Malaysian Diner Spells “X DAP” On Plate With Leftover Veges, Says Food Wasn’t Good

Some people thought she was blaming the political party.

In Brief

A Malaysian diner used leftover vegetables to spell "X DAP" on her plate, meaning "tak sedap" (not tasty), to express her disappointment.
Some netizens mistakenly thought she was blaming political party DAP, a common scapegoat in Malaysian politics, causing some confusion online.
The stunt went viral, inspiring others to leave creative food messages, though one cook urged diners to give direct feedback instead.

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Malaysians aren’t exactly known for confrontation. So when the food disappoints, we do what we do best: leave a scathing Google review from the car, or in the case of banana leaf rice, quietly fold the leaf outwards and let it speak for itself.

But, what do you do when you don’t have a banana leaf to fold over?

Threads user Cherry (@cherryhalooo) was faced with this conundrum, but found a way to still get her message across. Using the leftover vegetables on her plate, she arranged them to spell “X DAP.”

View on Threads

However, the message was received differently online because some initially thought she blamed the political party DAP, just like what our politicians do when things go wrong.

Cherry had a laugh when she found out what others thought and clarified she wanted to say the food was “tak sedap” (not tasty). She spelled it short because she didn’t have time to spell the whole sentence.

Funny responses ensue

In response, some netizens joined the bandwagon and went creative with their dishes after finishing their meals.

Thread users used leftover food to spell out that they didn’t want vegetables, described the taste of the food, or that the rice was hard. Some were nicer and spelled out “TQ,” short for thanks, while another person pointed out there was a worm in their food. Threads user @zahwa_rahman_ took it a step further and made a drawing using ketchup.

While it was all laughter and fun, a Threads user who identifies as a cook said they rather receive honest and direct feedback about their cooking so that they can improve the dishes.