Review Chef Lagenda - Hawthorn

Excellent option for lunch, food comes out fairly quickly. Had the fried char kuay teow and was delicious; great balance of noodles and meat which consists of Chinese sausage, fish cake and shrimp. Nice decor inside and there’s a free water drink station. Will definitely be back.

Really good Malaysian cusine located on Glenferrie road. Really convenient for when you need that Laksa fix. I felt that it was very comparable to Laksa King, broth was aromatic and the seafood Laksa had a good mix of scallops, prawns, Mussels and calamari. Partner had hainanese chicken rice which was really good too. Menu isn't huge, but definitely worth a try!

My favourite go to place whenever I'm craving for some Laksa. Cozy and friendly environment for some authentic Malaysian flavours.

The quantity was okay for me. Tried the bbq chicken rice lunch special. Not great but not that bad as well.

Great Laksa! Really reminded me of the ones back home.. It was creamy and savoury. Eggplant was good.

Authentic Malaysian food. Very good quality

Such a wonderful experience, excellent service, everyone is very friendly. The food is just amazing, highly recommend

No picture because I was too busy to vacuum the soup..... They should be more popular and famous. Too underrated. Never had so delicious curry laksa like this since I left Singapore! I would like to support this restaurant if they need any help at all times! Highly recommend the tropical curry laksa <3 xx Thank you so much staying safe during the pandemic, I will see you everyday!

I had some take away chicken laska for lunch.<br/><br/>The service was friendly and reasonably quick. My chicken laska was absolutely delicious.<br/><br/>Everything was fresh, the noodles were good, the chicken pieces tasty but the best part was the laska. <br/><br/>The laska was creamy, and full of flavour. It was one of the tastiest laksa's I've had in a while.<br/><br/>Happy days.

Liked the Curry Laksa. Very ‘lemak’. Ice Kacang was not as up to par. Shaved ice was clumpy. Didn’t taste like traditional ice kacang. Good service. Nice seating and environment.

Awesome place tuckered somewhere in the middle of Glenferrie street and I Just LOoooove the Nasi Lemak out there. Absolutely delicious and  mouth watering. The menu is really good and the food taste likes the way it should :) and not many get that right. Slightly crowded but hey, That's the buzz right, makes you want to go there again and again :) Perfect SEA (South East Asian) and  🐟 food as well. A Must visit and one should definitely try out the Curry Laksa

They’ve got great Malaysian food in there, and fried kueh teow and congee are my favs. The servers are friendly and amazing, so feel free to ask questions if you’re confused with their menu. The seatings in the shop is kinda cramped, but I don’t think they have the choice as the store is kinda small unfortunately. Curry laksa was pretty good too so I’m pretty impressed. Ain’t gonna be as tasty as my hometown’s curry laksa for sure but it’s good enough. Additionally, their chicken curry is pretty great tho it felt more like a rendang dish.

Food was decent tasting and definitely not bad, but I was rather disappointed with the flavours as the dishes didn't taste like authentic malaysian cuisine. <br/><br/>Ice kacang was commendable in terms of flavours, but a little pricey. <br/><br/>Overall, will probably be back only if i'm in the area and really craving some malaysian food.

Very surprised to discover that Chef Lagenda has four other outlets in addition to the Hawthorn restaurant. It's too good to be a chain!! I have a lunch location now when I head for the Lido Cinema to try out those other lunch specials.<br/>Exceptionally busy lunchtime - small, 'cosy' front space overlooking Glenferrie Rd with a much larger, spacious covered courtyard out the back. Friendly and efficient, they have a lunchtime special menu of $11.50. I went for the chicken laksa - and it was undoubtedly one of the best I've ever had. Lots of chicken, tofu, a big piece of eggplant and two different types of noodles. Soup creamy/oily/full of spicy flavour. Excellent. <br/>More recently (Nov 2019), tried the pepper beef with rice - good without being over-exciting. <br/>And Jan 2020 - tried the prawn dumpling soup. Dumplings were extraordinary, packed with prawns but soup a little bland.<br/>And then (Mar 2020), Hainan Chicken Rice. very good although I find the dish in general a little ordinary. But this was a good version!

Twice we were seated near the cash registers at the corner table in which there was a permeating smell of sewage. The food was average, not terrible. A shame as we really wanted to love it.

Always a great lunch spot! Food is to a great standard and always fast and hot. Would definitely recommend the char kway teow or the hainanese chicken rice. Perfect Malaysian-chinese dishes. <br/><br/>Staff are friendly and dishes are great value for money! They do a great lunch weekday special definitely worth making a trip for. <br/><br/>The restaurant itself is small and has limited seating but worth the wait！

The meal deals are a great value for money option.<br/>You get two meats to put in a bowl of soup (laksa, Tom yum and others) of your choosing for only $11.50.<br/>Free tea is always good in my books.<br/>Staff are friendly enough and quick to get a seat.

Used to go to the outlet in Flemington for the Assam laksa but it became too far to travel to. Thankful that there's an outlet in Hawthorn which is closer to me to get my laksa fix.<br/><br/>My favourite is the Assam Laksa but after trying the seafood crispy noodles, now I've got 2 favourites! The char kway teow was so-so only as I find there is not enough wok hei.<br/><br/>Overall a pleasant meal. Great place to go for Malaysian eats.

This is a great restaurant for authentic Malaysian / Chinese cuisine. We had the fried kuey teow and curry laksa - both are really good and always our go to options. <br/>Chef Lagenda has a few outlets now and the original restaurant is in Flemington, which we feel has tastier food.

My third time here as I’m a big Malaysian food fan. There were three of us and we were greeted yet again by lovely staff. My friends shared the Malaysian Chilli Crab, and I had Kampung Chicken. A vegetarian friend joined us later and she had Gado Gado which looked fabulous. Portion sizes were great almost too much. Plus you can talk home what you can’t eat. The restaurant isn’t too loud with music or other diners. Wheelchair friendly. Reasonable parking out the front. Takeaway does a good trade here. Will return.

my family and I were very excited to try Malaysian food at Chef Lagenda. However, we were quite upset with the experience at the restaurant and food. We ordered Curry Laksa, seafood Laksa, fried noodle with egg sauce, Nasi Lemak special and special fried rice. The staff took down one of the order wrong. We confronted with the staff and she admitted and was trying to switch to the correct order for us. However, the restaurant manager was affirmed that we put down the wrong order and the restaurant will not be responsible for customer’s mistake or mind changed. <br/>I was going to give this review 1 star only, but considering that it was the restaurant manager’s fault and not the staff’s fault. <br/>After all, the food were average and the portion is reasonable. However the customer service were very bad. <br/>

Don't know what to say about deserts, please don't waste money on those things. Fried rice noodles taste good, and laksa is better than noodles. Good thing is that they have pretty large dishes with enough stuff, which makes the price reasonable.

Being a Saturday night, the smallish eatery filled up with hungry patrons in no time. We were placed in the back area which was just 2 long tables and 1-2 small tables. Personally I don’t like sharing a table, as I really dislike patrons on the other table listening in on our conversations or peeping over our bowls of foods etc. The service staff was very attentive to our needs! Food flavours was good in some dishes and some was just bland. The Nasi Lemak and Curry Laksa was thumbs up. Portion size was decent. I will be back again but never on a weekend.

Another family friendly restaurant that serves a variety of asian style noodles and rice dishes, as well as deserts, drinks, entrees and even main course dishes. The prices are very reasonable, ranging from $9-15 for a single serving dish, but the serving sizes are very reasonable. Food also comes very quickly and service is good. Perfect place just for a casual meal

We were ordering special $10.80 meal plus Assam laksa,rice with ducks,chicken hainan.<br/>Meal very nice and cheaper compared to others Malaysian restaurants.<br/>Staff were is very attentive and we have a good service. I recommend to order any types of noodles

Had dinner last night at Chef Lagenda in Hawthorn. with a group of 10. The food was tasty and the staff were friendly. Food was also great value. We ordered rice to come out with our mains (one of them was curry) but after waiting over 20 minutes for the rice it never came and we ended up telling the staff not to worry about it. I also thought that the seating was quite uncomfortable. We sat on wooden block-type seats with sharp edges and my knees couldn’t fit under the table! Overall, however, I appreciate the quality of the food and the staff tried their best to accomodate us.

Can never go wrong with this place, so reliable for a tasty dinner. Laksa is the stand out. Only bad thing is you may not get a seat but worth the wait

Came here when our favorite Japanese restaurant was closed for the holidays. Food was not too bad, but not great. If we weren’t starving we would have gone to Box Hill or Glen Waverley for similar cuisine. Service was good though, would I be back? I’ll think about it...

Attentive and friendly staff, quick service and good food. The rice noodles in egg sauce was yummy, and the accompanying sambal and green chillies were perfect accompaniments. Tofu with mushroom was tasty, although I prefer the softer tofu.

Ordered the gado gado for lunch. Vegetables were cooked fine however were not salted. Disappointed it did not come with egg which typically is included in a gado gado dish. The satay sauce was nice and serving size of the dish was very generous.<br/><br/>I had the ice kacang for dessert. Really enjoyed it but maybe they could give bigger spoons for it lol.

Chef Lagenda has been a bit of a legend over the years. Unfortunately our most recent visit was sub par. <br/>Their $11.50 deal for 2 meats and noodles/rice was great value for money but what we got was the driest char siu I have ever had (a bit like pork jerky) and reasonable steamed chicken. <br/>The combination hor fun was serviceable but the dark colour was slightly off putting. <br/>And finally, the duck gua bao was a great idea but needed a little more hoi sin sauce to counteract the dry duck. <br/>Service was ok and they actually have a large seating area at the back of the restaurant. <br/>I know Chef Lagenda can do better than this so I will be back.

Laksa is fantastic! Rich, creamy, thick, just the right amount of spice, not watery at all. Roast pork and duck were so flavoursome! <br/>Spring rolls are plump, very big & fresh. <br/>Avoid the fried hokkien noodles, swimming in sauce, but not a very good flavour. <br/>The meal deal is such good value! <br/>Will definitely be back for the meal deal and laksa.

There was no hand soap in toilet. I wonder whether chef washes his hands after using toilet or before cooking. Food was tasty though. I have no more to say but Zomato asking me to fill up more than 140 characters.

I have been here a few times since it opened. Solid food, the $12 deal for 2 mains, 1 soup and rice is a steal! (Get everything but grilled chicken ;) ). Attentive staff. Seating area is a bit small and crowded, but it seems they have more seats at the back of the restaurant. Love the blend of Malaysian/Singapore and Chinese food here.

This is the worst customer service I have never seen!!!! The dishes we order it was absolutely burned, we were seeking for alternative, and the staff come told us the way this dish is just like burn, like what the hell! And she was been yelling at me as a writness!!! I can’t believe this! She was so loud!!!! All of the ppl can hear that she told me that NEXT TIME I SHOULD TELL THEM I DONT LIKE BURN STYLE!!!! That’s absolutely ridiculous !!!!! I am doing hospitality recruiting for so long, I have never see any candidate like this her! She is terrible! <br/>I WOULD NEVER COME BACK , I WOULD EVEN TOLD MY FRIENDS NOT TO COME HERE !

The best laksa in Melbourne! The laksa soup is very rich and tasty, you can tell a lot of love and spices went into it. Other dishes look great like the Singaporean chilli crab but I believe this place is a go to for the traditional Malaysian soup-based dishes like the prawn mee. Service is exceptional, quick and very friendly. Would highly recommend.

These guys are solid! They have a pretty extensive menu but I ordered the two meats and soup special and it was suburb can't wait till I'm in the area next to Dine again. Keep it up!

Have been to chef agenda quite a few times and normally get the mee goreng or the kway teow but decided to try something different. So I got the friend chicken in chilli sauce on rice and it was extremely underwhelming. Seemed like it was friend chicken in bottles sweet chilli sauce on rice. Would not recommend. However the roti and satay sauce never disappoints. Veg Laksa looked good too.

Will come back for:<br/>+ The meal deal (roast duck, Hainanese chicken and Tom yum soup)<br/>+ Curry Laksa <br/>+ Char Kuay Teow<br/><br/>The original Chef Legenda branch in Flemington has always been one of my “go to” places to grab an ala carte Malaysian meal. Whilst looking for dinner, we popped by the Hawthorn branch for some hawker style dishes and was quite impressed by them. We had the meal deal with a mix of Hainanese chicken and chicken rice, roast duck and Tom yum soup which was great value and delicious. The Curry Laksa had a generous amount of nicely cooked prawns and had great Laksa flavour. And the Chat Kuey Teow was smoky and satisfying. The only let down was the roti with curry - the roti was a little on the tough side instead of being light and fluffy. Our waiter was cheerful, funny, and efficient. Couldn’t be happier with the overall dining experience.

Ordered the mean deal and WHAT A DEAL it was. Two meats, soup with noodles and tea all for $11.50. The quality was good and flavours amazing. Will be lunching here again if ever in the area.

Had the Har Mee here during lunchtime. Broth tasted good. Prawns big and delicious. Could have done with more noodles though. Service was good. Ample seating.

Work nearby and went there on lunch time. Food was lovely but cleanliness is a big concern. I had a Laksa noodle soup the another day, there was a long hair in the noodle. I felt disgusting and almost throw up, I has spoken with the waiter. They refused to admit and claimed the hair possibly cause by me or it may just on the air(which was ridiculous, the hair colour is not even matched mine).I have never received a formal apologise from the shop and I will not go back again because it’s not only the food wasn’t clean, it was the attitude that the restaurant needs to improve! Please be ethical and treat your customers to be how you would like to be treated! Very disappointed and shame of their attitude.

Got serve a warm bottle VB and was offered a glass of ice. LOL. Ordered Nasi Lemak, was served with a teaspoon of sambal. Offered to pay for top up and was ask to order an entree size. Always love the join at Flemington, thought of trying the new branch. Disappointed.

The infamous chef lagenda’s curry laksa and chicken rice. Their new shop is rather good- lack abit of flavour in the laksa soup and staffs are newbies but overall pretty satisfied. Laksa filled with vegetables and cooked well

Good, food, excellent service BUT BUT to much MSG or something else. My wife and I ended up got bad headaches and I had to go to the loo several times....

Came with expectations and left disappointed. The laksa wasn't flavoursome enough, Monk and me close by has more flavoursome laksa. There were barely any egg noodles, mostly vermicelli...yet the portion of the vermicelli was below average. Also ordered satay chicken skewers, they were very very dry... <br/><br/>The service was prompt and friendly, food arrived within a few minutes of ordering.

Jan 2019<br/>Standards have dropped considerably!!! In past 2 times I’ve been back here i found the Laksa to. E watered down, the char kwei teoh too oily and missing alit if flavour, the hainanese chicken rice to be very atrocious!! Small cold boney pieces no meat! Is there new chinese management?? All staff are from PRC!! <br/><br/>Feb 2018<br/>Good to see that lagenda has branched out!! For decent Laksa and fishhead noodle soup that’s local to work.... This is my go to without fail. Always consistent and value for money.

My first visit to this store was very disappointing! Their laksa tasted very different to their Flemington store, it was abit tasteless for my liking. I thought I wouldn’t come back again till a friend recommended me so I gave them another try. Surprisingly, they actually improved! And also, their staff are ALWAYS friendly which is very important. Keep up the good work guys!

The usual Asian cafe/restaurant type of place, small; floor cleanliness not the best and I would expect better since it's considered 'new'. **A side comment I must make of most Asian restaurants/cafe, why is it so hard to maintain a level of good cleanliness .. why? Come on Malaysians, you can do better !! **<br/><br/>Anyways, had the Loh Mee and Sar Hor Fun. The sar hor fun is good and I enjoy it; partner had the Loh mee which I think is so so, needed a bit more flavour to it. <br/>

So disappointing. I only ordered 2 basic dishes to take away. Both of them were absolute rancid. What a waste of time and money. Keep walking

Coming on the grand opening, staffs are attentive. <br/>The stir fried noodles was a bit burned and greasy. But my friend orderd the Fried chicken rice and it was ok, crunchy with big portion.<br/>Not very impressed with the food, maynot come agaim<br/>

Like all the other Chef Lagendas dotted across Melbourne, it was jammed packed and dealt with rapid fire through put. Chef Lagenda serves familiar Malaysian hawker stall food. It was a bit of a hit and miss with our selections. Overall I would return for the curry laksa and kang kung but the rest was a bit meh.

The Newmarket Chef Lagenda is one of my favourite places (besides Laksa King of course!) However... the flavour profile needs to be tweaked a little here to be in line with the original store.

Went there a couple of weeks ago..ordered the Curry Laksa and Hainanese Chicken Rice......<br/>The laksa didn't have much flavour and I wish I ordered something else....<br/>If you go there don't order the laksa....<br/>The chicken was average - not very fresh.....<br/><br/>I cannot comment on other dishes but from this experience I won't be going to eat there anymore...<br/>If you are in Glen Waverley you should go to O'Town

UPDATE 05/12/2017<br/>Liking the improvement but mind the gap ...<br/><br/>Enticing, balanced Seafood Curry Laksa to start with, then bombardment of Malaysian flavours from those CHUNCKY, tender and moist Beef Rendang, followed by some well fried and smothered cubed Tofu and Mushroom and finished it off with crisps salt & chilines of the Calamari.<br/><br/>They were greatly accompanied with some Steam, Coconut and Roti.<br/><br/>All for $85.00 for 4 of us.<br/><br/>What a delicious, value for money and enjoyable dinner.<br/><br/>Just watch for the gap on the bench at the back, things went through, hopefully it's not your mobile as staff are trained to fish them out with a hook 😁 also splinters from the timber top chairs. <br/><br/>PREVIOUS 3/5<br/>Expansion vs Quality<br/><br/>When it comes to the taste and quality .... the legend must not rest on its laurel and just too busy with expanding its empire.<br/><br/>Watch the quality inline if not better with your empire expansion. JT-03/10/2017.

Two of us popped in to this place  on Friday evening.<br/>We were very impressed with it all. Genuinely attentive staff, Lovely food and EXCELLENT value.<br/><br/>I'd definitely go back.

Been there three times. All the three times something's were consistent.<br/>- not so friendly staff-always grumpy<br/>- great food <br/>- quick service <br/>-well managed<br/>-guy at the cashier till is cheerful and friendly

Awesome service and great food; even the price of the food was decent (eg: $11+ for a large plate of fried rice) . As a Malaysian who loves food; this restaurant really reminded me of home and my favorite food growing up.<br/>The lotus root and pork rib soup was so yummy;the lotus root and pork was so soft and tender--very flavourful just like how my grandma used to make!<br/>The chicken and salted fish fried rice in a word AMAZING---this is my favorite and it is not very commonly found;it was fried so well that you could smell and taste the well fried aroma (the ones you get from using a wok and controlling the flames very well);the portion was huge and they were very generous with their sambal.<br/>The Singapore fried noodles actually tasted like mee siam (thai version of fried noodles). It was good but I preferred the rice.<br/>Would've rated it a full 5 but for the desert; had the ice kacang which unfortunately was a let down after the awesome dinner.<br/>All in all highly recommended the soup and fried rice.Not the ice kacang tho. This place charges a credit card surcharge for bills below $30 (no surcharge for debit cards) and no split bills.<br/>**Personally I prefer this over Papa Rich as the food here and service is much better while price wise both places are on par with each other -but that's a personal preference.

Just dropped in for first time with a curiosity about this new Malaysian restaurant. The first experience of this place was unexpectedly awesome. We had curry laksa, sambal kangkong and chicken rice. sambal Kangkong was just like the taste that I had in Malaysia! The staffs were very friendly and even said thank you in Korean:) this place is just right when you want to taste the local Malaysian food in Melbourne.

The food was alright, not the best but serviceable. It wasn't a wow but it was decent. Service was a little slow but the staff were very busy so that was understandable. Seatings are tight and cramp so there is no room for prams or baby seatings. There seems to be more space on the back but there was a function going on hence was unable to see it.

I have been back many times to this new Malaysian gem on Glenferrie Rd. Friendly and quick service. Good value for money. Chicken laksa is very good, generous with the chicken and you can have unlimited sambal😀. Chicken rice is a tick, and wat tan hor is very good too (they will also let you add vermicelli if you prefer). Char koay teow is more the southern black sauce style. My only disappointment was the satay which was deep fried rather than grilled. Will try more things soon. All up, a great addition to Glenferrie Rd!<br/>

Was so eager for the opening of Chef Lagenda in Hawthorn as the Flemington outlet has a big spot in my stomach. <br/>The menu has definitely been refined. Which is fine as a few new dishes are included. The opening special has a good selection of dishes to try. <br/>The Hainanese chicken rice is what I settled for. Chicken was plentiful and rice was flavoursome. <br/><br/>Service was good, except the staff were a little rough when taking back the menus after we ordered. <br/><br/>They do not split bills, but they do accept card payment (and have surcharge for credit payment) as opposed to the Flemington branch who do not. <br/><br/>Overall, this place is nothing to fuss about.

Had major food envy - while my Char Kway Teow was very good, my dining companion's Curry Laksa was AWESOME. Very authentic, and the servings are generous. The only let down was the roti which I felt was a bit underdone and lacked crispiness. Getting the attention of waitstaff is tricky and the place fills up really quickly, but it's worth the wait.

Went here in their opening week. Laksa was absolutely delicious, very authentic. Staff were attentive and helpful with menu options. Love that it's BYOW too! Definitely looking forward to trying more on the menu.

Dropped in for a quick dinner for the first time. My partner ordered the beef rendang. It was delicious and the beef was so soft and flavoursome. I had the chicken curry. Also very tasty but there was so much oil floating in my bowl that it was off putting. The roti was nice and flaky and the service was good as well.

Still prefer the original outlet in Flemington. There were more options on the menu there from memory. Their wan tan hor is alright by Melbourne standards and chicken rice was ok.