Serai
N T · 125 Google reviewsSerai — honest food in Lincoln Park. Order the coconut pudding. Loud in the best way, with real pulse to the room, and BYOB. "the meat was tender and juicy, not tough at all and i liked the curry a lot" — N T [$$, patio]
What 872 diners keep saying
What 872 diners keep saying
verbatim, from Google
“Authentic Malaysian food & teh tarik(froth milk tea). A must order for us is the roti canai & satay chicken. My 11yr old favorite dish is oyster omelette & my 14yr old enjoyed the Malaysian oxtail soup. I loved the Hokkien Char & hubby had lamb shank rendang. Highly recommend Serai!!”
“Amazing!! We got the Roti canai, Mee Siam, and Nasi Lemak Rendang Lamb. Everything was cooked excellently. The flavors were well developed and each dish was unique. Such an underrated restaurant. The best Malay food I’ve had outside of Malaysia.”
“I can say with confidence this restaurant is one of the best I have been to in Chicago. We had the beef rendang (phenomenal) and chicken curry. Portions were great and the food even better, an exceedingly rare combination nowadays. The coconut pudding alone is reason enough for me to bring a party of friends here soon.”
“Serai is the perfect spot for anyone craving authentic Malaysian flavors in Chicago. Their nasi lemak ayam merah is as close to home as it gets, with rich sambal and perfectly cooked chicken. The chicken satay is tender, smoky, and melts in your mouth—it’s absolutely to die for. Their curry noodles are a burst of flavor, spicy and comforting, just like back home. But the dish that keeps me coming back is the claypot sizzling tofu—my ultimate favorite.”
“i thoroughly enjoyed the food we ordered at serai! we ordered the prata with chicken curry, and a lamb rendang nasi lemak. the prata was very good although i wish the prata portion had been a little more generous given that it was $9. the lamb rendang was very impressive! the meat was tender and juicy, not tough at all and i liked the curry a lot. the rice was also fragrant although not as ‘lemak’ as i would’ve hoped. our service was very good despite us coming in near closing time. i would like to be back!”
“This place is so great! The Malaysian Masi Lemak Nyonya Curry Chicken meal was fantastic, and the pulut hitam dessert was amazing. The servers were so nice. They have two spacious rooms with booths or tables, as well as a TV, and they play really nice music!”
“I have been to Serai multiple times, Maybe more than 25 times for dine in and take out. Great food and decent atmosphere. We have staple favorites like Mango Chicken, 3 Chili Chicken, Malaysian dishes and don't forget the Roti Canai and Chicken Satay. We noticed that their service has been consistently not meeting expectations. The servers are great, however at times they are unavailable when you need to order something more while dining. They are pretty relaxed and not as prompt as they used to be in the past. Overall great place to order Malaysian, Thai and they can even make some of the popular Chinese dishes (not on the menu). I highly reccommend this restaurant.”
“The food here is delicious, the service is excellent, and the restaurant itself is wonderfully spacious. However, as someone new to the area, finding the place was a bit of a challenge. While the "Kapitan" signage on the building is very clearly visible, the "Serai" sign is incredibly hard to spot. Keep your eyes peeled if it's your first time visiting! My go-to favorite at any Malaysian restaurant is the Roti/paratha and Chicken Curry, and their version is absolutely still worth ordering as a starter. My only critique is the value—it feels like they charge twice as much as a comparable Indian restaurant (where the dish originally draws its inspiration). Given the generous amount of curry provided in the serving, they really should include a second piece of roti for the price. Overall, a great dining experience that I would recommend”
“Serai has okay food, the laksa soup wasn’t warm and noodles in it tasted like they sat in the soup too long. Otherwise the taste was good. Enjoyed the lamb rendang and the curry chicken appetizer.”
“It seems Serai closed and reopened, and now shares a location with Kapitan, so I guess this is a review for both restaurants. Interesting. Anyway, my friend and I came last Thursday for dinner -- really big (and no-frills) restaurant and it was not very busy. Our server was friendly and helpful with our questions, and service was prompt and efficient. We ordered the kaya toast and roti canai as appetisers. The kaya toast was yummy (and honestly a bit rare to find in the US), but I think the portion size was definitely a bit small for the price. Roti canai was yummy -- I loved how fluffy and flaky the roti was -- and the curry was delicious, if not a bit too salty. We also ordered the mee goreng, which was a bit more disappointing. The underlying flavour of ketchup was really just too strong and drowned out all the other (sweet or savoury) sauces. The noodles were also too soft / soggy, but I thought the other ingredients (veggies, tofu) were good. Finally we had the curry laksa (the serai recipe - apparently the toppings are different), which I would definitely recommend. The egg noodles were very well-cooked to a great chewiness, and I really liked the variety of tasty toppies it came with (loved the chicken and char siu, and the fish balls were soft and very flavourful). I wish there were more broth because the noodles did get dry very quickly. Overall a pretty good meal -- I'd be keen to come again :)”
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