Rebung Chef Ismail 2 — Restaurant in Putrajaya

*Service: 3/5 Staff service was good. They immediately cleaned our plates after using it. Only at payment counter, one lady with short hair was not friendly at all. No eye contact and smile. Hope she will improve her attitude and be a good example to her colleagues.

*Food & Drink: 2/5 At first, I feel excited to come because I love local dishes, plus this restaurant owned by a well-known Chef for sure the food is worth to try. Unfortunately it was not as expected. There were various types of food but only a few were delicious like gulai daging and kuih/dessert only. Other than that it was just bland and tasteless. The soup was too salty. For drinks- the choices were too limited. Strawberry, Janda Pulang, Teh O Panas, Kopi O Panas and ABC. I thought Janda Pulang was Sirap with coconut filling. But it tasted weird. For me it is better to serve regular drinks that people like, example Sirap and Teh Tarik than to let them waste because not tasty. Then there were flies/small insects flying around the dessert and fruit area. Sadly I found hair in the cucumber bowl for Laksa. Is there no staff assigned to monitor and make sure all the food is good and clean? On this point, I am agreed with the bad reviews from others because the quality of some food is not acceptable. I think the management needs to take these bad reviews seriously.

*Ambiance: 3/5 Attractive wall decoration but the arrangements look messy, gloomy and the floor is not clean. For me the background music (Malay "galau" songs) is loud and not suitable. The surrounding is more like attending "kenduri". Outside view is nice can see Putrajaya lake.

*Cleanliness: 1/5 Please monitor and make improvements. The food area is messy. There are flies. The tablecloth and most of the glass cup is dirty. Many plates are chipped. I think it's not nice to serve to customers? I also found the toilet & floor dirty.

*Parking: 5/5. Plenty of paid parking.

** Overall: 1/5 In my personal opinion, more improvements are needed for food and cleanliness part. Hopefully the management can monitor and take action. The quality of food does not match the standards of certified Chef. Offering affordable buffet prices doesn't mean we can providing poor quality service. Please make improvements for customer satisfaction. I am sure customer will interested to repeat and recommend to others. Based on my experience, I feel disappointed and do not recommend this place until they make improvements. I wish the business all the best and will be...

Our friend in Malaysia invited us for a buffet dinner at Rebung Chef Ismail 2. There were six of us, my wife and I, our friend with her daughter, and a family friend. We arrived a little early, even before the restaurant opened.

The entrance was charming, featuring traditional Malay design elements that gave a warm and welcoming feel. The hostess was friendly and promptly checked us in. We were then led to our table in a spacious dining area. While the setup was simple and functional, the tables felt tightly packed, I guess to maximize seating.

The buffet spread was good, offering a reasonable variety of traditional Malay dishes. From satay to main courses of chicken, lamb, and fish, along with kuih, laksa, and rojak buah, there wasn’t an overwhelming selection, but the essentials were all there. My wife and I sampled most of the dishes, and everything we tried was delicious. Our friends felt the same.

One thing worth mentioning is the flow of the buffet layout. It starts well with appetizers, but quickly transitions into semi-desserts and other dishes without clear separation. I wish there was better organization or division between appetizers/starters, main courses, and desserts. A more structured layout would make it easier for diners to navigate and enjoy the meal in a more logical order.

Unfortunately, the service left much to be desired. Despite having plenty of staff around, they seemed more focused on their own tasks than on guest interaction. For example, when a server dropped something off at our table, there was no effort to welcome us, explain the buffet layout, or offer assistance, basic hospitality touches often expected, even in a buffet setting.

Throughout the evening, no one checked in to see how our meal was going, even though there were clearly more staff than guests at the time. We also noticed several buffet items without proper labels, which was surprising given we were only the second group to arrive after opening. The kitchen staff behind the buffet seemed disengaged, some on their phones or chatting amongst themselves, without acknowledging customers or offering any help.

In summary: The food was delicious and authentically Malay, but the service and buffet organization could be improved. With better guest engagement and more precise buffet flow, this place could offer a much more enjoyable...

We went to this restaurant for a celebratory family dinner on 18 August. We were expecting a nice evening out together, enjoying a buffet of Malay food. Unfortunately this was not the case.

I was very taken aback at the quality of food that was served that night. While there was variety, they were all cold, including the mushroom soup and the laksa Penang! At one point, we requested that one bowl of mushroom soup was heated up for an elderly family member. After waiting for a long time, we asked what happened to our request, and found out the restaurant had forgotten about it. When we finally received the soup, it was still cold! We had to send the soup back. Our family is not usually picky, but our experience was so bad that none of our family members enjoyed the dinner. We forced ourselves to finish our meals because of the hefty price. At RM70 per person, it was simply not worth it.

I would strongly recommend that the food at the buffet table be frequently checked and heated, and to also add the variety of drinks. There was only Teh O panas, Kopi O panas (both very sweet) and sirap ais. Again, for the price, it was not worth it.

As for the atmosphere, we enjoyed the view of the lake and the live band, but did not enjoy the screaming children running around the restaurant everywhere. There was also the risk of them running into the table of food (which at least had nothing hot on them.) Restaurant managers should advise patrons with children to at least be mindful of other patrons.

I do not enjoy giving a bad review, but our experience left such a negative impression that this feedback was necessary. My parents declared they would never return to this place, which is a pity. I hope improvements will be made asap as this was quite shocking for a restaurant of...