Sambal Chef — Restaurant in Houston

Went here on an early Friday night, stumbled upon it really… seemed like a new establishment, was a bit wary at first… but left amazed by the food and thoroughly satisfied. Will be back to try the other dishes. The staff were very helpful, in helping us pick out some dishes. The food came out pretty fast, hot and fresh.

Do try the iced lemon tea, not too sweet nor tart, very smooth and refreshing.

Now, onto the food. Beef Rendang, ah, yes the old favorite, how could I say no? The beef was very tender, and the curry sauce thick, rich and flavorful. I didn’t care for the cucumbers at first, and wondered why there were so many, but after dipping it in the curry sauce, and a few bites later, I realized why. The texture breaks up the rich beef and curry gravy, while cooling and cleaning the palette. The spicy clams were fresh and the sauce was exquisite! This dish is layered with spices and a deep umami fermented sauce of some sort. It’s not too spicy when you start, but builds as you keep going, beware, the sauce is addictive. The salted egg fried wings were delicious, salty, creamy, fried crispy! It tastes just as good as it looks. My wife loved the Char Koay Teow… she said it’s an elevated beef flat noodle. The seafood adds more textures than just beef flat noodle, and she appreciates the “wok hei”, they know their way around a wok. The only one we didn’t like as much was the Salted Fish Pork Belly. It wasn’t bad by any means, but I was thinking more of a braised gelatinous pork belly dish… I think it’s the Hakka Braised Pork we should try next time. The veggies and sauce was very nice, unique, nothing that I have tasted before…. tangy, sweet, but not fruity sweet… not salty… but enough to keep things interesting, pork belly was sliced thick enough to have a bite and chew. Now that I think of it…. Everything came with a sauce of some sort, (minus then noodles), each dish tasted different and added another dimension of flavor with each bite. Whenever you need more rice, just flag your waiter, ask, and they’ll promptly bring you out another steaming bowl to aid you on your journey.

I did see others dining on crabs, shrimps and fried rice (my mouth is salivating just remembering what I saw), which made me jealous.

So… when my stomach was full, the bill paid, and left overs packed up, we waived our severs good bye and told them we’ll be back again. My wife and I 100% plan on coming back and making good on...

I had eaten at this place twice when they first opened in Bellaire chinatown. However my third visit for a to go order in person yesterday was not a pleasant experience. The order for 10 items was taken at 11.23 am. At that time there were five tables occupied with customers, with one of the tables with at least maybe, 6 diners, the others are like 2-4 diners. At around 12 pm, I asked one of the nice lady behind the drinks counter, the status of the order and was told about the situation in the kitchen which I accept. However what I don't accept is, since the time that my order was taken, other diners have arrived at the restaurant and for some reason their food were already served. I can't blame the servers and those who attended to the customers since I hope, they have nothing to do with the order in which the food will be ready. However the kitchen staff is another story. They seem to be disorganized or maybe they do have a reason to prepare the food first for those that dine in vs take out. By the time my order is ready, it was already 12.18 pm, almost an hour later. This experience has caused me to not patronize this place...

I was very excited to find this new Malaysia restaurant and tried yesterday. I ordered Gado-Gado, Indonesia salad. It should be a mix vegetable salad with peanut sauce. The dish came out as a noodle dish. The waiter told me that is their Gado-Gado. It was not match with menu description. I have this dish in many places in U.S and Indonesia, I never seen a noodle Gado-Gado. I’m very disappointed.

The following is answer the restaurant explanation:

If your Gado Gado is Malaysia style, your menu should not call Indonesia salad. Your menu description for Gado Gado is mix vegetables with peanut sauce. No word mentions about noodles. But the Gado Gado I got on Friday night was 80% noodle, very little vegetables and peanut sauce was not right. The link you send to me is Gado Gado noodles, not Gado Gado salad.

People make mistakes. I am an easy going person. If you tell me sorry we made mistake. I will not ask for correct dish. I just don’t like dishonest.

I hope you can match menu and...