Sambal Shiok Laksa Bar Reviews Summary

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Fantastic food! Excellent value for money as well. The laksa is amazingly good in both depth and breadth of flavour."
• "Very authentic laksa and Malaysian food. Reminded me of good days spent in KL."
• "The white curry chicken was delicious as well as the fried chicken starter."
• "Best Laksa I have ever had."
• "Absolutely stunning food. I haven't had Assam Laksa since visiting Penang 12 years ago, and this took me right back there."
• "The Malaysian fried chicken is a banger. The best I've had."
• "The beef rendang from the specials menu was the best I’ve had! I hope they make it a permanent fixture on the menu…it’s exceptional."

Cons:

• "The laksa is very spicy, with no option to cool it down."
• "The laksa wasn't as good as we remember."
• "Classic shrimp laksa had cold tofu and no bean sprouts or veg. Soup had no depth of flavour."
• "The laksa was really lacking in ingredients, I had maybe 3 pieces of tofu and a couple of beans in the laksa."
• "The laksa here is just. Bad. As in, not good food."
• "Laksa - oily, very fishy and full of greasy tofu."
• "The signature laksa did not taste like the real traditional Malaysian laksa."

Service

Pros:

• "Would definitely come back :)"
• "Fantastic personal service, happiness in a bowl."
• "I’d definitely come back here - super friendly service as well."
• "Service is quick without being rushed. The staff are accommodating even if you show up without a reservation."
• "Staff also excellent."
• "Service was friendly and fast."
• "The staff are lovely and warm. Service is pretty fast too."

Cons:

• "Service - it was ok but no one checked if we were happy with the food, mine was only half eaten."
• "Service is a little frantic as there never seems to be enough servers and the restaurant is extremely cramped."
• "The service was disappointing… the staff lack knowledge of the products."
• "Service fairly fast but surprisingly difficult to get a reservation, so if you're going and don't want to be disappointed then I suggest booking."
• "Service was average on the night as servers seemed confused."
• "Your waitress are lost cause sometimes they have to go next door to look for the food."
• "Poor service, 5 tables have ordered before us when we arrived before them."

Value for Money

Pros:

• "Good value for money for such an incredible meal."
• "Place is quite small so you might have to wait for a table but it's worth it and not too expensive."
• "A very affordable and enjoyable meal out."
• "The prices are fair compared to other restaurants."
• "Not cheap, but not expensive either, and definitely good value."
• "Overall I’m satisfied with the bill because they are worth it."
• "Surprisingly generous portion sizes, tasty flavours, nutritious and way more exciting than anything you'd find in a chain."

Cons:

• "For £20 (!) for one bowl of noodles and £13 for a portion of friend chicken it was an expensive meal for what it was."
• "Extremely expensive and very disappointing."
• "I have to say, this place is not very good value for money."
• "Very disappointing expensive non-authentic food."
• "Over hyped over priced hipster establishment tiny bowls of laksa you can count the pieces of prawn and chicken which was two each."
• "The beef rendang, which was on special, was poor from a value perspective."
• "Completely OVERPRICED for the quality and taste that you get."

Ambience

Pros:

• "Brightly coloured laksa bar with an open kitchen and great buzzy vibe."
• "Has some kind of alternative touch for me, tables are narrow and close to each other. I liked the atmosphere there."
• "This is sure to be a firm favourite with locals and destination foodies alike."
• "The place has a cute layout, I would recommend this place."
• "It's friendly and cosy and smartly decorated."
• "The place is buzzy and friendly, busy but fast and efficient."
• "The place is small and filled with the kind of buzz that you would hope for in a Far East noodle bar."

Cons:

• "And for some incomprehensible reason, they play boring pop music at ridiculously loud levels."
• "The style of the store wasn’t impressive."
• "On entering the restaurant, I already felt like walking back out due to lack of space. It is not kids friendly at all!!"
• "A bit overpriced for a restaurant that looks like a canteen, with no typical deco and a loud pop Occidental music."
• "The space is crowded and limited with noise reverberating throughout the restaurant."
• "Pointlessly loud music blaring away. AVOID"
• "Super crowded dining hall and they made it very clear with looks and stares that this is eat then dash establishment."