Pallet Cafe

162, Tingkat 1, Jalan Lagenda 6, Lagenda Heights, Sungai Petani

 

 

Foodelicious

 

My first day back in SP, my brother recommended that we meet for dinner at Pallet Cafe. He and his wife have tried it once and thought it would be a nice, new place for me to try.

The restaurant is not exactly easy to find. The signage is only visible if you approach it from a certain direction. It is in Lagenda Heights, on the first floor above another restaurant (Ho Sek Fong), which had ‘louder’ signs.

 The stairs to the restaurant is located on the side of the building rather than the front. Aside from being located in a row of shophouses occupied by restaurants/eateries, the location is not ideal. In my opinion, most restaurants in Malaysia have to be on the ground floor or located in a mall to thrive unless your food is so delicious or unique that it keeps customers coming. There’s just too much competition.

There are “Pallet Café” signage on the 1^st floor and ground floor on the side of the building but I still feel they dull in comparison to the Ho Sek Fong signage.  

At the bottom of the stairs, a chalkboard shows a 30% off deal and a list of menu items. Maybe too many words so I did not read the whole board. Still, a nice form of greeting. 

A number of random art work/pictures on different subject matters - Bruce Lee, Pittsburgh Steelers, Obama - line the stairs up to the restaurant. My favorite is Hulk’s foot through the wall.

 At least (4) waitstaff were right inside the entrance. I can’t decide if they are supposed to be the welcome party or just merely standing around waiting… I was drawn to the décor as soon as I walked in. Very good use of recyclable items like tires and wood pieces, accented by cute, little ornaments and signs like these ones.

Lightbulbs hang from the ceiling interspersed around star and pallet shapes made from wood pieces. 

Unlike most restaurants with uniformed seating, Pallet had various seating options. The ‘stage’ is arranged in a Japanese tatami style, our area had banquette seating while another area had glass covered tables and chairs cut out of oil drums. 

The food – a good variety, ranging from Western food to Malaysian, Japanese and Italian. I really wanted to try the Rendang Chicken Rice or John’s Percik Rice but they were out of rice! How is that possible? It was only 7:30pm. And according to my brother, they were out of rice the last time they were here too. 

 

You should stick to coffee and tea here. The banana smoothie was way too sweet. So sweet that even the kids only took a couple sips and gave up on it. I think they should have adjusted the sugar level. It may have been just right for the orange or strawberry but banana already is already sweet. The ladyfingers cookies were a nice addition though.

After several wrong orders, all the food and drinks arrived. Let’s dig in!

Bollywood Fried Chicken lived up to its name. It was spicy and had the spice flavor.

Fish and Chips – not what I expected and not sure if the blue sauce is necessary.

Grilled Chicken Chop was served with pasta. It had a good amount of sauce. I feel like the presentation could have been tighter though.

Of course my son has to order Spaghetti Bolognese. It was good. The sauce was on the sweet side but I didn’t mind it. There were large pieces of fresh mushrooms (and I mean really large) which was a big plus. 

King’s Spicy Aglio Olio – more large slices of fresh mushrooms. I really like the flavor. I can see why this is one of their signature dishes. 

Loved the Ham Supreme Tortilla Pizza. It’s a play on thin crust pizza using tortilla. The crust was crunchy. The filling, with the combination of cheese, onion, turkey ham, mushroom, and bell peppers was yummy. The Baked Cheese Macaroni looked cheesy enough. I didn’t get to taste it but the little one who did said it was good. 

The food here is good - as indicated by our plates…

 

Despite the disappointment with the rice situation and the wrong orders, I will probably be back. The food was good. I love the décor and ambiance. The owner has put so much thought into the details of this place. It’s such a cheerful place and gives the vibe that you and your friends are welcomed here to hang out as long as you want, whether for a full meal or just a cup of coffee. 

Food                            4 (would have been higher if not for the smoothie)

Customer Service      2.5 (can’t overlook the issues with the rice and our order)

Ambiance                   4.5

Décor/Details             5
Parking                        3 (it gets pretty busy with all the restaurants around)