After an idyllic week in Langkawi, dining on the highest quality food in the most exquisitely beautiful surroundings, with unobtrusive yet incomparably thoughtful service wherever we went, we thought that all these expereiences would be matched only by a return visit to this very special restaurant. Two years previously, my partner and I had dined on the finest Malay food imaginable at this atmospheric and wonderfully executed restaurant, that displayed the finest cuisine in the most romantic of settings.

What a difference two years makes! The restaurant was empty, save for a family who were through within a few minutes of our arrival. Now operated by GMH (who own the Datai amongst others) we experienced painfully obtrusive service from an Assistant Restaurant Manager with verbal diarrhoea, a restricted menu that failed to display any of the qualities that we had remembered from our first visit and a bill that exceeded any restaurant bill from the other superb dining experiences on our wonderful trip. Worse still, I had a stomach upset as a souvenir of the visit that lasted throughout the 13 hour flight back to the UK the following morning. In hindsight, it was clear that the kitchen was so under stocked that the ARM had decided before we arrived what he was going to serve up - and it really was quite ghastly!

The setting is still magnificent and a romantic contrast to the high rise steel and glass of ultra modern KL City. One would expect GMH to get their act together over the coming months at The Gulai House, but if our experience is anything to go by, they stand accused of taking money from the gullible under false pretences. Perhaps they would be better off closing for dinner until they can get the right people to serve acceptable food?

All round a sorry experience and a restaurant to be avoided until it makes a serious improvement in the qualities of its kitchen and front of house staff.

Totally different to normal modern high rise in the far east. Personal attention like no other, a personal butler who would rather take you to your restaurant in his own car than see you waiting for a taxi that is 10 minutes late and who has already asked to iron your stuff as it got creased in the suitcase. Try it