Serai Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Shah Alam

We've been loyal to this restaurant for generations. My late grandpa enjoyed visiting this restaurant every time back in those days but as we moved outside shah alam we stopped going here until recently. During our first visit after many years not coming here, we were faced with huge disappointment.

We made a reservation call few hours prior to our arrival but as we arrived here, the staff said there was no booking under our name. It felt off, so we showed proves, only then did they admit that it was their fault. Simply because our booking was handled by day shift staff so none of the night shift staffs were aware of it. It shows that there's no proper reservation system 👎.

Also because of their fault, they treated us coldly that night except for only one waiter but the rest were downright petty. Sigh. Food were great though during that night. So we thought of giving this place another chance.

During our 2nd visit, again with the reservation 🤦‍♀️ we arrived on time and yet we still had to wait for our table. None of the staffs escorted us to our table, they just let us stand in the middle of the restaurant, clueless, looking for a place to sit. The food was below average, and after almost completing our meal, my brother found a sharp steel wire in his food. Told the 'boss' right away but she only apologized without compensating for another dish or discounts. Tbh, for a renowned restaurant, you could've done better.

Service 1/5 (1 for that one kind waiter during our first visit) Food 3/5 (absolutely delicious during our first visit but went downhill the next time we came; inconsistent)

Would never step foot...

After reading the reviews, honestly I have high hopes that the place is at least on par with my favourite thai restaurant, Ginger Noi Dpulze Cyberjaya. But after the dishes were served, honestly I am disappointed.

So we ordered: chicken with cashew nuts- my son loves this dish, this is recommended, not spicy and quite yummy. It has this “hotel”-taste to it

seafood tomyam - it was served in a steel bowl which is unique. Tastewise, ermm, it is okay, not the best, too much chilli swimming on top of the tomyam which I dont really love, taste-wise is enough but it doesnt have this kick that I’m expecting, still cant beat the ginger noi or para thai’s tomyam

sizzling beef - very tender and nice beef, but the sauce has this chlorine-taste to it and the sauce is so-so

orange juice - same like the beef, the orange juice tastes like only half of orange being juiced and the rest is chlorine water

rice - its charged per plate, but the guy will come to your table and put rice to it, for me, since im sharing rice with my son, i dont really like the portion, just serve per plate lah so that its a fixed portion and easier to estimate

Price wise- standard Portion - okaylaa

Will I come again? Nope!

If you’re searching for great tomyam, i would recommend Ginger Noi clear tomyam and Para Thai’s clear tomyam....

Our party of 4 arrived during lunch time on a public holiday so a wait was expected. We were offered no estimated waiting time or menus to peruse by the hostess which felt a bit weird but I assumed they were just busy at the time.

After a 20ish minute wait, a table for four cleared up and during this time another party which was slightly larger than ours (~6pax) had joined the queue behind us. The hostess, instead of offering the table to us who was first in line then, tries to offer the table to the party behind us instead. We were only let in after the other party helped to clarify that they came after us because for some reason our clarification did not cut it for her.

While we were getting seated, we then saw that the hostess who did not seem at all interested in welcoming us in was then offering menus and taking orders from the other party even though they had yet gotten a table inside because there was no other table available.

We left the establishment immediately because it was clear we were not their target customers and we were not welcomed there.

My apologies to whoever reading this as I cannot offer an honest opinion as to what their food is like. However, I can tell you that their service was more than enough to make me lose my...