Kedai Makan Capitol Hill — Restaurant in Seattle

UPDATE: I wanted to update this review to reflect Kedai management’s effort in addressing my visit. Although I have not yet returned to the restaurant, they did offer to make things right with me, which I truly appreciate. I understand they were very busy on the day I prior to my initial visit, which explains many of the issues I experienced. I will update again once I return.

Ok, so I wrote to management about my experience and they have not replied, so I'm assuming they are resting on their laurels. Lol. Below is the letter I sent them. In short, this place has gone way downhill from whatever it was that gave it so many positive reviews.

Good morning. I ate at your establishment yesterday and wanted to share some observations. I hope they are helpful.

I noticed that the Yelp system for check-in was causing some issues. It was invasive and seemed to be broken. I overheard a couple complaining about being unable to sit at an open table because they were asked to sign in through the iPad. They ended up leaving. Unfortunately, Yelp's attempts to manage your business effectively hindered it. I'm sure this is a difficult situation for you.

I orderded the Laksa. It came out at room temperature and only marginally seasoned. These aspects together defeat the joy one receives by eating such a dish. The double-whammy of heat is what I live for, yet neither was given.

The service staff was friendly, but there was no check-in after receiving my laksa, and thus, there was no opportunity to explain the situation politely. So I ate lukewarm soup. Food was sitting in the window for a long time before being run to the table. I worked in restaurants for half my career, and running food to the table was always the top priority because the food is what people remember more than anything, right? When I went to use the restroom, the same food was still in the window when I returned to my table. Wow. How long did my laksa sit in the window before being run?

Overall, the staff felt very out of sync. How is management there? Does everyone understand how to work together? Pooled tips are a good start.

I recommend upgrading your noodles. They were either boiled from dry or prepared incorrectly, but this was a real bummer overall. I understand food costs and rent in Seattle have placed businesses in a tough spot, so certain corners must be cut. Looking at other places I've been, there is room for improvement, and nerds like myself will be able to tell the difference and return to those places that attend to such details. The couple across the bar looked equally dissatisfied with their food.

Thanks for reading. I share these thoughts to offer some insight that most would manifest in a bad review, but I understand that as an owner, you cannot know what you're missing. You seem to have an excellent online reputation, so I wonder if there's a way to wiggle out of your engagement with...

New location is nothing like the beloved restaurant we all miss.

Went there for dinner and my friend had made the reservation online and we waited at a bar nearby. They called (or texted, I don’t remember) him and we immediately went over, only to say there was no reservation with that name. We proved it with caller ID. They still did not make space for us, and it was pouring rain outside. They told us to wait an extra half hour do we sat in the car. Meanwhile, others got seated and we could see empty tables.

Finally we got called again, but it was for an awkwardly placed communal table near the door (it was freezing cold out and people kept opening the door and just standing in/out like idiots because they don’t have a good entrance system). I had to step over crates of bottles that should have been stored somewhere out of sight, and there was no place to hang my wet coat or put my bag. My view looking towards the door was of a freezer and bunch of kegs that also were in the way and super ugly. This was supposed to be a date night and we were expecting a charming experience, not being seated at a communal table with loud obnoxious 20-somethings. There was also a huge water spill from staff dropping a tray of drinks, and it was total chaos in there. Not a relaxing place at all!

Food + Service: zero stars. From the gaslighting front desk girl to the waitress at our table, just awful. Three times before we had even ordered, the clueless staff tried delivering us other people’s food. For some reason the menu here was almost the same as the former location, so I ordered my usual dish - the stir fried rice with greens and egg on top. I could barely eat it, the entire dish was bland and SO OILY. There were very few greens involved either, maybe like some green onions (yuck). And the tofu used to be perfect but here it was deep-fried, disgustingly greasy and inedible. Also very few pieces, so it was just this blah oily rice blob (formed, like a school lunch style scoop). I actually got nauseous from all the oil and threw up a little in the restroom (not by choice). Oh, and their dinnerware is made out of PLASTIC! So cheap and not eco-friendly! Unbelievable experience.

Overall I will NEVER go here again even if they fix some of these issues. The staff seemed very novice and the quality of the food and awful atmosphere was just unacceptable. Really miss the old Kedai Makan 😓....

Update: the inconvenience of ordering via Kedai has turned me off completely and I most likely won’t be back.

1.) they have turned off their online ordering system. So after a huge trek up to Capital Hill for an hour wait for food, you will face a sign that says “NO TAKE OUT”.

2.) they are no longer accepting take out orders, which means you can only dine in. Which isn’t a problem, but…

3.) the wait for dine- in is often 2-3 hours at LEAST. This is ridiculous. For people coming out of town, this is simply a waste of time. I see people sitting down in front of the restaurants all the time. In the heat or in the rain, it is simply not worth it.

4.) you can’t make reservations ahead of time.

5.) they don’t have a phone number. You can’t call to inquire about wait times or if they will open take-out or how long things might take. You literally have to make the journey up to Kedai to ask them a question.

Love the one dish here, but the inconvenience isn’t worth it.

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Being a Malaysian and having the privilege of having home-made Malaysian dishes by my amazing mom everytime I go home, I have quite the snobby tastebuds. It's a curse to be able to sniff out if a dish is up to par with my judgment of relative Malaysian authenticity...

Be that as it may, Kedai Makan has surpassed all my expectations! While it puts a twist on "authentic" Malaysian dishes, the dishes they offer are pretty damn good!

I stopped by here during COVID to an abbreviated menu on their storefront. You place an order at the window and wait ~15-20 mins for your to-go food.

What we got - Fried Chicken: holy macaroni, this is DAMN good; best tasting right when you get the to-go bag, piping hot. Super crunchy, lots of herbs, and the sauces were to die for! Can't recommend this enough. I have eaten a lot of fried chicken and this tops the list. The rice portion was more than adequate, too. And no worries, there is a generous helping of cucumber salad to fulfill your vegetarian needs.

Coconut Black Pudding Dessert: the longan fruits made the whole dessert. Coconut scoop could have been more for the ratio of black pudding.

Would come back again. Dishes were pretty pricey though - ranging in the $15 leagues per dish. But you can't find this type of fried chicken anywhere else, so...