Al Medan Syrian Restaurant — Restaurant in Langkawi Island

A family run simple authentic Syrian restaurant with a very passionate owner. I’ve stumbled upon this restaurant in my previous visit to Langkawi which was a year before the pandemic. I’ve checked again before coming to Malaysia last month, that the restaurant is still open, and was happy to find that it was, and I’ve booked a hotel next to it! The restaurant is run by a Syrian family who came to Malaysia during the war in Syria, and started from almost nothing, they worked from their heart and always make sure to serve the best food possible with available ingredients in the local market. Rami, the owner, is a very passionate person, I’ve learnt from him about his journey to Malaysia and the journey of his little restaurant making ranks as a top-rated restaurant in Langkawi. I usually don’t eat my home food (Syrian) during my travels, but this time I was travelling slow and have plenty of time discovering Malaysian food, and found myself after a few weeks of staying in Malaysia missing my Syrian cuisine! So Alhamdulillah was the place to go, I visited every other day. Alhamdulillah has changed location since I last visited the island, but it is just a cross of the street from its previous location. They have also changed the decoration, a big upgrade in my opinion, which makes the place looks much brighter and inviting. Creative work of wood all around with comfortable chairs and with nice colored walls and yellow plastic seats outside. Rami, the owner, has done most of the work in decorating his restaurant sourcing mostly from recyclable products. Rami will be more than happy to share his stories and how he manages his restaurant, very insightful stories indeed. As much as I enjoyed talking to him, he sometimes got really busy since he is only there with wife and little 7-year-old daughter, who is the cutest and helps her parents in managing the place! not being shy and calling her parents at the kitchen with the bell. Orders may take sometimes, but this is only because they are prepared on spot. Rami manages the restaurant and goes to market every day to get supplies he needs. Still, he helps in cooking, actually I know from him that he does the garlic cream, falafel and hummus, while his very kind and pleasant wife does other dishes. A big surprise at the least expected places! They have the fastest internet I’ve seen in a restaurant / coffee shop in Malaysia!!!! About 500 Mbs!!, I’ve tested it. Impressive. They have one power source if you need to connect your laptop to power too. I did some work there. As for what matters most, the food! I had chicken shawarma, and I fell in love. I ordered that every time I visited. Actually, it was better than the best I had in my hometown in Syria. The garlic cream was excellent too, which speaks a lot about the standards of the food. Hummus for me is another indication for how good restaurant is and it was very well made. Falafel was perfect, and ofcourse they makes these from scratch and don’t use ready made products. Fattoush salad was great too. Only best vegs is used and ofcourse has pomegranate molasses, which is very popular in Aleppo the food capital of Syria. Pomegranate molasses is also used in their shawarma. There is simplicity and minimalism in how the food is prepared and presented and how the restaurant is managed and look, that I rarely find in other Arabic/Middle Eastern/Syrian restaurants. That I appreciated a lot. The food despite being simple, it was full of flavors. I ordered one shisha and it was very well prepared and serviced. I’ve tried a few others on the island and it was the best shisha in Langkawi, they use the best tobacco brands. I’ve seen people go there mainly for the shisha (hookah). If your Grab tell you this restaurant is closed or anything of that sort, don’t believe him. They do that to restaurants that don’t pay commission. How bad and sad is that?

If I come to Langkawi again, I will definitely eat again at Alhamdulillah and enjoy some talks with Rami and his nice...

To dine in here, please make a reservation. Walk in is not recommended.

Pros: We ordered Shish Tawouk with rice and Syrian Kebab. I don’t really like to eat rice but when i tried the rice from this menu, it is quite nice and flavourful. Love the combination of the chili sauce as well. The syrian cuisine is a little bit different from Arabic cuisine so please don’t compare with arabic food, as the expectations of garlic sauce are not similar to arabic restaurant. Great hospitality from the owner of the restaurant. Very friendly and easy to make a booking. Price reasonable. We enjoy our food here. Definitely will come here again and recommend others if I return to Langkawi. In the menu from the website it mentioned every dietary restriction so it is good for those who have food concerns regarding vegan, gluten free.

Cons: For future improvements for restaurant owner: The air conditioner was not really working on that time. I would like to advise to inform to the customer in advance so they are aware of the condition. Regarding the customer expectation, I would suggest to put a notice in front of the restaurant and highlight at the main website that this restaurant is open to customer for reservation only. It is good experience from a customer perspective. I was shocked at the beginning when the owner said sorry we only open for reservations when I came to the counter to ask about the menu, then when i mentioned my name that I had done my reservation then the owner start...

Service: QR code is provided for us to access the eMenu. The menu is complete with the price, description, and picture. Order taking is done by the owner. The owner is very polite and communicated well in English. Food: I ordered Kebab Khashkhash. Very very good. Tasty. Delicious. Few pieces of kebab (lamb + beef) are cooked well with sauce (tasted like tomato & yellow onion). The sauce is just nice, not too strong (in spices), and not too mild. The kebab goes very well with the rice - soft yet not broken - most importantly, not oily. I just wish the owner/cook would give me a bigger portion.. haha Price: it's on the high side. However, the taste justified the premium price. Ambience: clean and cozy. I can spend hours in here. Other observation: I could hear a group of customers praise the quality of the food. The reviews say the same thing. I couldn't agree more. It's just that not many people would come here (I was here for almost two hours. There were two tables when I arrived. They left not long after I entered this restaurant, and I was alone after that.

Highly recommended. Experience Syrian meals freshly prepared...