Are Farang Restaurant Owners Thai Friendly?

[SeaVisionBurma]

Can you be sure she was not going to the kitchen to visit her "Thai boyfriend"

Oh No!! I'm shattered! She was 2-timing me for the chef!!!

[Jingthing]

Yes, it is believable that a super high end place would deliberately leave out Thai to attract the "right" crowd. However, such places are a small percentage of non-Thai food restaurants in Thailand.

[kiakaha]

for "haute cuisine" culinary establishments i EXPECT the menu to be in the language of the cuisine.

for all other "types" of places, multiple language menus are appropriate, based on the customer demographic of course.

[SeaVisionBurma]

But the owners of these up market dining halls? Of course it is a highly conscious decision not to have the menu in Thai. They don’t spend millions of Baht on décor, top chefs, imported fine wines, prime produce etc., and not give due consideration to what languages are printed on their menus.

Nope - I still don't buy it.

I believe that if it came down to menus- in these upmarket establishments you refer to - it would have been more a case of "not necessary to have a Thai menu here, we don't need one" instead of "we must not have a Thai menu or we'll lose business"

[Geekfreaklover]

But the owners of these up market dining halls? Of course it is a highly conscious decision not to have the menu in Thai. They don't spend millions of Baht on décor, top chefs, imported fine wines, prime produce etc., and not give due consideration to what languages are printed on their menus.

Nope - I still don't buy it.

I believe that if it came down to menus- in these upmarket establishments you refer to - it would have been more a case of "not necessary to have a Thai menu here, we don't need one" instead of "we must not have a Thai menu or we'll lose business"

Refer to Kiakaha's post.

I agree with his post. Personally, if I went to a good French or Italian Resturant in London and was handed a menu in English I would find it crass and off-putting.

[SeaVisionBurma]

Refer to Kiakaha's post.

I agree with his post. Personally, if I went to a good French or Italian Resturant in London and was handed a menu in English I would find it crass and off-putting.

we can probably go back and forth on this all day - but you've again missed my point (about whether or not it is a deliberate decision to exclude a Thai menu) , but from where I'm sitting your example is a bit skewed.

If you were in a good French or Italian restaurant in London and somebody handed you a menu in English you would be put off? Not surprising.

So what if you walked into a Thai restaurant in London, and were handed a menu written completely in Thai only..... You might be able to read and write Thai like a native, but I doubt the majority would.

In the reverse - Kiakaha says

for "haute cuisine" culinary establishments i EXPECT the menu to be in the language of the cuisine.

So in Bangkok, the same applies - what if it were an upmarket Thai restaurant. Menu in Thai only??

[Pierrot]

for "haute cuisine" culinary establishments i EXPECT the menu to be in the language of the cuisine.

for all other "types" of places, multiple language menus are appropriate, based on the customer demographic of course.

Right ! But more often than not, in so called "French restaurant", nobody's able to speak French and most of the time I've to read the english "translation" to understand what I'm going to order.

[Geekfreaklover]

Yes - It is a deliberate exclusion (not having a Thai language menu) by the top-end world cuisine establishments in Thailand.

Most of the places i frequent have menus only in Thai. (these are lower end establishments - 200 bt per person) - I can't read very well, but can speak good Thai so I just speak my way around it. I prefer to eat where the locals eat. I find the food is better. Many places I use do not have a menu at all!.

The top end Thai resturants will have a menu in English. They know where the money is.

It might not all make sense. But I am just letting you know the way things are.

Jim.

[Pierrot]

for "haute cuisine" culinary establishments i EXPECT the menu to be in the language of the cuisine.

for all other "types" of places, multiple language menus are appropriate, based on the customer demographic of course.

Right ! But more often than not, in so called "French restaurant", nobody's able to speak French and most of the time I've to read the english "translation" to understand what I'm going to order.

[Geekfreaklover]

for "haute cuisine" culinary establishments i EXPECT the menu to be in the language of the cuisine.

for all other "types" of places, multiple language menus are appropriate, based on the customer demographic of course.

Right ! But more often than not, in so called "French restaurant", nobody's able to speak French and most of the time I've to read the english "translation" to understand what I'm going to order.

I know what you mean.

I took some clients out to a Thai resturant in London. Ordered a meal for six people in Thai and the waiter just stared back at me like I was from out of space. The resturant was run by Chinese.

Another one- Ordered an Indian meal in Hindi, only to realise that 99% of the Indian resturants in the UK are run by Bangladeshi.

The list goes on.

[JoeThePoster]

And yes, couldn't you just have a separate menu showing photos with exhorbitant prices for the Thais?

I agree there should be prices x times higher like the usual double pricing in Thailand.

Maybe write the Farang price in Roman Numbers so the Thais can't read it.

farang price ? like, just a price for people of caucasian appearance ?

i've never met a thai who can't decipher the decimal digits 0-9.

moron.

I suppose you didnt catch the sarcasm.

By the way, do you always end your posts with your signature?

Edited December 11, 2008 by JoeThePoster

[Ulysses G.]

I took some clients out to a Thai resturant in London. Ordered a meal for six people in Thai and the waiter just stared back at me like I was from out of space.

If your Thai is anything like mine, that is pretty much the norm in Thailand too!

[Mobi]

Nope - I still don't buy it.

I believe that if it came down to menus- in these upmarket establishments you refer to - it would have been more a case of "not necessary to have a Thai menu here, we don't need one" instead of "we must not have a Thai menu or we'll lose business"

Well, I've been there, sen their attitude and am sure that I'm right.

But hey..... it's up to you.

Not exactly the most earth shattering subject of the day we are debating here.

Maybe the best way to resolve it is to do a survey of up market restaurants and ask the owners why they don't put Thai on their menus.

\

There could be a series of multiple choice, tick boxes, ranging from: "I hate Thais who can't read English".. ..to "I Didn't realise there was a Thai language"

[SeaVisionBurma]

Yeah - true. This debate isn't exactly earth shattering, and I doubt our witty & clever observations will alter the course of human history as we know it...

...been fun though.

I'll therefore alter my previous opinion "you b&stards are all wrong" to "I'll retain an open mind until convinced otherwise because my forum brethren have all made very valid points...

Let me know how the survey goes...

SVB

By the way, do you always end your posts with your signature?

HAHAHAHAHA Brilliant.

[polecat]

I have actually learned something from this thread and am in the process of producing a Thai language menu for my Thong Lo restaurant.

Having some problems with a few items though, and I don't really trust my staff's suggestions.

How, for example, should I translate parmesan crusted confit of goose with seared foie gras served on a bed of cous cous with a truffle emulsion?

Nong the head waitress suggested "gai farang".

Whe I asked her about our top-sellling Vitello Tonnato -- finely sliced poached veal, air-dried tuna, smoked anchovy, capers, white onion and nutmeg mousse -- she sai "moo farang"

And I won't even tell you what she said when I asked her about the dessert menu. Suffice to say Spotted Dick and Eton Mess will no longer be available at Chez Polecat.

[fishman]

It always pisses me off when I go and eat somewhere else with my Thai wife, and I have to help her out ordering because the menu is only written in English. (Of course she graduated from a top university like most Thai ladies who are together with a member of this board, but something like " suckling pig stuffed with bay leave-blueberry scented rocqueford cheese" can be a bit difficult.)

That's a good one!

Why do we need to know that she graduated from a "top" university? That's irrellevant and information we don't need to know.

Which probably translates into the fact that she's a bargirl really.

Edited December 11, 2008 by fishman

[keestha]

It always pisses me off when I go and eat somewhere else with my Thai wife, and I have to help her out ordering because the menu is only written in English. (Of course she graduated from a top university like most Thai ladies who are together with a member of this board, but something like " suckling pig stuffed with bay leave-blueberry scented rocqueford cheese" can be a bit difficult.)

That's a good one!

Why do we need to know that she graduated from a "top" university? That's irrellevant and information we don't need to know.

Which probably translates into the fact that she's a bargirl really.

Oh fishman,

That was more like an insider joke, which will be understood by the regular readers of this board. Note my words: " like most Thai ladies who are together with a member of this board". You see, so often posters proudly point out that they have an upper class wife or girlfriend.

[fishman]

It always pisses me off when I go and eat somewhere else with my Thai wife, and I have to help her out ordering because the menu is only written in English. (Of course she graduated from a top university like most Thai ladies who are together with a member of this board, but something like " suckling pig stuffed with bay leave-blueberry scented rocqueford cheese" can be a bit difficult.)

That's a good one!

Why do we need to know that she graduated from a "top" university? That's irrellevant and information we don't need to know.

Which probably translates into the fact that she's a bargirl really.

Oh fishman,

That was more like an insider joke, which will be understood by the regular readers of this board. Note my words: " like most Thai ladies who are together with a member of this board". You see, so often posters proudly point out that they have an upper class wife or girlfriend.

But it's info we don't need to know.

If this was the Uk would the need to announce your GF's background be so necessary?

I think not.

[SeaVisionBurma]

If this was the Uk would the need to announce your GF's background be so necessary?

I think not.

If this was the UK.... but it's NOT. Last time I looked it was thaivisa.com - not ukvisa.com....

[bkkjames]

If this was the Uk would the need to announce your GF's background be so necessary?

I think not.

If this was the UK.... but it's NOT. Last time I looked it was thaivisa.com - not ukvisa.com....

I think Mr. Fishsticks needs to realise that 75% of posts on here contain varying degrees of sarcasm , bs or both.

If he is looking for the facts and only the facts - I recommend he visit www.nationmultimedia.com

[kiakaha]

Suffice to say Spotted Dick and Eton Mess will no longer be available at Chez Polecat.

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