Shalom St Lucia Indonesian Restaurant — Restaurant in Brisbane City

I’ve been to Shalom a few times before and always thought they had some of the best and most authentic Indonesian food in Brisbane, especially for the price. Plus, it’s conveniently close to UQ, which made it a go-to spot for me.

This time, I brought my boyfriend because I wanted him to try Indonesian food for the first time. Unfortunately, the experience was really disappointing. We waited almost an hour for our food, even though I ordered dishes I’ve had before. I asked the staff about the delay, but their response wasn’t particularly helpful, and while they did apologize, it didn’t feel very sincere. When the food finally arrived, it was just placed on the table somewhat carelessly.

What made it even more frustrating was watching other tables, including one that ordered before us, get their meals much sooner. People were finishing up and leaving while we were still waiting, which didn’t make much sense. In my past visits, the food took around 30 minutes, which was already on the slower side, but this time, it was nearly double that.

When the food did arrive, it still tasted great—just like I remembered—but by then, we were already too annoyed to properly enjoy it. To make things worse, my boyfriend felt a bit sick the next morning, which just made me feel even worse about taking him there.

I still think the food here is good, but the service and wait times were disappointing, and based on this visit, I don’t think I’ll be coming back...

This used to be my go to Indonesian restaurant in Brisbane. I went there last week, the first time ever since I moved out of Brisbane 6 years ago and oh how things have changed. The service was super slow, it was especially annoying since my husband and I were breaking our fast. Our food was served about 45 mins after we ordered. Which was weird because the table beside us (who came about 15 mins after we ordered) received all of their food first before us (and they ordered more dishes than us!). We had to ask the staff twice before our food was served, and even then they didn't offer any apology to us for the long wait. When I asked the cashier why my food hadn't been served yet he seemed like he didn't even know that our food hadn't been served yet. The waiter and the cashier were super unhelpful, they didn't seem to understand us despite us asking in both English and Indonesian. After all that waiting, the food I ordered (Lontong kari ayam) didn't taste fresh, the lontong was hard and tasted weird and bitter. My husband's order tasted fine, but with that service I wouldn't come here again nor recommend anyone coming here. I guess if you're really patient and tolerate bad service you...

As an Indonesian looking for yummy, authentic Indonesian food in Brisbane, I’d say Shalom is a decent option. However, I’m not the biggest fan of their service. The staff are really nice, but they could be a bit slack with their service sometimes. I’ve ordered pick ups quite a few times and they’re always missing at least one item that I’ve paid for already, or they would get the wrong order. I once came to pick up nearly an hour after I placed my order, and when I arrived, they haven’t even started cooking my order! Mind you, the restaurant was empty. I might resort to other Indonesian restaurants or even cook myself until their service improves because it’s happened far too many times. I get that hospitality is challenging but “forgetting” to cook my food for me when the restaurant is empty is inexcusable. Hopefully, we see a change and improvement in this in the future because I don’t want to keep wasting my money on wrong orders or...