Kopi Tiam At Sukhumvit Soi 26

[NewtoBKK]

We were craving for some SG/MY food today and decided to try out the Kopitiam at Soi 26... Huge Mistake!! I don't usually write to complain about the restaurants that we have been to, but this visit really pissed us off... so here goes...

In our view, this restaurant is a utter waste of time because of three main areas:

1. Quality

- The kopi (coffee) that they served really tasted like dishwater. For those of you who have yet to try this place, try this - use one of those kopi powder bags and make the first strong cup of coffee; throw that first cup of coffee away and use the same bag to make the 2nd cup; throw that cup away again and make yourself the 3rd cup; now, add a bit of condensed milk for colouring and some sugar for sweetness... you will get a cup of coffee that approximates what they serve at Kopitiam... in my view, the coffee served by Breadtalk at Centralworld tastes much much better.

- The iced Milo? same same but different, if you know what i mean... it was more like a tall glass of ice dripped and flavoured with some Milo and lots of sugar...

- The rest of the food (eg. rojak, nasi lemak, ice kachang) tasted very very very average... and the greatest joke of all was the nsai lemak - the rice they served was plain rice! why even call it nasi lemak!?

2. Price

- Especially given the quality of the food they served, I find that everything there is overpriced - prices here are at least twice to thrice the price of similar dishes in SG or MY! And this is BKK we are talking about!

3. Service

- First, the service staff couldn't really even sepak/understand English and we had absolutely no idea if they had taken our order correctly...

- I really started to suspect the above when 30mins after they had served us desert (ice kachang) together with our rojak and first plate of nasi lemak, they still hadn't served us our second plate of nasi lemak...

- When I realised that the second plate of nasi lemak wasn't coming any time soon (although by then, I had already confirmed with the waitress that we had indeed ordered two nasi lemaks), I cancelled the order and asked for the bill.... guess what? They were simply indifferent and plonked the bill down on our table...

The irony of it all was that we didn't have the exact change for the bill and so had to leave them a tip!! why should I even tip for bad food, bad service and high prices? but I just couldn't take it anymore and had to get out of there before I started screaming at them!

It was often said that hunger is the best condiment - trust me, we were very very hungry, but this certainly did not make the food (or the entire visit) any more palatable!

Never wasting my time on that place again!

[Groongthep]

I have eaten at this place 3 or 4 times but each time have only ordered the Laksa. I didn't have any problems with the service but as I said I only ordered one item and a drink so it would have been pretty hard for them to screw it up. The Laksa is not as good as what you get in Singapore but overall it wasn't bad. As you pointed out everything on the menu is overpriced but sometimes if you have a craving for something it's worth the extra money to get it. Not many places in BKK have Laksa.

As far as your experience with the bad service is concerned, you might as well just get used to it if you are going to be in Bangkok for any period of time. It's frustrating but it's just one of those things here that aren't going to change anytime soon. We all experience this same thing from time to time. Goes with the territory.

[NewtoBKK]

Hmm... not entirely true. Communication has always been a slight problem, but I have not had truly bad service in BKK, except perhaps once at Garage (but at least the food came and as ordered!)

I compensated for that horrendous lunch with a nice dinner at a cosy french restaurant that evening... slightly more expensive, but infinitely more value for money!

[Shusho]

Saw note on Kopitiam and a little surprised. I have eaten in the restaurant many times when I need my Malaysian food fix, especially the Roti and Char Kway Teow.

Going from when they were in Soi Thonglor, the owner, who is from Kuala Lumpur I know goes to great pains to ensure the food is as authentic as possible and in general people I have met seem to be very satisfied with the food. it is Malaysian style though not Singapore style!!

The Kopi and Teh Tareh for example are both brought in from Malaysia and the staff are happy to show them if asked. Can also ask for it to be stronger if you wish.

Agree on the staff's lack English, but I find them helpful and attentive as a rule, as good as most restaurants at this level.

Price wise they compare with other restaurants at their level and location in Bangkok and not too far off prices in Singapore when I was there last.

Will still be going back!!

[NewtoBKK]

shusho,

hate to say this, but given your intimate knowledge of kopitiam and its owner, and the fact that you are such a strong advocate of kopitiam, i would guess that you are either the owner, her relative or friend.

considering the staff's inability to communicate in english, i really wonder if it would be possible to order anything other than the standard coffee without knowing thai - i don't quite know how to say "please don't serve me coffee that tastes like dishwater, please"?

with regard to the other point about the prices being comparable to SG and MY - facts are facts are facts. eg. a cup of coffee at a kopitiam in SG (about S$0.80 or about 20 baht), in MY (about RM1 or about 12 baht)... at this kopitiam? 40 to 50 baht if i recall correctly - that's easily more than twice the price for easily less than half the quality! the same applies to most of the other food served there.

i'm never going back there and i'll make sure everybody else i know hears of my experience so that they can make a more informed decision about whether to go waste their baht at kopitiam...

p/s: boon tong kiat, a recent discovery for me, is much much better, and i'll be going back there again for sure, and i'll try out auntie malaysia some time...

[jdinasia]

hmm so let's get this straight ... Kopitiam isn't Thai food. The restaurant in question is not in Sg or Malaysia and the prices are not the same as in Sg or Malaysia and Newtobkk didn't think it was good or value for money but 2 other people thought it was at least "ok" ?

Newtobkk --- remember people don't always agree with other people particularly about food etc

[NewtoBKK]

jdinasia - sure, i absolutely agree!

my first post was an expression of my view (which may seem objective to me but i do realise that in reality, is subjective) and my second post was merely to respond to the purported statements of fact by shusho.

[mmushr00m]

Was just there actually and I found it to be good.

The staff and service was ok.

I am surprised that NewtoBKK received plain rice with his Nasi Lemak. I ordered nasi Lemak and Rendang and received coconut rice with both.

The kopi tarek was alittle dissappointing but then again its not the same without an indian doing it infront of you.

Price wise its more expensive then KL or S'pore. But in BKK this isnt street food so I understand the price.

Talked to the owner and he informed me all the ingredients are from M'sia, which they carry back with them.

Main dissappointment was the miniscule size of the roti.