Project Smoked — Restaurant in Johor

My husband found this place in instagram. We called to make a reservation. So we thought we’d try this place out. I’ll cut right to the chase. The staff were top notch. Very very humble and did not hesitate to strike a conversation with the customers. The food however, did not have that wow factor.

Chicken wings- a tad bit too salty for me. The flavour was great and honestly I think was the star out of all that we ordered.

Angus beef burger- the burger itself, was pretty bland. 🙏 it was quite burnt and I’m not sure if that’s what it was supposed to taste like but I definitely did not get the smokey taste. The bun was quite dry as well. I took a picture next to my glasses to compare the size. It’s quite small guys. I mean for the price, I expected a burger that would need both my hands to pick up (plus smoke 😏)

Chicken thigh- the description was that it was pretty big and juicy soft. Kinda disappointed that there was again no flavour at all in the crust and the size was what we usually get at any Ayam Penyet restaurant. Again, for the price , I truly expected smokey flavours and a really juicy thigh.

Pulled pork- I did not get why they clumped two of our orders on one plate. I didn’t know which sauce or side dish belonged to which meat. Were they just doing that because the size of the chicken thigh wasn’t as huge as they wanted it to be or maybe they ran out of shredded pork (hunting about the quantity…again). The pork was however quite porky and fairly decent. Not Smokey though.

All in all, the price was really steep for small portions and if you’re gonna be called “project smoked” there should be at least one thing on your menu that tastes like it was. I rate this place 3 because the ambiance was awesome and the staff were truly great. Great job...

My first time leaving bad review.

Before we go, we called them and asked is it allow to bring dog and indoor seating ? They said yes sure we are pet friendly. So we came all the way from Mount Austin to this place to have dinner.

After arrived only been told you need to make reservation for indoor seating with dog, if not you only can sit outside. Why when we called earlier, no one mentioned this during the call ?

After that, the bald guy said “ let me ask my boss, but i don’t think he will approve because your dog just bark. “

Excuse me? My dog just make a single low key bark. Just a single bark only. The bark sound is lower than your voice.

The bald guy attitude is very rude. He asked me “ what if your dog bark again when he is inside ? “ I already answered him I can control my own dog. He asked again what if he bark again when he is inside ???

If you want to make it pet friendly, you shouldn’t be so rude and strict. People talk make noise, baby cry make noise, kids scream make noise all acceptable?? My dog only make a single low key bark and totally unbearable for you? He want me to do a guarantee, if my dog bark again, we move outside immediately then only allow us to be inside!

What kind of attitude is this ? If you want make it pet friendly and make it really truly pet friendly!!! If not, just told us no pet allowed and we won’t be wasting our time travel there and make our dinner so stressful and ruining our mood!

In the end he still mentioned “ I love dog “ Hehehehehe please don’t pretend!

The food portion is extremely small! The meat is not hot or warm when served. It’s premade, after ordered, served in less than 5mins.

Think twice before you visit this place!

Very very very bad...

I guess I shouldn’t have had my hopes set too high when I came to Project Smoked. Don’t get me wrong. It was a pleasant 3.5🌟 experience! 🫡

We were recommended by a friend to come to this restaurant so we decided to give it a try.

Project Smoked aims to spread the Gospel of Meat, Love, and the Holy Smoke.

There are no sets. Everything is ala carte. And it is claimed that everything is good on the menu. We went for a Black Angus Short Rib, Honey Iberico Burnt Ends, Lamb Spare Ribs, Southern Mac & Cheese, Southern House Salad and Wings of the Day (50% on Wednesday).

We were hoping for the mains (Straight Outta Smoker) to be the best bets – they were good but lacking a certain smokiness and charredness. The Black Angus Short Rib was slight jelak after a while, the Burnt Ends 80% fats, Lamb Spare Ribs good but the Wings were really good! 👍 The kids loved the Mac & Cheese so we went for a second round here.

One scary moment that occured during our meal was encountering a wriggling worm on top of the salted pickles (and onions?). We reported the matter to one of the waitresses and she promptly removed it with a tissue. Everything is fresh so I guess some life among the greens is normal? We simply avoided the salted stuff at the side of the platter.

One redeeming factor of our visit was our waiter, Dawson. He engaged us really well and set the stage for a great meal experience. He answered our questions and also asked for feedback about the food at the end of the meal.

There was also good service recovery. We received a 20% discount for our meal.

Project Smoked also has another upcoming outlet at Austin Heights....