Shameful

Having just moved to Beijing and homesick for some authentic Singaporean food, we ventured forth to Cafe Sambal - assuming the slate of poor reviews had to be excessive. I mean, 1-star??? C'mon...

Now that we've spent 278rmb on a decidedly under-whelming dinner for 2, I'd award 1-star only for the restaurant's cunningly dark lighting preventing you from seeing what you're eating. And what were we eating? Well, more like what were we NOT eating.....

The Otak (60rmb for 7 bite-sized pieces) was definitely NOT OTAK. It was closer to Thai fish cake (tod mun pla). If you were expecting tod mun pla, you might be half-satisfied, but if otak was what you came for, big disappointment. Next came the Laksa - or 咖喱米粉 - as the menu put it. Clever. Not in a million years would you guess it was laksa in a blind taste test. But 咖喱米粉, maybe. Hoping dessert might somehow compensate for everything, we instead found the goreng pisang as banana-like as boiled potato.

In summary, if you're going there to impress a none-the-wiser date with "exotic" Singaporean/Malaysian food served in a dark cave, this place will do the trick. But if you know better and food is your main priority - the other reviewers are spot-on....AWAS! jangan makan disini indeed...