When this store announced its opening I held my breath. Would it really bring back memories of Malaysian fast food dining like the original stores in Kuala Lumpur at a reasonable price? I thought for a moment that a little part of Malaysian kitsch had arrived in Melbourne!

Well.... unfortunately at the moment the Doncaster branch is going through a massive teething process where things are just not quite right.

I have visited the place since opening three times and unfortunately the overall offering has progressively got worse!

The food is okay, with the traditional Malaysian fare of Roti breads with curry, Brianyi or regular rice with Chicken Curry, Red Chicken or Sambal prawns. It is similar to the original restaurant in Malaysia.

However there are several things that detract from the experience:

- Waiting staff are inexperienced and slow, we have to write on an order form the dishes we want and the waiter will then enter it in on the computer. Unfortunately they entered the wrong dish number so we did not get what we ordered. You will also have some waiting staff visit you with food you never ordered or even takeaway half way through your meal. Keep an eye on your orders carefully because you want to make sure you are not charged for things you do not order!

- The kitchen runs slow, especially during peak lunch or dinner times so it can be up to 1/2 hour wait for your meal or some dishes come quickly but then you wait 1/2 hour for the next one! So some of our diners had almost finished their meal whilst others were hungry and waiting!

- The kitchen had inadequate ventilation so on one visit smoke spread into the dining area. They had to then keep the front door open at night which meant that cold air came rushing in whilst we were dining. Not particularly pleasant.

- There was insufficient seating and we were on some occasions asked to share a table with completely unknown diners or they overcrowded the table so that the dishes overloaded the table.

- The staff have not tried the dishes so when we asked whether something was very spicy or mild they did not know and had to "seek the boss".

- The serving sizes are small by Australian standards and for the price represented only average value for money. It is easy to order two main dishes per person in order to feel full!

- The restaurant on our latest visit (26 April 2012) ran out of many dishes from a menu that is already very limited (there are no beef (except satay), pork or lamb dishes - only chicken and vegetarian). The night before they ran out of rice so no rice dishes!! Our request for curry puff, banana desserts (which is most of the desserts in the menu!), soy bean milk and other items were only advised as unavailable after taking our order and coming back 10 to 15 minutes later to advise that there was nothing left!

The place has only been open for a week, however there is no excuse for inadequately trained staff, running out of food (well, they are a restaurant!!) and poor ventilation.

One can only hope that the place improves rapidly otherwise it will just be a one time experience for most diners!

I have been advised that the city restaurant runs much better and so it may be better to visit the city restaurant whilst this place works out all of its bugs! We do hope that it improves quickly as the original restaurants in KL provide good food at reasonable prices!

Approximate cost: $12