Malai Kitchen — Restaurant in Southlake

We have made multiple dinner visits to Malai Kitchen at Southlake over the years, and their food used to be delectable. However, today’s experience has shaken me. The service and food quality were not worth our time or money.

I regret taking my mom out to such a second-rate restaurant. We arrived for dinner at about 8 PM, and the restaurant was far less busy than it has been historically. No wait time on a Saturday evening should have been a red flag. I should have realized something was unusual, but we were too hungry to question our luck. We were escorted to our seats in a couple of moments.

For a party of two, we were seated in a small booth. The seat was dirty, and only after requesting twice did the hostess clean it properly. We ordered the shishito pepper appetizer, which was thankfully edible. I like to start my meal with a dessert, so I ordered the Mango Sticky Rice. I remain baffled by how the dessert was so ruined. Unlike every other time, it tasted like sugar syrup with barely any coconut milk. The sliced mangoes were tangy, which is unacceptable during mango season when fresh varieties are readily available. Historically, this dessert used to be subtle, delicious and satisfying.

I must highlight that the table could barely hold two small plates, two mugs, a pot of tea, and the appetizer bowl. We found it difficult to place the items as they arrived, but didn’t complain, thinking this was the best seating available for customers without reservations.

For the main course, we ordered a vegetarian Panang curry and Basil fried rice. The Panang curry was almost brown, unlike the usual reddish-orange, and tasted very different from any Panang curry I’ve ever had. The tofu was rubbery, and the curry tasted like an insipid version of an Indian masala curry. The Basil fried rice was equally unappetizing, with almost no basil flavor.

When I walked to the restroom, the whole experience started to make sense. The restaurant was 75% unoccupied, with significantly fewer patrons than usual. We last dined at this restaurant in February 2024, and something had clearly changed since then. Noticing the low occupancy, I was furious that we were seated in a cramped corner booth with barely any space to move. There were plenty of unoccupied booths and tables available, so there was no justifiable reason to seat us at such an inadequate table.

I have visited this location many times over the past 7+ years, and it has always been a bustling restaurant. We have enjoyed meals here with friends on both weekdays and weekends. I am beyond disappointed with this experience and will certainly spread the word to ensure our friends avoid a similar...

For years Malai Kitchen has been our favorite restaurant. We celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and now that we have moved away it is has been a must visit on our list when we are in town. We just had an amazing visit over Labor Day weekend and ate at Malai twice. We ate there last night and were totally disappointed. It started off with drinks. Over Labor Day, we waited at the bar and I made some adjustments to one of the signature cocktails with him and it was fantastic. I tried this last night and was told that the signature cocktails could not be adapted the way I wanted, but we will bring you a different adaptation you will love. It was horrible. Then we got our food. The appetizers were great as always, but the main dishes were completely off. The coconut soup had so much fish sauce which they tried to correct by adding more lime that you could only eat the meat out. The broth was inedible. My son's medium yellow curry came out covered in pepper flakes. It was too hot for him to taste anything but pepper. The real surprise was the complete change in atmosphere. The service was really off. We were a table of 6 and they stuck us in the back when there were plenty of places open towards the front. Our waitress would come by and be attentive and then disappear for unreasonably long stretches. The restaurant was not busy, but it took twice the amount of time to get anything. The manager took the award for lousy service. Her attitude about the drink was the worst example of customer service I have experienced in a ling time. She had this superior attitude and I thought she was going to force me to keep the nasty cocktail they made up. It was obvious that her condescending attitude towards customers had completely moved into the wait staff. They kept trying to clear dishes before we had finished the food and when we provided feedback on the two dishes that were not prepared well, we were completely ignored. It is sad to see the decline of a restaurant that given you so many wonderful memories, but we won't have Malai Kitchen on our must visit list any longer. I go out for dinner to enjoy time with family with good food and a great service. I will spend my money at a restaurant that respects their customers and values providing an amazing dining experience. Malai Kitchen no...

My Wife and I came in by referral. We live 30 miles Northeast, and had just finished a private chef event in Southlake. The staff was warm, inviting, and very professional. We got to sit in a booth right in front of the pass and with me being a chef, I got to see the dynamics of the kitchen. The kitchen was clean, gloves were being utilized, and the chef was working expo making sure that every plate went out the way it should. He tasted and garnished and everything went out like a well oiled machine I even saw him working on the line making orders! That told me a lot about his ethic and his hands on approach. Their iced tea is great and had tropical notes to it which was very refreshing! We ordered the cucumber salad and shrimp spring rolls for our appetizer. The cucumber salad was so fresh and flavorful! I loved the fresh ginger in there with the lime vinaigrette! The shrimp rolls were also fresh! The nuoc mam sauce with the very small hint of fish sauce in it really made the summer roll with the salad inside the roll come to life. It was bright and fresh! I was intrigued to want to know more about their food. So, I ordered their bath mi with wok fired vegetables and the Bangkok street rice and she ordered the pineapple fried rice. The bank mi was one of the best I’ve had. The baguette was perfect! Crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside. The shredded pork was moist and the pickled vegetables with the salad just made that sandwich sing! The wok fired vegetables had a nice hint of soy and the vegetables had a nice almost charred flavor to them. The Bangkok street rice was so flavorful. The over easy egg caused it to become richer from the yolk and the white of the egg gave the dish more texture. I didn’t try the pineapple fried rice but our senses were loving every bite! I had to thank the chef and for him to thank his brigade for such a job well done! Our dinner was sexy and we haven’t been out in a long time to where we had such a “wow” moment or experience!! We left there very happy and we felt like we got our money’s worth for what we received. You cannot and will not go wrong with what they offer, what you order, and how well you are taken care of! We will be back, there’s no doubt about it! Thanks Chef for...