City: Kuah (near Padang Matsirat), Pekan Rabu Baru Baron, Lot 5, Persiaran Dayang, Kuah, 07000 Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia
"A family run simple authentic Syrian restaurant with a very passionate owner. I’ve stumbled upon this restaurant in my previous visit to Langkawi which was a year before the pandemic. I’ve checked again before coming to Malaysia last month, that the restaurant is still open, and was happy to find that it was, and I’ve booked a hotel next to it! The restaurant is run by a Syrian family who came to Malaysia during the war in Syria, and started from almost nothing, they worked from their heart and always make sure to serve the best food possible with available ingredients in the local market. Rami, the owner, is a very passionate person, I’ve learnt from him about his journey to Malaysia and the journey of his little restaurant making ranks as a top-rated restaurant in Langkawi. I usually don’t eat my home food (Syrian) during my travels, but this time I was travelling slow and have plenty of time discovering Malaysian food, and found myself after a few weeks of staying in Malaysia missing my Syrian cuisine! So Alhamdulillah was the place to go, I visited every other day. Alhamdulillah has changed location since I last visited the island, but it is just a cross of the street from its previous location. They have also changed the decoration, a big upgrade in my opinion, which makes the place looks much brighter and inviting. Creative work of wood all around with comfortable chairs and with nice colored walls and yellow plastic seats outside. Rami, the owner, has done most of the work in decorating his restaurant sourcing mostly from recyclable products. Rami will be more than happy to share his stories and how he manages his restaurant, very insightful stories indeed. As much as I enjoyed talking to him, he sometimes got really busy since he is only there with wife and little 7-year-old daughter, who is the cutest and helps her parents in managing the place! not being shy and calling her parents at the kitchen with the bell. Orders may take sometimes, but this is only because they are prepared on spot. Rami manages the restaurant and goes to market every day to get supplies he needs. Still, he helps in cooking, actually I know from him that he does the garlic cream, falafel and hummus, while his very kind and pleasant wife does other dishes. A big surprise at the least expected places! They have the fastest internet I’ve seen in a restaurant coffee shop in Malaysia!!!! About 500 Mbs!!, I’ve tested it. Impressive. They have one power source if you need to connect your laptop to power too. I did some work there. As for what matters most, the food! I had chicken shawarma, and I fell in love. I ordered that every time I visited. Actually, it was better than the best I had in my hometown in Syria. The garlic cream was excellent too, which speaks a lot about the standards of the food. Hummus for me is another indication for how good restaurant is and it was very well made. Falafel was perfect, and ofcourse they makes these from scratch and don’t use ready made products. Fattoush salad was great too. Only best vegs is used and ofcourse has pomegranate molasses, which is very popular in Aleppo the food capital of Syria. Pomegranate molasses is also used in their shawarma. There is simplicity and minimalism in how the food is prepared and presented and how the restaurant is managed and look, that I rarely find in other Arabic Middle Eastern Syrian restaurants. That I appreciated a lot. The food despite being simple, it was full of flavors. I ordered one shisha and it was very well prepared and serviced. I’ve tried a few others on the island and it was the best shisha in Langkawi, they use the best tobacco brands. I’ve seen people go there mainly for the shisha (hookah). If your Grab tell you this restaurant is closed or anything of that sort, don’t believe him. They do that to restaurants that don’t pay commission. How bad and sad is that? If I come to Langkawi again, I will definitely eat again at Alhamdulillah and enjoy some talks with Rami and his nice little family!"