrot!! I wouldn't mind but it cost £8 and I had finished it with no more than 4 fork fulls!! No one came to check if our food was OK and we even had to remind them what my husband had ordered, this was after I had finished eating my main!! There was no interest in us or in bringing us more drinks, no mention of coffee or dessert! Truly terrible service, the worst I have ever experienced and this isn't a cheap cheap restaurant. The whole vibe was unhappy, the waiting staff seemed embarrassed and a couple next to us refused to pay for their meal. Massive disappointment, there are many good restaurants on the southern terrace, try them instead!!
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Theresa Ajayi
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, October 30, 2011

**OMG**

Visited the Westfield restaurant for the first time with a group of 6 friends.

i'll start by saying, I have never eaten Mal' food and found the food to be very tasty.. HOWEVER! Sat down and made our order to the semi knowledgable waitress ("i'll go check, i'll go check") then waiting for our starters she managed to get them slightly wrong... not the end of the world but all the same. Not much apology. So as she reccomended we ordered to share..only she didnt bother getting us plates..hmm... then we had to ask for forks..

So we ordered a bottle of water. Waiter appears with a bottle of water..and ONE glass..

Not clearing the table of any of the dishes or finished drinks. (starting to pile up)

We're fast eaters but still repetadly "you ready for the mains now?" again and again...I mean, talk about pushy. She start clearing the table then says "oh you're sharing" and starts to place the dirty starters plates back onto the table.

Mains arrived. at this point the supervisor is here to check what went wrong with the order. Our waitress is hovering elsewhere in the restaurant.

Food was tasty as previously pointed.

Finished eating,,waiting...waiting..waiting... table full of dirty dishes and nothing. no one botheres with our table.. then our waitrss rocks up, picks up a couple of dishes and vanishes into the kitchen then reappears 5 minutes later, letting her hair down with her mobile and pack of ciggies and goes to the bar to eat... leaving us with the rest of the table stacked with dirty dishes... she is sat behind us now..eating, not a word.

So I had enough. caught the supervisor by the kitchen and said "Just wanted to say the food was great"...then followed with a polite layout of examples of the bad service we got. all i got was "i see, I'm sorry I'm sorry, the waitress is on her break now"..

I thought that should get things moving but oh my was I wrong. 10 more minutes go by, dishes still on the table no one asking if we want coffee or dessert..as if.

Called the manageress over (who was present when i fist spoke to the supervisor) and pressed upon her that this is what i meant...showing her the table..she just stood there and noded.."i'll take your comments under concideration"..I pointed out that the restaurant was nearly empty. God knows what would happen when it's busy.

Not an offer for complimentary coffee..anything to finish our evening on a more positive note as customers.. needless to say there was no tip in there for the waitress.

We do not reccommend this restaurant. and with sadness because the food was really nice. The service was a BIG letdown.

They should do what we did. Go across to the Giraffe restaurant and learn what customer service really means!
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Tom
1 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, October 16, 2011

Awful. Waiting staff have little knowledge or interest. I ordered a teh tarek which was the worst I have ever had - made from instant tea. What??? Never again. If I want the real deal I'll go to Rupert Court next time. Jom Makan is rubbish!!!
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Ian
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, October 05, 2011

I decided to take my girlfriend to this Malaysian restaurant, because she loves this type of food, not only did she hate it, i couldnt even eat it. The food was not cooked at all, I had the chicken curry dish that was meant to have potatoes in it, there was only one piece of potato the size of my little finger nail. The staff although not particularly rude, just did not seem to know what they were doing and what was going on. They spent all evening bringing out dishes to the wrong tables lol seriously, if your staff are not ready to work in this environment, train them first, also have a chef that can cook the meat it wasn't just a little pink, or the dark meat, it was not cooked. I wish i had taken a picture of the dish and refused to pay. Also, other customers were complaining about how long they had to wait for their food, I also saw a few tables send their food back. They all need re-training, dont open up a restaurant if you are not delivering satisfactory service.
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ayla - View all reviews by this user
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Saturday, September 24, 2011

Warning worst restaurant ever, service was worse than anything on earth, waiter there not listened to us when we had told him to check on our order (which takes more than 1 hour) listen to all of the comment and don't go.

Better go to McDonald!!!
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Zaid
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, September 17, 2011

Malaysian food usually is very tasty and delicious... I had nasi lemak earlier and I was so disappointed with everything. Not only because of the taste (tasteless), but also the chicken was not cooked properly. Still very pink some part of it, and the prawn was undercooked.
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- View all reviews by this user
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Friday, July 29, 2011

i recently went to Jom Makan in westfield, and it was a really bad idea.i am a malaysian living here in london, and i could not be more disappointed.

everything was bad, right from the begedil, nasi goreng, mee kari, and the kerabu. it was bad. they even manage to screw up the teh o ais limau. i would never recommend this to anyone, as i know malaysian food are amazingly delicious. this restaurant seems to be the opposite.
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Jiji
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, July 06, 2011

I am a Malaysian living in UK. I was and still am disappointed with the food at Jom Makan, Westfield. I ordered a lunch set menu - crispy chicken wings, fried rice and teh tarik. I am not very impressed with the food and felt embarrassed taking my friends there. The teh tarik (malaysian indian muslim special tea) doesnt taste what it should be, the fried rice wasnt delicious and above all the crispy chicken wings were raw inside.

The chicken wings (4) were very crispy on the outside but raw on the inside and I sent them back to the chef. He then cooked another 4 wings, but it was STILL raw and this really puts me off coming back. I felt too embarrassed telling him again, surely if he is the chef, he should know how to cook food properly, especially the second time round!.

So Jom Makan, do get someone who can actually cook properly!

The waiter and waitresses were nice.
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amy
3 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Friday, April 01, 2011

If you are looking for Malaysian food, need to look elsewhere. I ordered the Biyarani, which does not live up to its name, rather it was a pilau rice, without the meat, served with a lamb curry known as Saalan in the Punjabi province and a dal curry. Who eats a Dal curry with a Biyarani! Being a cook myself, you have to know the meaning of Biyarani to actually appreciate it to be able to know how to cook it. The side order of chicken wings also tasted of fish and the portions are extremely small as if the food is first compressed in a bowl for a portion measurement and then tip over into a mould onto your plate. And for the price you pay for this, not worth it. How I felt sorry for the person next to me, who had to keep ordering food for his family of six. Nandos would have served him better.
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0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, December 30, 2010