Fook Yin Lau DA Square 福宴樓 — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

Title: Disappointing Reunion Dinner at Fook Yin Lau:

A Mess of MisstepsRating: ⭐

Our reunion dinner at Fook Yin Lau turned into a debacle of disappointments. What was meant to be a celebration ended up being a culinary catastrophe.

The centerpiece, shark fin soup, was a sorry excuse for its namesake, resembling nothing more than corn starch soup. Its lack of flavor and authenticity left a sour taste in our mouths.

The main course didn't fare any better. The fish arrived cold, overcooked, and emitting a strong fishy odor that was off-putting.

Despite reminders, the promised prawns failed to materialize, adding insult to injury.

To cap it off, dessert was an absolute disaster. What should have been a sweet ending turned into a sour note as we were served a concoction that resembled drainage water rather than anything resembling a dessert.

It's indeed baffling how a restaurant could mess up when offering only one set menu for a special occasion like a reunion dinner.

Despite having a streamlined menu, several factors could contribute to such a disappointing experience:

Lack of Quality Control: Even with a set menu, if the kitchen staff fails to maintain quality control or attention to detail, dishes can still end up poorly executed.

Inadequate Staffing: Insufficient staffing levels can lead to delays, mistakes, and overlooked orders, even with a limited menu.

Poor Management: Issues with management, such as ineffective communication or inadequate training, can result in a disorganized and chaotic dining experience.

Subpar Ingredients: Regardless of the simplicity of the set menu, using low-quality or improperly stored ingredients can negatively impact the overall taste and presentation of dishes.

Kitchen Errors: Mistakes in the kitchen, such as incorrect cooking times, improper seasoning, or mishandling of ingredients, can lead to subpar dishes.

While offering a single set menu simplifies operations, it doesn't guarantee a flawless dining experience. It's crucial for restaurants to prioritize quality, consistency, and customer satisfaction, regardless of the menu's complexity.

Overall, Fook Yin Lau's performance during our reunion dinner was nothing short of abysmal. The lack of attention to detail, poor quality of ingredients, and abysmal service left us deeply dissatisfied. It's a shame that what should have been a memorable evening turned into a regrettable...

Edited add-on: tried their dishes, absolutely love the Three Cup chicken which was tasty, boneless n skinless. Brinjal minced meat with fish paste is good too. Black pepper pork though well cooked n tasty was a bit lacking in pepper, still very delicious though. Came here on a week day around 11.30am for lunch dim sum. Parking was a breeze. This very nice upmarket chinese restaurant is located on the 1st floor at Damansara Avenue. Love the ambience here, everything is bright, cheery, stylish and the service is very prompt, friendly and pro despite earlier reviews I read. We ordered some dim sum, a little too much for two person coz was hungry, and it came after a very short wait of about 10mins, steaming piping hot and all within five ten minutes of each other. Love the char siew pau, the skin is soft and love the parsely in it. The steam fish ball was perfect as it was not bouncy like many restaurants. The fried fish balls has a nice garlic taste to it and texture was pefect. Fried carrot cake with eggs and taugeh tasted good, love it. The steam ribs in black bean sauce wasn't my favourite, that's on me coz I have never really like pork ribs. Enjoyed the steam beancurd roll, the skin was thin and soft, though would prefer the sauce to be thicker and stick to the fu chook. The fried taro is crispy and really good. The glutinous rice with abalone n chicken was absolutely tasty, no ugly chicken skin or bone on it. Finally, a special mention to the jasmine tea. It was really nice. ........ The perfect match for a scrumptious dim sum. The service of the waiters and head waitress was attentive and very prompt and polite. To top it off, there's a promo of 20% off till end of Mar. Perfect, definitely will be back to try the other dim sum and surely must try the fried noodles and chinese dishes which all look so scrumptious...

It was 3rd day of CNY so we called ahead to check if dim sum and ala carte menu are available and the answer was yes until 230pm. We made a table reservation but when we were there at 12nn it was a mess in the restaurant. Firstly, our reservation wasn't recorded (we booked through the official Whatsapp number with conversation recorded). Secondly, dim sum and ala carte were not available. We were told to order CNY set with min spend of 899 for 6 pax, but we have only 4 adult and a 2yo baby and we are all small eater, while I saw other tables having dim sum and ala carte meal, so I went to talk to the cashier and captain. She said the kitchen was too busy so only set available now, if I insisted order something else, the waiting time will be more than an hour, or she can check what are available in the steamer and she told me inpatiently that "I have what you eat what ok? You don't have a choice now". I had a shock and I told her I am not a begger who is asking for food. The rest of the customers who crowded at the cashier to make complaint (yes I wasnt the only one who received such a good service) also had a shock and at least 3 tables of customers including us left the place immediately and they doesn't seem to care. Good luck to you Fook Yin Lau, you will not last very long in the f&b and service industry with such an excellent service and crowd control. You make your customer feel like a begger asking for food in CNY. If I can give you negative point I would. My first and last time here and I will definitely tell everyone to avoid this place...