Mr. Good Guy Devonport — Restaurant in Devonport

We had a bit of a laugh reading some of the reviews before we went to Mr Good Guy. For example, the woman that ordered the Hainanese Chicken then complained when that's what came out... However, I digress.

We received a voucher as a Christmas gift. We were only able to book an early spot at 1730. Our waitress was Zoe, and she did an excellent job. We started with the lychee martini and a the gingerbelle cocktails; the latter was particularly delicious. The photos show the food we ordered (except for the oysters which were fresh, creamy and well priced at $20/6), the eggplant, char kway teow, beef rendang and the Asian greens. All were good. My favourite was the eggplant, nicely fried with a delicious sauce and a good amount of heat. The char kway teow was not traditional, very different from any we had had before with quite a lot of sauce, not much of a charred flavour but was actually really tasty, with a generous serve of fresh seafood. The veges were cooked well with a tasty garlic based sauce. The rendang was very tasty with a nice side of acar (?) that matches the curry really well. The rendang was quite rich. I thought the beef was a touch dry (but acceptable for this dish) although my wife thought it was spot on. We would usually order more rice to soak up the flavours but were pretty stuffed and the rice with the dishes was just enough.

We had no room for dessert; we were excited to see the ABC Iced Kacan on the menu though.

Overall, we thought this was an excellent restaurant experience in contrast to many of the reviews. We did however see some tables complaining of long waits when we were about to leave and they did seem to be a bit understaffed. $165 for the two of us; oysters, 3 mains, a side, 2 cocktails and a...

I had lunch today with my family at the restaurent and overall it was a disappointing experience. I'll start with the positives; the environment and restaurant itself was bright and airy and our waitress was pleasant.

However where it starts to go wrong is with the food. The fare served is South East Asian cuisine (a mix of Thai, Malaysian and Vietnamese dishes) and we were very excited to try it as it's difficult to find authentic South East Asian food in this area, so we ordered a variety of appetisers and mains.

The Thai Green Curry was particularly bad as the consistency was like a soup and the taste was very watery and largely just watered down coconut milk. The prawns in both the Thai Green Papaya Salad and the Laksa were frozen shrimp vs fresh larger prawns. The laksa noodles looked like instant ramen noodles (instead of fresh egg noodles) and the stock was too thin. The Hainanese Chicken Rice also was not authentic as the rice did not taste like chicken rice and the sauces (which is crucial to this dish) were not the correct condiment sauces.

It's a shame because the menu itself and the description of the dishes are accurate and well written but when it comes to the actual food and taste, it's really not authentic South East Asian fare, so if that's what you're after I can't recommend this restaurant. As some other reviewers have noted, perhaps going for a simpler menu consisting of local, fresh produce would've been the way the go.

I know the hotel has only just opened a couple of months so perhaps these are just teething problems and improvements will be...

Summary: I will NOT RECOMMEND this restaurant to anyone. This restaurant has just RUINED the entire South East Asia's cuisine. A TOTAL MISS

Came into this restaurant for tea with high expectations (coming from a Singaporean developer and the name of a 5 star hotel), even though reading through the mixed reviews (mostly disappointed) with a rating of 2.9, still that did not distract my attention to the restaurant at Novotel, knowing that I have to try it first hand.

Order: Satay Skewers, Hainan Chicken Rice, Mee Goreng and Laksa

Hainan Chicken Rice: 0/5 Pros - 1. Sauces are decent. Vegs are fresh. Cons - 1. Chicken is insanely dry!!! Rice does not resemble chicken rice at all!!! (The chef used diced garlic in the rice which is a total miss)

What goes through your mind when you hear the word Hainan Chicken Rice? Definitely Soft steamed Chicken and Chicken aroma Rice which was the total opposite of what was back home. Why bother having a dish that is a plated dog food? (I had them chicken pieces and fed to my dog back home). You should put on the menu as dry a** chicken thigh and Not Chicken Rice.

Laksa: 2/5 Pros - 1. Sambal Chili is spicy. Cons - 1. Wrong choice of noodles. (does not go well with the soup base) Soup is salty with little herb taste

Mee Goreng: 4/5 Did not taste although wife likes it.

Satay Skewers: 5/5 Pros: 1. Charcoal Grilled Juicy and tender chicken

Lastly, is the food worth its overpriced value? I'm sure you readers are smart enough to know what I...