Khunthai Restaurant @ Butterworth — Restaurant in Penang

First off, this restaurant is very big… probably the biggest I’ve been to so far in Butterworth. We went at a reasonably quiet time, but I imagine it can get very busy and we did see at least one tourist bus in the car park.

The restaurant is well decorated and even has small huts that you can eat in. To be honest, whilst I did like he decor, it did feel a little gimmicky; like the kind of place that only attracts unsuspecting tourists and doesn’t actually serve good food. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case (more on that later). Whilst there’s no air conditioning, there are lots of fans, high ceilings and really good air circulation. I think it’s the most comfortable non-air conditioned restaurant I’ve been too.

Service was pretty fast and efficient at the time we went.

Now onto the food… overall, it was great. I enjoyed everything we ordered. The glass noodles and omelet were the highlight for me - delicious. The kerabu was also very tasty, though a little too spicy for me! Not so spicy as to ruin the dish, just a bit too much “my mouth is on fire” than I generally prefer during a meal. The deep fried chicken tendons and tofu were nice and crispy, if a little more ordinary compared to the other dishes.

The only part of the meal that wasn’t so great was the Thai milk tea. The first few sips were nice, but the ice melted very quickly and by half way through the meal, the flavour had been watered down way too much.

All in all, very nice Thai food in a spacious and breezy restaurant that was also really good value for money. I’ll...

I dined at your restaurant today and unfortunately had a very disappointing experience. I would like to share my feedback in hopes that improvements can be made.

Lack of Transparency in Additional Charges I ordered a 【 Isi Ikan Tom Yum Steamed 】 and 【White Bee Hoon】, and specifically asked the server if it was possible to have 【more soup】in the dish. He replied with “UNDERSTOOD” but did not note it down or explain that extra soup would incur an additional charge of [$15]. When the dish arrived with very little soup, I asked if more could be added—only then was I informed about the extra fee.

This charge should have been clearly communicated upfront, especially since I ordered noodles, which are typically meant to be eaten with soup. Had I known that extra soup wasn’t complimentary, I would not have ordered the noodles at all. Additionally, the soup itself was [overly salty], making it unsuitable for mixing with noodles.

Poor Service Attitude !!! What made the experience worse was the 【rude behavior】of one of your staff members—a foreign employee who had difficulty communicating clearly. When I tried to explain the issue, he responded with “What problem!?”🙄while giving me an impatient look and rolling his eyes. This kind of attitude is 【unprofessional and disrespectful】, leaving customers feeling undervalued.

I hope the restaurant can strengthen the communication and training of employees, and also inform customers more clearly of all the details of the charges. Don't wait until customers have questions before...

Penang Working Trip

A long drive up to Kulim and then finally back to Mainland Penang for the night was definitely exhausting. By the time we finished our working trip, the sky started to get dark and we arrived at our hotel around 7pm.

Our dinner was 8pm, leaving not much time for us to refresh and prepare. Luckily, our dinner was at Khunthai, perhaps the most well-known Thai restaurant in Butterworth (or the whole Penang). It has been around for ages but this marked my virgin visit to this restaurant.

As expected the place was packed with hungry diners of 1 Malaysia - but service was quite fast and efficient.

◾Miang Kham - love wrapping all the ingredients with daun kadok. ◾Som Tam - everything hit the right notes, and special mention to the addition of cashew nuts for that crunchy texture.. I loved it to the max! ◾pandan chicken - alas! If only the chicken meat was juicier and moist. I suspected that they over-fried it. ◾Thai style steamed clams (lala) - cukup pedas and masam! Apart from the mollusks, I didn't waste the sauce. ◾deep fried fish with Thai chilly sauce - nicely fried fish doused with the lovely chilly sauce, all that left were bones in the end!

Occupying a huge space with plenty of open-air parking spaces, Khunthai has been a firm favourite of Thai food lovers in the northern region. Not sure if they are related to the ones in Klang Valley...