I should have followed my own rule that pan-Asian restaurant more often than not turn out to be non-Asian restaurants. However, the lure of the 25% off opening week special offer meant that my Chinese Thrift Gene made it a compulsory visit, especially as I saw that my 'dish before I die', char koay teow was listed on the menu
The first problem turned out that the pretty printed menus has writing that was so small and indistinct that I couldn't read it. Good thing I knew what the various dishes were or there would have been a problem.
Secondly and perhaps more importantly, the prices listed on the menu in the restaurant were all £1 more expensive that on the menu printed outside. The waitress expressed surprise when I mentioned this to her (they've been open a week) and then tried to argue that the 25% discount would counteract this. Umm, that's not the point. I then overheard her telling this to the manager, who just shrugged. So, I collared him when he walked past and he said that the menus in the restaurant had been printed wrongly and they were in the process of re-printing them. OK, so if you're aware that your menus have the wrong prices, why aren't you pointing this out to the customers or are you charging them the higher price?
As for the food. The plus is that they were generous with the seafood with lots of prawns and squid though at £9.50, you should expect a little luxury. Unfortunately, the dish I ate wasn't char koay teow but some over-sweet concoction with none of the character of my favourite hawker dish from Malaysia. I suggest the chef takes a little stroll to Chinatown to try the version of this dish at C&R Cafe or Rasa Sayang to see what it should taste like
The only thing saving this from being a one star review is that fact Chaijunt has just opened, so I'm allowing them some slack due to teething problems. However, just a friendly word of warning. I shall be returning and if I find that the menu prices inside are still more expensive than those posted outside, this will drop to a one star review! read more