Mamak Roti House

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  3      Service  1      Value  1     

The waiter guy was really awful. He got our order wrong. After taking it back to the kitchen, he still charged us extra for his mistake！ No apologies, nothing. Do not go there, not worth the frustration.

May 18, 2012 

6 Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  6     

The roti is Ok but not a patch on the legendary roti at Mamak in Sydney. We had a boring vegetarian dish and a pretty good steamed chicken with black fungus (from the specials). Rice is an extra @ $2.80 per portion. The sambal is too sweet and lacks heat. Overall not impressed.

Mar 20, 2012 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  9     

This restaurant is still fairly new. And I think that the previous reviewers should return to try out the restaurant again as I really like the food, and find their service prompt and friendly. This is probably the only place in Canberra where you can get fresh Malaysian roti breads, and my kids just love watching the chef doing the roti making action.

I also like coming here for their curries, roti murtabak, stuffed with chicken, and their nasi goreng kampung-spicy fried rice with ikan bilis, (just like how mum does it). I also enjoy having the chendol and roti banana with ice cream to finish my meal. Yummmm.

Jan 30, 2012 

3.3 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  4      Service  4      Value  2     

I was there in their opening day and everything is not that special, all the order we have are very small serving and not worth the money you pay for and you might rather have a maccas, the wait is 45min and the curry chicken are so small (4-5pieces in the bowl), the beef rendang are the same as the curry chicken (small), the roti ok but not as good as in hawker stall in Malaysia.The desert is pretty good.
After two weeks I invited few of my friend, to try them out again and seem like there are on longer mamak roti house, only roti house... well you can say there is no different, the dessert/drinks slack off but the teh tarik still ok. Honestly thanks but no thanks.

Nov 24, 2011 

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

Since the restaurant opened two months ago, I've been coming here with family and friends at least twice a week. Food: This is the place to be to get good freshly made roti breads and curries. The food and service have improved a lot since it was first opened. I am a fan of their roti breads and nasi lemak (I like this with chicken curry and fried chicken wings, or belacan ayam goreng). The roti breads are simply to die for, and the curry dips and sambal sauce accompanying the rotis bring back memories of eating roti in mamak stalls in malaysia. I also like their drinks and desserts section. As I work near the place, I like grabbing the teh tarik on the go. The teh tarik is a special milk tea drink, sweet, with subtle tea taste. Chendol is something I always have in Malaysia, a dessert made up of shaved ice with jelly and gooey gula melaka, and this place makes this chendol dessert pretty well.

My partner and I have also fallen in love with roti tisu, a crispy and sweetly addictive hat shaped dessert bread. In terms of service: the staff here are friendly and service is speedy. They even remember us by our names as we are such regulars now. In terms of value, I like coming here as I can spend less than $10 for a good meal with teh tarik and the roti breads, or I can decide to indulge in the curries and noodles and spend a bit more. Ambience: you get to see roti breads made by the window! The place looks pretty bright with red sofa seats and colourful decor, and the space is pretty big for Canberra standard-probably fitting 100 or more people at a time. Conclusion: Highly recommend this place for good malaysian food.

Oct 15, 2011 

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  4      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

Absolutely awful service. That’s how we will remember Mamak Roti House. Our entrees came after 25 minutes. We were forgiving at first because it was after all a full house. However after about 50 minutes of waiting for our mains, we got a lot less forgiving. It wasn’t just that it took so long for the food to come but it was the attitude and stupidity of the waitresses that was really irritating. After waiting for 40 minutes, I asked the waitress where our food was. She said, “Well we are really busy, if it still hasn’t come in a little while, then let me know.”

I thought it has been more than a little while, how much longer did she want us to wait before letting her know. 10 minutes passed and I flagged down another waitress. She said she would go and check. She rushed into the kitchen and rushed immediately out holding a piece of paper looking perplexed and then back into the kitchen and came out with someone’s takeaway. We thought, what happened to checking.

By that point, we were hungry and fuming. So again, I got her attention and asked again what was happening with our food. She then told us it would be another 10 minutes. We had had enough and decided we weren’t going to waste anymore time, not going to wait over an hour for 2 dishes (one was a curry – you would think it was pre-prepared already) and so we walked out. We had little faith it would have come out in 10 mins…

The owners obviously had no idea about how to manage and run a kitchen, how wait on customers and that people actually like to have their dishes ordered come together instead of nearly half an hour apart. It was just a chaotic mess, seemed like no one was in charge and everyone was running around like chooks with their heads cut off. As we had a lot of time to observe what was happening around us, we noticed that the people next to us didn’t fare much better even though they did get their food.

Their entrée of fried chicken wings came out raw. It had to be returned to the kitchen. Then the waitress brought one of their mains, and instead of telling them what the dish was, she said, ‘is this yours?’ The couple looked quizzically at the dish and asked what it was. The waitress didn’t know. Seeing as neither the waitress nor the people knew, it seemed the easiest thing for the waitress to do was leave them with the dish. However, the couple couldn’t enjoy their meal because they were not given any cutlery or rice. So they sat there with their dish for about 10 minutes before a waiter noticed – and this was only because they were sitting right in front of the kitchen.

The people a few tables away, got their 3 dishes, about half an hour apart... lucky them. Suffice to say it’s been a really annoying experience and we will never ever go back again.

Sep 02, 2011 

4.5 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  5      Service  4      Value  5     

Mamak Roti House is a newly opened Malaysian restaurant, replicating road side food regularly found in Malaysia.

The owners have undertook extensive renovation to decorate and provide a modern touch, with a tinge of Malaysian taste to the restaurant. However, one may quickly find the place claustrophobic due to the lack of air-conditioning, with the smell of food lingering on the clothes, mainly from the oil used to fry the roti in the shop.

The food tastes rather normal, and can be incorrectly proportioned. We ordered the nasi lemak (a Malaysian favorite, easy to cook and fool-proof dish), which had all the elements of authenticity, but was seriously disproportionate. The rice served with the dish was disproportionately big, while the accompanied condiments (the heroes of the dish - Sambal, fried anchovies, veg, meat) were dismally small, making it difficult to strike the right balance of flavour. It does appear to be the job of amateur cooks, or simply prepared with little attention to detail.

The service was rather sub-par, with a focus of getting the job done rather than the comfort of customers. The waiters/waitresses employed seem to be young/university students, hence, that could explain the relatively sub-par service. Meals take approximately 20-25 minutes before it's served, which does not make it ideal for rush-hour lunch time.

One major downfall is the value. You may need to have mains + additional serves of roti before being satisfied. In total, you'd be expecting to pay anywhere between $15-30 for your meal (excluding alcohol).

I'll probably visit that place once in a while, but given the options in the city, it'll not be in the top of my list. I would recommend it just to sample a simple Malaysian experience, but not a place I'd frequent, or have a formal meal.

Aug 22, 2011