Smoked Kingdom by Don Daniyal — Restaurant in Shah Alam

LOOK & FEEL ⭐⭐

Ambience 2⭐: Somehow expected more from the setting, feels lacking (for it being a cafe). The overall design, which I feel was aiming for luxury(?), totally missed the mark. Perhaps it's the overhanging vines and wiring that made it look sorta messy. Also the furniture contributes–they're not up to standard (feels like home furniture somehow).

Menu 2⭐: They've misleadingly used 🔥 icon to indicate hot items (imagine Carbonara marked 🔥. My first read was, carbonara = spicy.. huh?). Suggestion: use chef's hat or star for recommendations and fire or chilli for spicy items (see issue further below regarding spiciness). Also being a cafe, they've disappointingly not served coffee (unsure if discontinued or out of stock when I went). What cafe don't serve coffee? FOOD & TASTE ⭐⭐⭐

Mushroom soup 2⭐: Sad, in one word (at least to my standards). Was expecting it to be thick but theirs is the runny kind (cair). Also expected chunks of mushroom cuz, well.. but nada. Came with what I think they meant garlic bread but perhaps they're just buttered bread?

Fries corn carne 4⭐: This was good. Liked that when tossed up, the amount of bolognaise and cheese sauce covers up the whole load. Enough meat & gravy in every bite.

Smoked pepper pasta 3⭐: Was nice to find something new in the pasta selection but did not expect it to be spicy (pedas), which is disappointing cuz there should've been indicators on the menu bout this (or at least mentioned in the description). Me being sensitive to spiciness (tak tahan pedas), I wasn't able to truly appreciate the taste. From what I survived through though, I think it tasted alright. SERVICE ⭐⭐

Staff 3⭐: Polite & friendly, always iirc smiling kindly. But nothing outta the norm to truly gauge their customer service quality (e.g. in another review the customer had a complaint & was able to see how well the staff navigated the situation). Hence the average 3 stars.

Hygiene 1⭐: I dislike unclean tables. When we arrived, ours was partially wet, indicating the staff didn't wipe em properly. Also, they served our mushroom soup with the garlic bread plate atop the soup bowl. Who does that? Obviously unhygienic. Then ofc, the bottom of the bread's plate got smeared with our soup, so it unnecessarily dirtied our table. SUMMARY 🙁[😐]🙂: Nothing to die for I guess. Just another cafe in another town. Pricing is standard I think (i.e. range of 20-25 for pasta & 10-15 for drinks) but expected more for the ambience. So, should y'all go?–I'd say, perhaps there're better...

im not a big fan of Ustaz Don Danial... with good reasons...but had my birthday dinner with my wife... at his restaurant...Smoked Kingdom...

the food was good...good portion, the lamb is soft tho slightly dry... the mint sause is not my fav as it is a bit watered down and somewhat tasteless, but can la... hope they change sause recepe as i can hardly taste the mint...

the pizza is a good, but got a bit stiff after 10 mins? my wife was not that fond of her watermellon drink as she felt like it was either watered down or they used cordials...

bannana split was ok... we decided on that coz we wanted to go for the classics... yeah... we r a bunch of old bumbs... i'd give the split a 3... for the price, they should use premium ice creams... and d bannana was not as ripe as it should....

we decided to sit outside as the place is a bit packed... i decided to sit on d unwiped table just to see what is going to happen... the waiter did not wipe it down for us, and we asked for tissue papers n wiped it down ourselves. they should train the staffs better....

overall the staffs are not as friendly as they should... maybe due full house and the late hours... except for the one who fed a stray cat with boosters... she was all smilley an happy to entertained our questions....

time to pay.... the cashier was eying on us at the tinted glass walls... maybe she was afraid that we would ran off hahahahaha. the cashier said i have received points and can claim a free burger or a pizza.... well dat was nice... should i go again? dunno... btw, this is at shah alam branch.

the whole thing was nice, as i spent time w my wife... as God knows how busy we are... i think that is more...

Craving Steaks, Found Surprises – Smoked Kingdom Review

Was wandering around Shah Alam with a sudden and dramatic craving for steak (you know, the kind that hits your soul). So, I Googled my way to Smoked Kingdom—the name alone had me imagining smoky, juicy cuts of meat fit for royalty.

Walked in expecting a proper steakhouse vibe, but it looked more like a regular restaurant. Still, hope was alive. "Looks can be deceiving," I told myself.

There were three of us:

I went with the Australian Grilled Lamb Shoulder, medium well.

My son went bold with the Australian Grilled Ribeye, medium rare.

My wife chose a wildcard—Aglio Olio Chicken Chop.

Then the food arrived… and so did disappointment.

My lamb shoulder? Definitely not medium well. It was more like “well done and well forgotten.” Chewing it felt like a gym workout for my jaw. My son’s ribeye, which should’ve oozed with medium rare glory, came out medium well instead. Two strikes.

Then came the aglio olio. Spicy. I mean blazing, and unless you're a chili fanatic with taste buds made of steel, you're going to sweat.

Portion-wise, let’s just say the servings were on the shy side—but the prices weren’t. For what we paid, we expected better cuts, better doneness, and a little more food to calm our carnivorous cravings.

In short, I walked in hoping for a royal feast. I walked out still hungry, with trust issues. Hope they take this feedback seriously, because the kingdom could use a little smoke…and a lot more fire in the kitchen (the...