Red Kwali

Love this place. Food and service is great!

Went here for lunch with a group of 6 people. Our first indication we should have gone somewhere else was the lack of customers in the restaurant… Oops.
The waitress started service by setting two pitchers of water on the table and then left us. It took forever for us to finally get her attention to order and then we had to wait quite a long time for our food. (Unbeknownst to us as we walked in, there’s a small sign that says dishes can take up to 20 minutes to make, trust me its a small sign you wouldn’t have seen walking in).
When the food finally started to arrive, 3 dishes arrived. A few minutes later, 1 more, then a few more minutes later another dish. Finally 5 minutes after the 5^th dish arrived, our 6^th plate came out.
I ordered a yellow curry because I thought you really couldn’t mess it up. When it finally arrived, it had the consistency of Campbell’s chicken soup. The potatoes were bout 1/​8″ thick and soggy, not mushy, but soggy. Another one of the other dishes we ordered was a seafood noodle dish and the calamari legs had a slimy under cooked texture.
With the combination of bad food and bad service, i was not willing to pay the mandatory 18% «service charge» and kindly asked the waitress to remove it from our bill. She went to who I presumed to be the owner to inform her of our request. The owner came to me very upset asking what was wrong with their service, we were fed, and pointed at the small sign. Before I could even mention to her that we were never checked on and the food came very staged, she turns around and walks away. Of course I said, you walking away is everything wrong with the service, you don’t even give me a chance to give you feedback.
tl;dr — food tasted off, service is slow, don’t go, unless you’re starving and the restaurant next door has a 2 hour line and you can’t walk to any of the 10 restaurants nearby.

We happened to be in the neighborhood and decided to try here.
I ordered Penang yellow curry with beef, and it was just not good…
Flavor of yellow curry was ok, but beef… It was leathery, tasted old like few days old cooked beef…
I can tell the beef was not cooked fresh today…
My husband ordered basil fried rice… looked colorful with lots of red pepper, but no flavor at all…
No wonder why there were hardly anybody at 12:00 on weekdays…

Grrhhh. Don’t like food here. I have ordered panang yellow curry with rice. The chicken is not cooked well and curry taste so awful.

Not bad food, but a little overpriced. And I found a puddle, literally a PUDDLE, of oil at the bottom. For this price, you will get better food at Banana Leaf or Dish Dash. Not recommended unless you are in a rush and the other places are busy.

Consistently great food and great staff. Enjoy it every time I’m there.

I really can’t tell how good the food is since they only open from 11 – 2:30 Monday-​Friday. How can they still be in business if they only open 4 hours a day 5 days a week?

Overly salty, and spicy with no real flavor. Weird chicken pieces in my soup. I would highly recommend you not come here. Of course I didn’t look at Unilocal before grabbing lunch. Lesson learned

Ordered Roti prata, Thai red curry, Sriracha Chilli fried rice and Mee Gorang mamak.
Roti prata was not to the mark. It is supposed to be thin and crispy. The one they served felt like a frozen naan. Sause was ok.
Coming to the main course, Thai red curry was good and sriracha was ok. Didn’t like the tomatoes in the sriracha. It was not spicy as name says. Noodles were good but the Mee Gorang but had too many peanuts in it and i did not like that flavor.
The pros are it had nice ambience. The order was served real fast!!! Also the quantity was big.

We got here at 11 today, just as they were opening. Promptly greeted and seated, we were impressed with the service, ambience and the ability to carry on a conversation. And then someone turned on the MUSIC THIS %$#*&% LOUD. Though seated across the table from each other, we could barely make out what the other said. Finally, the waitress came over and we asked if the music could be turned down. She said she’d check, and in a few moments the music became ONLY THIS LOUD. (sigh…)
The only reason we gave this place two stars is that the food was really good.
My ears are still ringing…

I liked this place a lot. The the food was flavorful and excellent (the shrimp Pad Thai, and the curry the served as an appetizer), the staff was friendly, and the place was clean and nicely decorated.
The only turn off was the lady brought the check while we were still eating, but she said to take our time. –She was not trying to rush us, but this is a pet peeve of mine.
I have been thinking about this place for the past two days, and look forward to returning.

In all honesty, my coworkers and I came in here because Dish Dash was packed with a 45min at 11:30am for lunch. Ridiculous.
But, I’m glad we stopped in to check this place out. The place was empty when we arrived, so we were seated immediately. The lady that took our orders was super nice, and accommodating with special food/​ingredient preferences. The servers on the other hand, did not speak much, but were very good about refilling drinks. The food also came out very quickly which was quite impressive– ideal for a working lunch. For starters, we order the roti pratha which was a very small order, and the roti is a tad thicker. The thickness is really a preference thing, so I won’t say too much other than I thought it was pretty good. But again, too small for an order.
For lunch I ordered the Singapore Laksa Curry noodle which was fettuccine with the curry broth. I ordered it with chicken, and it came with A LOT of chicken (breast meat). The overall flavor was pretty good actually and definitely had a good kick to it. The portion was perfect as well.
The speediness of food, overall service and food flavor is worth 3 stars, but nothing impressive.

There was a major line today at Dish Dash next door. As we were on a bit of a time crunch it made sense to give Red Kwali a shot.
Today at 1215 PM there were lots of tables available. The three of us were promptly seated. Our waitress was friendly and knowledgeable of the menu. I chose the yellow curry with shrimp, white rice and an Italian strawberry soda.
My yellow curry was fair. It was a bit soupy and needed more shrimp and vegetables. Portion was average sized. Looked to me like they already had it prepared in a large vat in the kitchen and simply poured me a bowl.
My business associates had the black pepper chicken and Nasi Goreng. Both looked okay and everyone enjoyed an acceptable lunch.
Would I eat here again? Yes. Why? Place was pleasant enough and the food hit the spot. It just was nothing special — that’s all.

I have only been here when Dish Dash was too busy. Unfortunately there is a reason this place always has tables available.
The two items I’ve had we’re not very flavorful, and the meat portions were very light compared to the vegetables. Also, our drinks came after our meals arrived and we never had a chance to ask for a refill.
I wouldn’t ever come directly to this place, and likely won’t return as there are many other options around here.

If I had to summarize my experience here in one word, it would be «meh.»
I came here with a friend during lunch hour; we randomly drove around McCarthy Ranch until we found something that piqued our interest. I love Thai and Malaysian food, so I thought we’d give it a shot.
The roti prata appetizer was good — the roti itself was flaky, warm, and great texture. However, the curry sauce was bland and flavorless.
My friend ordered the pad thai — it was oily, not well stir-​fried, and really bland. I ordered the red curry, and it was really watery.
There are far, far better Thai and Malaysian places in the Bay; needless to say, I won’t be back.

Setting: Restaurant was very clean and looked very nicely decorated on the inside. This is the only reason why it has 1 extra star.
Service: Almost Non-​existent. We were the only party there and service was slow. The waitress was nowhere to be found the entire time. It took about 20 minutes for us to get our food.
Food: Average.

Big portion but not tasty. Food came warm, not hot. Rice was not even warm… I don’t recommend it.

Never again. I came here with some colleagues on a whim. We were actually planning to go to the place next door, but the wait was just too long for us. I wish I had stopped to check the reviews before I set foot in here. There are redeeming qualities, but none that would urge me to come back.
First and foremost, I was slightly irked that we were placed at a table that our hostess had wiped down with a very very gray (it was originally white) towel seconds before we were seated. We were also given our napkin and silverware in our glass. Now, if this is how they served EVERY customer, I still would have questioned it, but every other table had their glass, silverware and napkin set out like a restaurant usually does. Did something about us say that we wanted sub-​par treatment?
And the sub-​par treatment continues… we sat there for 15 minutes before we asked a gal clearing plates if we were supposed to get up and order at the counter. She said no and that there would be a waitress there shortly. Shortly was 5 minutes later when we waved down another girl. The selection is fine… I got the Phad Thai (Yes, that’s really how they spelled it).
In the meantime, they brought water in a pitcher — for three people? Okay. so maybe they’re understaffed. I’m okay with pouring my own water. Really though, I’m not one of those people who think different bottled waters have different taste. I have NO problem with tap. I must just have a problem with Milpitas tap. It was awful. Throw a lemon in or something, PLEASE.
All our dishes came separately… and it truly wasn’t worth the wait. The gents I had lunch with thought the food was fine, but I can’t say the same. Vinegar. That’s what it tasted like. Vinegar noodles. Thank you to the older woman who came by to ask if I wanted a box without me having to wave down the ONE waitress for FIFTEEN TABLES, but I won’t be back.

Like most of the people here, we came to Red Kwali because the wait for Banana Leaf was too long.
The restaurant setting and décor is actually nicer than Banana Leaf and of course – no wait! As we sat down, the waiter quickly brought out our water and left us the pitcher of water which was nice.
My friend lived in Malaysia for a number of years so he’s familiar with the what’s good. When he asked for the specialty dishes, they didn’t serve any of it because the waiter mentioned that no one ordered it because people prefer the more Americanized dishes. Boo.
So we ordered the Roti, Assam Chili Beef, Mee Goreng Mamak, Assam Chili Noodle, and the chef came out and recommended the Satay chicken.
The Roti came out and it was no so blah compared to Banana Leaf. The pancake lacked the fluffiness and the sauce lacked flavor. The Satay chicken was quite good tho. It comes out in 4 skewers and tasted better without the dipping sauce. The Assam Chili Beef was kinda tough so I’d pass on that.
The Mee Goreng Mamak noodle was pretty good and had a great kick. This was my next favorite. The Assam Chili Noodle was also pretty mediocre.
The price is kinda high for a very average quality. You can get away with it at Krung Thai because their stuff is the bomb, but not this place. I guess you pay for the nice décor and great service. I would come back and give this place another try. It’s certainly worth it for the ambiance alone and a nice alternative to that 20 minute wait across the street.
Trivia: In Malaysia everyone calls the men «Boss» and the women «Auntie», but DON’T call the boss lady that works there that. She said it makes her feel old!

Red Kwali is a Thai/​Malaysian-​oriented casual eatery at the McCarthy Ranch shopping centre in Milpitas, in the space where a Martin Yan fast-​casual outlet once stood. There’s a lot of competition at this shopping centre, including similarly themed Banana Leaf and the vegetarian Green Café, both of which are usually mobbed at lunch.
I came here with colleagues last Friday at the tail end of the lunch hour. Many of the other eateries at the centre were packed as usual, so we were pleased to see that there were several open tables here. We were greeted courteously, seated promptly, and served very quickly.
We ordered roti pratha, a mix of curries, and a couple of rice dishes. The roti pratha was decent, although an Indian colleague remarked that it was slightly more doughy and less flaky and finely multi-​layered than what she’d expect. The curries, if a bit watery and bland, were decent and fulfilling enough for a group of five, as were the rice dishes. The muted, somewhat bland flavors were just right for my palate on an exceptionally warm afternoon (there wasn’t any air conditioning running in the restaurant), and my coworkers and I were soon sweating mildly. That having been said, I didn’t notice any overpowering saltiness, spiciness, or sweetness.
The eatery is tastefully designed with bold colors, wallpapering, and Buddha statues throughout. My coworkers and I agreed that while the food wasn’t necessarily as good as some of the other eateries at McCarthy Ranch, it was certainly decent and passable, and worth visiting again if all the other eateries were jam-​packed. In particular, we felt that we could have a nice group conversation here about business and more leisurely topics without being overwhelmed with noise or feeling rushed like we would at neighboring places. A solid 3 stars.