Curry Lab Restaurant — Restaurant in Kedah

Update 9/2023 :

Looks like the ownership has changed. Service was not good and very slow. They made the order wrong twice. Taste not as good as before. Maintaining the original review to provide context to what it was and what it is now.

Again, this is my personal view only. Do try on your own.

Original 9/2022:

Short version if you don't want to read my essay :

• excellent food • accommodative - got my off menu tofu sambal since I'm a vegetarian • cherry on the cake is the excellent customer service of the 2 girls manning the front. Makes you feel like you're eating at home.

Now the essay :

Now this is truly a hidden gem. They are new entry to the F&B landscape of Pantai Cenang, opening just couple of months ago.

My friend and I decided to give the place a try after being recommend by the cool boys of Kalut bar, which is just few foot steps away.

My friend had chicken Claypot rice, that too was rated as excellent by my ever picky friend, when it comes to food. I was offered off menu option given that I'm a vegetarian. The friendly girl staff offered few suggestions to make something out of tofu.

So went with her suggestion of tofu sambal with cabbage stir fry. To my amazement, the tofu sambal came in sizzling Claypot with all the hissing like a Texas rattlesnake 🤣🤣.

Cabbage was stir fried with tofu, which by itself was alright. The highlight however was the still hissing tofu sambal. It's not your standard tofu sambal, was a different style.

But spicy it was, i had to wipe off tears from rolling down my cheeks and save the embarrassment of being judged not capable of handling the heat.

Don't get me wrong, I love spicy food and it will look like I was not enjoying the food with glassy eyes. The truth however, is quite the opposite. I immensely enjoyed the food, it was a knock out of the park.

Combination of their version of tofu sambal and cabbage stir fry was an excellent combination.

What topped it however was the service. I'm telling you the girls serving customers in front are going to bring this place to greater heights. They are the true embodiment of MH (Malaysian Hospitality). They were like constantly checking on us if we needed anything else such as appalam, etc. The standard restaurant will give you 1, then if you ask more then you'd probably get away with another. But these girls were like giving us 2 everytime we asked for appalam, no hesitations.

I truly felt like I went to a close relative's house and was served food...

We are vegans, and the staff immediately knew what that was (no egg, no ghee, no milk, etc) and could tell us exactly what our options were. All you need is one good choice anyways! There was housemade masala tofu, and a platter of rice and various curries with a tasty pickle, papadum, rasam, etc. Our kids also loved their food. (We all also got fresh watermelon juice to start, and they were happy not to put ice in it, which we just do not enjoy as it makes it too cold and is too stark of a contrast to the heat outside, hah!) We left discussing going again the next day. The staff were also very nice and the place was airy and the toilet was clean. They’ve not been open long but I hope many people, whether they are vegan, vegetarian, or meat eaters, will visit this place frequently. If we visit the island again we will...

Poorly presented restaurant with plastic tables and chairs outside and loud Indian music blasting inside. The veg curry was frozen veg from a packet spiced up, butter chicken was poor, the green chili chicken was unbelievably mild and very chewy and stale. This was obviously pre packed frozen chicken which was just defrosted and reheated. The lassi was watered down by a third and very bland. Service was non existent when we asked twice for serviettes. Also the tandoori naan came out one at a time and the three mains at different times also. When questioned about the chicken, the Waiter said he didn't know as it was not his restaurant.

Appealing to everyone who values proper Indian food, the reviews need to be taken with a pinch of salt, unlike the dishes which...