Uncle Joe's Malaysian Kitchen Cabramatta — Restaurant in Sydney

Usually we would go to our favourite pho joint in Cabramatta but decided to give this a try solely based upon the recommendations on FB. Moreover, they were having buy 1 get 1 free laksa promotion with a FREE cup of teh tarik during the first week of their soft opening. Travelled almost an hour only to be sorely disappointed by all aspects.

Food was mediocre - portion was decent, broth was diluted and chicken was tough chicken breast meat I believed it’s was boiled. Perhaps we are spoilt by the few restaurants we go to that serve chicken as tender as hainanese chicken that goes with laksa. It was hard to stomach, I could be better off with a Prima pack of and eat it in the comfort of my home. On this note, it brings me to their service.

The lack of basic service and courtesy baffles me. No indication where the queue is. Diners in groups simply hang outside the eatery, could be standing in line in vain only to know the queue is elsewhere. Nor a pad at the door to put your name down to wait for tables.

Understaffed on the front line - one of the business owner, experienced gal and a pleasant young man who just joined the team and under utilised due to lack of direction from the business. Anyway, we were seated at a table meant for two but there were three of us. We didn’t mind at all as we just wanted toget lunch over and done with. However, one of us was left standing like a lemon without a seat while the experienced staff decided to hone her public relations skills chatting away with a group of 5 at the door. There were other tables cleaned up waiting to be filled but lo and behold, many mins went past, she was still socialising, without a care for the people (us) whom she showed the table to and the ones still waiting in line! Needless to mention, there is a wait for the menus and another lengthy wait to be served water due to shortage of water bottles.

Lack of transparency of their promotion. Apparently, an elderly couple next to our table overheard our order and inquired if they could get to enjoy that but was bluntly turned down because they are halfway into their meals already. Never mind that, we were so looking forward to teh tarik that comes with our order but was dismissed that they are too busy at lunch time. Come back for dinner 😂 When it comes to payment, I was further stunned by their logic. Our order was 2 chicken and 2 soft shell crab laksa. One would think it’s one for one but lord behold, the cheaper dishes are for free. That wasn’t communicated to us upon taking our order?!#@

Ambience - it was stuffy on the day we visited - low 30s degrees celcius, lack of ventilation/air...

Entered the shop, and there was no greeting from the young waitress. We struggled to get her attention to be steered to a table. We then waited over 5 minutes to get any attention from her. Another table got service first despite having arrived after us.

Eventually, she came and took our order. We asked for cups, and she just pointed to a stand and said 'self service' - there was no sign to indicate this was the case (see photo). I was surprised that the Thermos only had hot water instead of hot tea.

The food was brought out relatively quickly after ordering.

The Nasi Goreng was not spicy , the overall flavour was ok, although the chicken was a little bland and dry. The dish tasted more like fried rice than traditional Nasi Goreng I've tasted elsewhere.

Chicken Laksa was nothing special, I expected more given this would be one of the signature dishes here.

Rendang beef, again, nothing special. A little too creamy and heavy on the stomach - no tea, remember?

Roti with sambal, the roti was good. The sambal, however, tastes mostly like cooked tomato paste, with no depth of flavour or freshness of traditional sambal sauce.

One of the plates had a small piece of tissue stuck to it. It might show in the pictures.

Price was a little on the high side for Cabramatta.

The venue was swarming with flies, and we kept having to stop them from landing on our food.

I noticed when the group next to us came in, and the waitress directed them to sit at a table that still had dirty plates from the last patron. She left them to sit down first and then proceeded to wipe the table down with a cloth, and I didn't see her rinse the cloth off afterwards. This is not a good sign. Food safety inspectors hear that?

I expected more given the quality signs showing their dishes off on the windows when you walk past.

Will I return? Sadly , NO

I am all for supporting local business, but not if they don't have their act together.

Customer service, hygiene and good hospitality are first and foremost in a...

We decided to make the hour-long trip for a restaurant’s opening promotion — a buy-1-get-1-free laksa and free teh tarik when you dine in. Unfortunately, when we arrived, they told us the teh tarik wasn’t available, but if we were willing to pay, we could still have it. It’s definitely a fake advertisement.

The laksa was decent, but definitely not worth the price. The portions were on the smaller side, and the flavors were just average compared to other laksa place. We ordered 14 laksa, expecting to pay for 7 due to the promotion, but when the bill came, they charged us for 9 (as if we ordered 18 laksa). They also charged $1 for chili. Make sure to double-check your bill, as this seems to be a normal occurrence. Our friend told us before hand that they were also over-charged.

When we politely addressed the mistake, the staff was not helpful at all — the lady who spoke to us was rather unfriendly and rude, even though it was their mistake. We ordered 6 soft shell crab and 8 chicken (expecting to pay the price of 3 soft shell crab and 4 chicken) and we were baffled when we see they charged us for 5 soft shell crab and 2 chicken), and this wasn’t communicated during the order process. It took us 10-15 minutes at least to check the bill, communicate it, and explain it to them.

Overall, it was a very disappointing experience, especially with the service. From the misleading promotion to the billing issue and unfriendly staff, it’s clear they’re not running things very smoothly. With how they handle business, we definitely don’t think we’ll be...