Cowboys Barbecue & Grill — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

Disappointed by the Brisket, But Some Silver Linings

I recently visited this place with high expectations, especially for the beef brisket, but unfortunately, the experience turned out to be quite a mixed bag,mostly leaning towards the disappointing side, particularly when it comes to food quality and cleanliness.

Let’s start with what I ordered. I went for the beef brisket meal, which came with three sides: Mom’s Potato Salad, coleslaw, and a tortilla wrap. At first glance, the sides looked quite generous in portion, which I appreciated. The coleslaw and tortilla were decent and pretty satisfying. However, Mom’s Potato Salad was a letdown. For some reason, it was icy cold,almost like it had just come out of the freezer. That’s not the texture or temperature you’d expect from a potato salad. On top of that, the potatoes were quite hard and undercooked, not soft and creamy as they should be. I prefer a slightly warm or room-temperature salad with properly cooked potatoes, and this completely missed the mark.

Now, the main scam of the night was the brisket itself. When it was served, I genuinely thought I had received the wrong order,it looked like some sort of fatty pork belly you’d find with chicken rice, not beef brisket. The visual was already off-putting, but I still gave it a chance. Taste-wise, it was a disaster. The meat was tough, fatty, and nowhere close to the tender, smoky brisket that I was expecting. The flavor was dull and quite frankly, tasted terrible. I didn’t even want to finish it, and the only way I managed to eat it was by wrapping it up in the tortilla and trying to mask the taste. For the price they’re charging, this brisket was a complete scam,absolutely not worth it.

On a more positive note, the staff were fantastic. They were very friendly, attentive, and genuinely tried to provide good service. When I asked about the cheese sauce, not only was it free of charge, but they also gave it to me in a generous portion, which was a nice touch. I really appreciate that kind of service and effort,it goes a long way in making a bad food experience at least a little more tolerable.

Moving on to other food items we tried—the gourmet sausages (both chicken and beef) were surprisingly good. Juicy, flavorful, and well-prepared, these stood out as one of the few highlights of the meal. The fries were also enjoyable, and I noticed they had a nice sprinkle of paprika or some other seasoning, which gave them an extra kick. My wife had a fried chicken burger, and she commented that the chicken patty inside was tasty, but unfortunately, the bun was too hard—both the top and bottom,making it tough to bite through and detracting from the overall enjoyment.

Lastly, the environment of the restaurant was okay,not too loud, decent seating—but unfortunately, something happened that completely ruined the vibe. While we were eating, we witnessed a cat chasing a small rat around the dining area. That was not just shocking,it was absolutely disgusting, and made us lose our appetite. This reflects poorly on the restaurant’s hygiene standards. Cleanliness needs to be taken more seriously, especially in a food establishment. No one should have to eat while watching a live animal chase happen in front of them.

As for drinks, the lemonade was just alright,nothing special, just overly sweet. In terms of pricing, I felt that for what we were served—especially the poor excuse for brisket—the cost was completely unjustified. It felt like we got overcharged for something that didn’t meet even the minimum expectations.

Final Thoughts: Great staff and decent sausages/fries Potato salad was a failure Brisket was visually and taste-wise a scam -Burger patty nice, but bun hard -Environment okay but hygiene is a big issue -Pricing unreasonable for the quality of food

Would I go back? Probably not for the brisket or main dishes. Maybe for a quick snack and sausages if they sort out the cleanliness issue. Otherwise, this place needs serious improvements in food quality and hygiene before I could recommend...

Dropped by for a on a weekday for a quick lunch after seeing reviews of this BBQ specialist on social media. Seating was outdoors with fans (not closed off with AC)

As I was pushed for time, only ordered their lunch sets (12pm to 3pm) and I would say they are incredible value for money.

Me and my partner ordered :

Beef Hamburger Steak (set meal) Chicken Tacos & Fries (set meal) Mac n Cheese (ala carte)

The hamburger steak was nice - beef patty was good, not great. Coleslaw was crispy and seasoned well with pepper. The accompanying Aglio oglio macaroni was very impressive - just the right amount of spiciness and saltiness, well done. Fries were chunky and well seasoned with paprika. Paired well with the tangy BBQ sauce. All this for RM15 (with free lemonade that was good but not great) I really can’t complain. I’ve had nasi kandar meals that costs more (sans drink!)

Now the chicken taco was slightly disappointing - yes we are at a grille/bbq restaurant and as expected and advertised, there were fried chickens in the taco. Fried chicken was good, well seasoned and texturally impressive. However for a taco - it felt like it was not the right match and definitely missing some zest (no tomato salsa / onions / lime) to really bring it up a notch. 2/5 - but relatively affordable, chunky fries helped alot.

Mac and cheese was creamy, rich and somehow quite al-dente. Although portion size is small (ordered regular) 3.5/5

Overall the lunch set meals are worth it, and the beef briskets look good great. Would re-visit to try their specialties. Give them a try.

(be warned that parking here is atrocious unless off peak hours, this isn’t the restaurant’s fault. Just plan ahead to allot 10-15 minutes...

Visited this evening, I ordered these few items.

Yellowstone set: Beef always has a distinct heavy taste and smell, but this brisket did not have that taste. It tasted more like buffalo meat, I’ve tasted good brisket and knowing that the main seasoning purely is salt and pepper usually makes the distinct beef taste stand out. But this was dry and did not had that distinct taste. The Mac and cheese was absurdly disappointing, did not have any cheese taste at all it’s like water and pasta.. On the positive note, the pulled lamb was awesome, barbecue sauce was to die for, coleslaw was great (salt pepper and not much mayo, let alone NOT sweet mayo just hits the spot).

Texan burger, meat to bread ratio is completely off, I suggest offering a double patty if your bread is that size, honestly. Again, did not taste like beef.

Loaded nachos, it was good but not enough meat. Cheese lacks the saltiness prolly just some salt will do. The sauce was not bad.

BBQ wings (6 pieces), wings are simply too sweet, lacks acidity. It would’ve been perfect with that homemade bbq sauce but after reducing the sauce for that sticky taste, the sauce tends to get overpowered by sweetness.

Overall, food was average.. very good concept but just didn’t quite deliver unfortunately. The service was fantastic staff was damn friendly I loved it. The atmosphere had that ‘family backyard’ vibe which was good, but unfortunately it was just a bit warm inside. But yo I get it, that’s the idea of the restaurant.

honest opinion, not talking bad about anything. Just...