Bad Dining Experience At Anusarn, From A Tourists Point Of View

[phrakid]

ok while i was in chiang mai for holiday during the yee peng celebrations, i n my family went to Anusarn for dinner first before shopping at night bazaar

so we went to this open area with many food stalls. there was a stage there too.

we decided to eat at this stalls. in the pic below the stall is on the extreme left of the pic. or rather the food outlet next to the one with pink signboard.

my sister saw the stall next to us (the pink signboard stall) had western food. so my sis wanted to eat western food coz she cant take spicy food. my mum asked the waitress from the next door stall if we can order food from them. she said yes n brought over the menu n my sis looked while she stood next to my sis, getting ready to take down her order. then the waitress from the stall we were dining at saw the waitress n then she told her off, in a slightly rude manner i guess.

then the next door stall waitress said sorry n took the menu away n went back to her stall.

so i thought why are they so intolerant? why cant the waitress let us order food from the next door stall. i wanted to question her n confront her, (i can speak a little thai)...but i decided not to later on.

later the food came, n it was horrible. the oyster omelet came in a hot plate, but instead of crispy egg + starch, it was all gooey n soggy. either the cook dont know how to cook or the starch had too much water. it was horrible, but sorry i didnt took a pic. worst oyster omelet i ever ate. not crispy at all.... its like braised oyster omelet instead.

a vegetable dish came, ok it was acceptable. after waiting a long time the fish maw soup came, n it sucks. instead of tasting like normal fish maw soup, it tasted funny coz of the ginseng n god knows what herbs added in it. a total failure.

then we had to wait a really long time for the next 2 dishes, even though there arent much diners. this got us fuming n finally my mum decided to ask for the bill n cancel the remaining dishes.

the waitress said one of the dishes was coming, n the other dish will be cancelled. the prawn fritters arrived but to our dismay it was totally different from the picture menu. the menu showed big fat juicy prawns coated in golden batter, but the prawn fritters which arrived was small prawns with uneven batter on it.

we ate up n then paid the bill n took all the change, decided not to leave tips coz the service n food sucks.

anyway u guys ate at that stall before?

Edited December 2, 2007 by phrakid

[realthaideal]

So..... you were/are on vacation and you had yet another bad experience. That's too bad. But... not everything goes as you expect it in LOS. For your dining ventures, you ought to read up on the dining thread b4 heading out. Follow what the locals recommend. For my own part, right across from that huge dining foodstall area is Mo Ocha with a yellow sign and cutout of a hot pot and a shrimp above it, which has been around for like 20+ years and is frequented by many of us locals. I love their curry fried shrimp or crab (poo pat pong karii), as well as their whole deep fried tabtim fish covered in chili sauce (pla tabtim rat prikh). You just played the odds by going to the big food court and lost I guess. Probably the waitresses misunderstood and should have cooperated with each other. Very odd them not letting each person get what they want from whom they want. Did you play any part of that discussion falling apart?

As for your awful omemlet, this is the other problem with not knowing the Thai words. There is a crispy (oyster) omelet called Hoy Tawt which can have oysters or mussels, though mussels is most common and is made at alot of places that also serve pad Thai. You got something that is also of Chinese origin and always made of oysters -to the best of my knowledge. It's called Ohr Sawan, and is supposed to be runny and gooey, they did it just right. Only thing is a good one will have a shot of sherry or whiskey in it, an inferior one won't. But if you rely on translations, know that sometimes you get a pleasant surprise and other times you just get something you didn't expect. If you can't speak Thai or learn the names, have the waitstaff write down what something is for you and keep it handy in your wallet for your next time out.

How about telling us something that went right on your holiday ??

[Ulysses G.]

realthaideal knows his Thai food and succeeds at making it sound tasty and interesting, however, I mostly can't stand the stuff!

[Blinky Bill]

realthaideal knows his Thai food and succeeds at making it sound tasty and interesting, however, I mostly can't stand the stuff!

Mr Creosote has spoken.....................

[Nienke]

realthaideal knows his Thai food and succeeds at making it sound tasty and interesting, however, I mostly can't stand the stuff!

Mr Creosote has spoken.....................

[chanchao]

Mental note to you and everyone else: Stay the F away from tourist-trap type eating, especially when it come to Thai food.

[Ulysses G.]

I just love those peppers!

[tigerbeer]

I just love those peppers!

only UG can make out those peppers apart from the other gooeeeey stuff on that man.

[Ulysses G.]

See the red thing to the right of his tie near the hem of the jacket?

[Crow Boy]

realthaideal knows his Thai food and succeeds at making it sound tasty and interesting, however, I mostly can't stand the stuff!

Mr Creosote has spoken.....................

A mint perhaps to finish off?

CB

[Crow Boy]

So..... you were/are on vacation and you had yet another bad experience. That's too bad. But... not everything goes as you expect it in LOS. For your dining ventures, you ought to read up on the dining thread b4 heading out. Follow what the locals recommend. For my own part, right across from that huge dining foodstall area is Mo Ocha with a yellow sign and cutout of a hot pot and a shrimp above it, which has been around for like 20+ years and is frequented by many of us locals. I love their curry fried shrimp or crab (poo pat pong karii), as well as their whole deep fried tabtim fish covered in chili sauce (pla tabtim rat prikh).

I know the place you mean and yes it is good. It is not far from where my old apartment was - do miss that place but it was too convenient to everything

On a note re that the waitress would not let another waitress from another place serve food. This is one of the oddities of Thailand where people buy food from other restauarants and bring it back to the first one where they are eating. If it is in the general eating area that is fine but in the seating in or directly outside the restaurant it is at the least not polite and in the case above will be refused. The reason is that the restaurant pays rent on the space and will lose money if customers buy their food elsewhere. A lot of it depends on how the person does it, if they order a reasonable meal and then gets something else from another place then the staff will normally allow it but if the sit and order meals from other restaurants then no. Can't imagine anyone sitting down to a meal a French Restaurant in Western Land and ordering a pizza from the place down the road because one member doesn't like all that foreign stuff.

realthaideal knows his Thai food and succeeds at making it sound tasty and interesting, however, I mostly can't stand the stuff!

Ahhh UG where would you be without The Dukes

I would have thought you would like the Hoy Tawt, I distincly remember you telling me that since living in Thailand you had developed a taste for Hoy Sod

CB

[Ulysses G.]

Bad, bad super-moderator!

[tigerbeer]

UG likes the other Hoy Sod

[Ulysses G.]

Hoy alloy

My favorite Thai food!

[uptheos]

I have often sat at a table in Anusarn and ordered food from two places. However, I always make a point of asking the waitress if it's OK first and before ordering. I haven't been refused yet.

[p1p]

Can't imagine anyone sitting down to a meal a French Restaurant in Western Land and ordering a pizza from the place down the road because one member doesn't like all that foreign stuff.

We had a most interesting meal in the Korean restaurant by the 4th floor entrance to Robinson the other weekend.

One child was moody and refusing to eat Korean, so the waiter kindly went to the food court and purchased the Pad Kaphrao he craved so badly. Served it beautifully on their own crockery too.

I always appreciate caring - over the top service.

[uptheos]

Can't imagine anyone sitting down to a meal a French Restaurant in Western Land and ordering a pizza from the place down the road because one member doesn't like all that foreign stuff.

We had a most interesting meal in the Korean restaurant by the 4th floor entrance to Robinson the other weekend.

One child was moody and refusing to eat Korean, so the waiter kindly went to the food court and purchased the Pad Kaphrao he craved so badly. Served it beautifully on their own crockery too.

I always appreciate caring - over the top service.

Nice

[Crow Boy]

Can't imagine anyone sitting down to a meal a French Restaurant in Western Land and ordering a pizza from the place down the road because one member doesn't like all that foreign stuff.

We had a most interesting meal in the Korean restaurant by the 4th floor entrance to Robinson the other weekend.

One child was moody and refusing to eat Korean, so the waiter kindly went to the food court and purchased the Pad Kaphrao he craved so badly. Served it beautifully on their own crockery too.

I always appreciate caring - over the top service.

One of the many reasons I love living in Thailand is this sort of thing. The waitress would have done this as a natural act of kindness. I was thinking about this while reading it and remembered when my partner did something similar in the restaurant she worked. The farung child was quite young and obviously tired after a long day. She trotted off down the road to get something more palatable for the child and then came back in time to serve their actual meal. She was genuinely surprised and pleased when they left her a tip. She told me all about it when I saw her next time at work. I asked her to get me something from a restaurant down the road and she told me to get it myself. Apparently I have lost my cute child sympathy card

Ok back to the topic - The Korean food Good and matching the service?

CB

[chanchao]

Ahhh UG where would you be without The Dukes cool.gif

Well, he'd be in the same places we all visit then.

Let's hear it for The Dukes! "Keeping Ulysses away from your general dining vicinity, Since 2002!"

Edited December 3, 2007 by chanchao

[rrose070]

RealThaiDeal,

Please stop reading my mind. It's an inconsiderate invasion.

[Ulysses G.]

I love the Duke's but I hate having to get over on the other side of the river.

The Songteaw price for Thais is 15-20 baht which I don't mind paying and is what about half of the drivers charge me without a second thought. The problem is the other d___heads that want to charge me 40 or 50 baht and won't go for less.

I usually end up in the Laughing Leprechan or Art Cafe or Miguel's Mexican instead.

I keep hoping David will open another place near Thapae Gate however. You'll have to drag me out by the hair.

[Tywais]

You'll have to drag me out by the hair.

Is that possible?

[Ulysses G.]

Maybe the belt?