Kat R.
Yelp
I was so excited for this meal. It had been a long time coming.
Two years ago on vacay in KL I heard Old China Cafe was one of the tastiest, most beautiful, historical etc etc. But each time we tried something got in the way.. our last night we arrived too late and were turned away at the door. Cry!
So two years later, back in KL and Old China Cafe is first on my list. I'm sooo happy as we sit down, the restaurant is so calm, clean and perfectly fitted out with antique furniture and soft lighting I feel like we're in Instagram. We sip tiger beers and order our favourites: laksa and beef rendang. And Chinese veggies for balance.
When the food arrives I actually applaud a little bit and "yaaaay!" like I'm on a Japanese variety show. So happy. I watch my husband try the laksa. "Umai!" I taste it and agree - yum! Lime(kalamansi?)-zingy coconut soup filled with all the tasty things - half a boiled egg, shrimp, fish cakes, soft fried tofu, chicken. Perfect.
Next, the rendang. The first taste and smell is amazing - coconut and lemongrass heaven. Then I chew. Huh?! The beef is thin-sliced and tough, like an overcooked stir fry. Well, at least the flavor is amazing, I think. But this is definitely NOT beef rendang! How could they mess up such a staple dish? I asked the waiter if it was different to their usual rendang. Don't know what I was expecting him to say - they ran out of amazing melt-in-your-mouth slow-cooked perfection so they whipped up this chewy substitute at the last minute? He answered that they also had a chicken rendang. Not sure if my question was lost in translation or not, but yep, chicken rendang. Go for the chicken rendang.
I read in some other reviews that Old China Cafe isn't what it used to be. Ahhh if only we'd made it in two years ago, before they got sloppy with their beef rendang.....