Rasa Malaysia — Restaurant in Chapel Hill

I normally don't give 1 star for a restaurant because I believe even if the worst tasting food can be improved. But this 1 star is for the service. This experience at the Rasa Malaysia restaurant is shockingly disappointed to the point that I don't think there's any redemption. I only share facts and hope it helps you consider whether you would want to this restaurant:

We were a group of 8 people with 2 kids that dined at Rasa Malaysia for dinner on Monday. It wasn't super busy (half of tables were taken) around the time we arrived (6:30pm) and we ordered our food. For the next hour, we waited for our dishes patiently, only asked once the waitress about the status of the food. We could tell they were busy as they stated that they were understaffed that night. Then before our food came, one of us who paid for the meal was asked by the waitress to increase our tip to 20%, which we accepted because we understood that we're a big group. However, for the next half an hour, we observed that customers who came later got their food before us. We didn't say anything but only asked the waitress about the status of our food, which she ignored making eye contacts with us because she's so busy serving other tables. There were 2 other waitresses around but they all seemed busy and distracted. Then with a total waiting time of an hour and 40 minutes, we finally received our food. We were so hungry that we just started eating without complaining. Towards the mid of the meal, a couple of us wanted to ask the restaurant if we can be offered a free desserts or something extra to compensate the long waiting time. When we approached the waitress, she was very busy and did not respond to our request but just told us to wait longer until the owner (who she pointed to as the chef too) gets less busy. We took it as a "no" so we went back to our table and finished eating. Meanwhile, 2 customers who were sitting next to our table and also waited for at least an hour threw the menu on the table and said furiously "this is ridiculous!" when they also realized that people who came later got the food first and they simply left right after. While we were about to be done, the waitress came to our table with a plate of freshly fried sesame balls. We appreciated that they eventually met our request. While I said "thank you" and chatted with her a bit more, I thought this whole ordeal was done and at least we had an happy ending. But the waitress left with a chilling statement (in Chinese which I can understand):

"Don't make such demand next time, I don't need customers like you." (不要要挟我，我不需要你们这样的顾客。)

Wow. I think I was more shocked than upset. We understand that they were understaffed and they were busy. But it still doesn't justify the last thing that she said, which signified that she or they did not really value customer experience or at least there's no sign of making things better. She asked for 20% tip, which equaled to $40 since we were a big group. I don't think the service we received matched with the value at all.

Finally, objectively, the food still tasted delicious. But with the attitude of the restaurant, that doesn't even change a dial on the whole experience. Understaffing is always something that restaurant business owners struggle from time to time. I saw other business dealt with it creatively and satisfyingly, which means that there's way to manage situations like this better. But what we observed at Rasa Malaysia made me think that what the source of their confidence is and I wonder how many times does she think she can say that?

Well, you might still choose to go to the restaurant in the end. But for me and some of my friends, this is quite a discouraging experience and we will NOT recommend this...

This was one of my absolute favorite places to eat in Chapel Hill. I’ve brought family and friends many times and sung its praises. Tonight (party of 3 adults and 2 toddlers) was the first time I left feeling disappointed—and VERY humiliated.

We waited about 10 minutes before anyone brought water. Our server walked by a few times saying “I’ll be right there,” but didn’t take drink orders; when she finally came, she dropped off 3 icy waters and just left, no beverage order offered. We had to flag her down to place appetizers, then again to order tea, then again to place our meal orders and each one took a long time despite the dining room not being busy. Another guest actually had to go inside to locate her for their martinis, visibly frustrated.

The food was excellent—my mom loved it, which is why I kept reassuring her we should be patient. But the end of the meal crossed a line: the server asked for my card without presenting a check first, swiped it, and only afterward returned with the folio. The service was absolutely terrible. I left a cash tip, and she opened the folio in front of us and told me “that’s not enough, it has to be 20%.” I asked why, and she said “that’s just how it is.” I was shocked and embarrassed; my mom was visibly upset. It was clearly stated on the menu that parties of 6 would be automatically charged 20% tip, which is completely fine. But not only were we a party of 5 but the kids were not even served, so technically she serviced 3 people.

I want this place to succeed, but this experience ruined a family night out. Constructive feedback: please ensure servers (1) greet and offer drinks promptly, (2) check in on pacing, (3) present an itemized bill before charging a card, and (4) never pressure guests about tip amounts, it really defeats the purpose of tipping. The food remains great, but I won’t be back for a while, if ever unless service...

Our waitress was not very knowledgeable or helpful. My wife ordered the pineapple fried rice. No pineapple was anywhere on or in the dish except for a decorative piece of the skin. The menu says there are pineapple chunks. Lol. When we asked where the pineapple was we were told it was in the dish. Even if we had a microscope we would not have found it. There was also chicken in the dish which appeared to have been steamed. No flavor. No spice. Tough. I had another fried rice dish. Safffron rice with shrimp and scallops. The rice had good flavor but the scallops were absolutely tasteless. They were exactly like cheap scallops you would get in a bad seafood restaurant. No salt or spices. Seemed like they also were steamed. Waitress was unconcerned I moved them to my appetizer plate and didn't eat them. I finally said something when we got up to leave. The shrimp also appeared to be steamed. No spices. Not even salt on it. It was cooked properly. The menu description of my dish says it includes dried mixed fruit. I think it's fair to expect more than some raisins and craisins. Do they even have craisins in Malaysia?? For appetizers we had edamame which was ok. Had better other places and even here in the past. Also had vegetarian samosas. They were tiny and so the ratio of filling to fried exterior was not right. Filling was good, just not much of it. When we said something about the pineapple being missing in my wife's dish they took $4 off the price of the dish. Really??? We have been here before and had good experiences. Not sure after this we will returm. Plenty of other places that have better food and aren't as expensive. Would have expected a manager to have at least come over to our table at some point. ...