Tambo Ciek — Restaurant in Melbourne

I’ve been a loyal customer of TAMBOCIEK since it first opened, but it’s high time the owner either hires better staff or has a serious conversation with the current team (Caulfield), because that’s the only location I’ve been to and the first one that opened. It was my go-to spot since it’s close to my house, but unfortunately, the quality of service and overall experience has drastically declined, mainly due to two staff members, The two ladies out of which one is extremely rude.

For years, I have ordered from TAMBOCIEK regularly, both in person and through Uber Eats. However, the portion sizes for Uber Eats orders are shockingly smaller compared to dining in. If you don’t believe me, order for yourself and see how much money you’ll waste. It’s beyond frustrating to pay for a meal and receive such an inadequate portion.

Having worked in hospitality, I understand food industry standards and portioning. Yet, as others have pointed out, this staff now considers a single potato cake or tempeh as an entire dish, which is absurd. Today, when I dined in, I saw takeout portions were significantly larger than what I’ve been receiving through Uber Eats. When I requested a small extra serving of beef, I was charged extra—yet my partner, who didn’t even take extra, received the same portion size. When I questioned this, instead of acknowledging the mistake, they simply topped up my portion and still charged me extra. For two meals, we ended up paying $64, which is completely unreasonable given the portion sizes.

To make matters worse, I had an especially disappointing experience during Ramadan. I ordered food right when they opened, expecting a fresh and fulfilling meal to break my fast. Instead, I received an incomplete order with barely any food. When I initially reached out to them about the issue, instead of taking responsibility, they absolutely started blaming me, saying that maybe I had ordered from the Carlton store—when I clearly know where I placed my order from.

It’s incredibly ironic that they promote generosity by giving out free meals in Indonesia during Ramadan, yet they have no problem shortchanging a fasting customer here. The contrast is both frustrating and disappointing.

I have nothing against the business itself, but the way this current staff operates will drive it into the ground. If similar complaints have been coming in recently, I strongly urge management to address this issue—because this is simply not okay. Also I posted the same review yesterday and it was there anymore, What a shame that you are trying to somehow remove reviews and uploading insta post in contrast of what I legit reviewed. Guys please make sure they are not unfair to you...

If you enjoy chaos and disappointment served on a plate, this is your place. I was halfway through my meal when a server casually took away my water. No eye contact, no words, just yoink. Thirst is apparently part of the dining experience here. I ordered food, waited 20 minutes, reminded them twice… only to be served what looked like a survival ration from the apocalypse: one bite of noodles, three lonely meatballs, and an entire salt mine dumped on top. $18 well spent—if your dream is to lick a salt rock. The “queue system” is performance art. Everyone stands in a big clump, like a human traffic jam. We somehow had to line up FOUR times for two orders. Getting fed here feels harder than climbing Everest.

In summary: If you’re thirsty, patient, and love paying premium prices for salted garbage while practicing crowd control, this restaurant is perfect. For everyone else—run.

👉 Dear owner, if you actually read this, start by letting customers keep their water, and remind your chef that salt is not a free...

This is my first review ever on goggles.

I’m a regular customer at Tambok ciek for almost 3 years now at Caulfield and I go there almost twice a week for dinner. The food are delicious and I recently took my partner as well and he enjoyed the food but if you are not from Indonesian or don’t speak Bahasa they will treat you differently and serve you portion smaller.

The other day a family from Indonesia asked if they could use a toilet and the young girl said yes the toilet is at the back. Today, I went there with my partner again and I really needed the toilet so I asked the lady with short hair but she said they don’t have toilet. I said to her I came here few days ago and the girl let the family used the toilet then the lady said oh the toilet is block/broken. i will go there again if im gonna receive the same treatment as the other Indonesian other ways I rather spend my...