Service Levels Going To The Dogs

[RabC]

Soi 6 is the short time center of Pattaya.. There's probably a chance of picking up nasty microbes on the plates and cutlery too.

Let's hope you're right. I think about it often, especially when eating at a food court. It's one of the main reasons I don't risk eating at roadside diners.

Surely there must be some reasons behind the restaurant dishwashing requirements in developed countries. Why can't restaurants wash dishes in buckets full of cold water back at home?

Are you arguing with yourself Tropo??

Only because everyone else has given up.

[Darrel]

I think its more than 99 baht so will be way out of your league.

Maybe not. My meal cost 200B this evening.

Prices are relative and I don't mind paying more for something worth having.

I wont pay over the odds for rubbish though, and a lot of what is on offer here is just overpriced rubbish.

[tropo]

Are you arguing with yourself Tropo??

No, I messed up the quotes. If you try to make a quoted reply and change your mind and choose another post to reply to instead you end up getting all the quotes in the one reply box. Then I deleted the wrong replies.

Sorry.

[londoedan]

.... I for one will carry-on with my kipper breakfasts at T-Berts .....

Mmm kippers. Please elaborate.

I dont mind waiting a while for good kippers.

Both Berts and Le Katai do kipper breakfasts, with a couple of slices of bread and butter and a large mug of tea, they are perfect.

They're not the full-on loch fyne type full fish with head and tail etc, but the fillets. The Le Katai version are a touch pale and insipid (might be the way they cook them) but Berts are very tasty. About 150 THB as a breakfast set if I remember right.

I've also seen smoked herrings for sale at some of the supermarkets, so it should be possible to cook these at home. However the shop-bought ones are pricy and its cheaper to eat out.

Most places describe a trad. cooked breakfast containing bacon, sausage, fried-eggs etc as an English Breakfast, however the Scots probably should protest: in addition to the kippers, they have kedgeree containing smoked haddock or cod, plus haggis and square sausage slices which I prefer in a breakfast. (I draw the line at the fruit pudding slices though).

Wonder why writing this has made me feel hungry ?

Simon

[londoedan]

Surely there must be some reasons behind the restaurant dishwashing requirements in developed countries. Why can't restaurants wash dishes in buckets full of cold water back at home?

Couple of reasons I suppose, a lot of people in the West are lazy and thats why diswashers proliferate. When I was growing-up we wouldn't have considered buying a dish-washer and did all the washing-up in the sink; when you come to the end of the dishes, the water is no longer that clean.

Provided the plates and cutlery are washed in warmish soapy water and then left to dry, there shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I eat in the streets a lot, both in Thailand and Singapore, plus less salubrious places like China, Indonesia and India. As the food is cooked for you there and then, I reckon the risks are minimal: I wouldn't want to be given a wet or a dirty plate though.

[Darrel]

They're not the full-on loch fyne type full fish with head and tail etc, but the fillets. The Le Katai version are a touch pale and insipid (might be the way they cook them) but Berts are very tasty. About 150 THB as a breakfast set if I remember right.

I'll certainly give both of those a try at some point. I prefer the full-on proper kipper, but fillets are OK. Kedgeree is also one I like.

In UK supermarkets the pale kippers are usually labelled as not having colouring/flavouring in. They usually cost more and are supposed to be better for you. How true that is, I dont know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_kipper

There are some nice Thai preserved/dried fish that are quite similar to kippers, though without the smoke and probably more natural. I get those from stalls from time to time.

[tropo]

I eat in the streets a lot, both in Thailand and Singapore, plus less salubrious places like China, Indonesia and India. As the food is cooked for you there and then, I reckon the risks are minimal: I wouldn't want to be given a wet or a dirty plate though.

It's the chopping boards handling unrefrigerated meat in a tropical climate which keeps me away from the road side stalls.

[pattayadingo]

My view is you're asking for trouble not to pay for food that you've ordered. The best way to "punish" any business is to simply stop giving them your business in future. Given that so many businesses here only expect one offs anyway, many don't indeed care. That's why I try to avoid foreign tourism focused places, but some of them offer food that I want, so being a purist isn't in the cards either. Places with expat followings that are conscious of that tend to have better service as do places catering to Thai tourists and locals.

Agree 100% on the payment issue, I always pay the full bill explain that the food is taking too long to arrive and that I have an appointment and leave the establishment never to return. The point is then made in a proffesional polite and correct way.

If you have not received the food after a very long wait, why pay?

[Jingthing]

My view is you're asking for trouble not to pay for food that you've ordered. The best way to "punish" any business is to simply stop giving them your business in future. Given that so many businesses here only expect one offs anyway, many don't indeed care. That's why I try to avoid foreign tourism focused places, but some of them offer food that I want, so being a purist isn't in the cards either. Places with expat followings that are conscious of that tend to have better service as do places catering to Thai tourists and locals.

Agree 100% on the payment issue, I always pay the full bill explain that the food is taking too long to arrive and that I have an appointment and leave the establishment never to return. The point is then made in a proffesional polite and correct way.

If you have not received the food after a very long wait, why pay?

Because you ordered it and the presumption is they have at least started to cook it. A menu is an implied contract, ordering equals obligation to pay. There is no time parameter on the menu, at least usually. I can see talking to the place and saying the wait is too long, I would like to cancel the order, OK? Sure they would usually say no but if you just walk out I wouldn't be shocked if that action triggers either violence or a call to the police. This isn't Kansas. I get it that many will label this advice as being a big wuss, but one thing I have learned here in the wild east, AVOIDING conflict pays dividends. Pick your fights, and better, pick no fights. Edited January 6, 2012 by Jingthing

[BookMan]

My view is you're asking for trouble not to pay for food that you've ordered. The best way to "punish" any business is to simply stop giving them your business in future. Given that so many businesses here only expect one offs anyway, many don't indeed care. That's why I try to avoid foreign tourism focused places, but some of them offer food that I want, so being a purist isn't in the cards either. Places with expat followings that are conscious of that tend to have better service as do places catering to Thai tourists and locals.

Agree 100% on the payment issue, I always pay the full bill explain that the food is taking too long to arrive and that I have an appointment and leave the establishment never to return. The point is then made in a proffesional polite and correct way.

If you have not received the food after a very long wait, why pay?

Because you ordered it and the presumption is they have at least started to cook it. A menu is an implied contract, ordering equals obligation to pay. There is no time parameter on the menu, at least usually. I can see talking to the place and saying the wait is too long, I would like to cancel the order, OK? Sure they would usually say no but if you just walk out I wouldn't be shocked if that action triggers either violence or a call to the police. This isn't Kansas. I get it that many will label this advice as being a big wuss, but one thing I have learned here in the wild east, AVOIDING conflict pays dividends. Pick your fights, and better, pick no fights.

I might walk out in my home country wihthout paying (unlikely), but certainly not Thailand.

[highchol]

service levels going to the dogs.............without beating about the bush service levels are not going to the dogs, they are there and pretty much have always been there for the most part.

[rgs2001uk]

My view is you're asking for trouble not to pay for food that you've ordered. The best way to "punish" any business is to simply stop giving them your business in future. Given that so many businesses here only expect one offs anyway, many don't indeed care. That's why I try to avoid foreign tourism focused places, but some of them offer food that I want, so being a purist isn't in the cards either. Places with expat followings that are conscious of that tend to have better service as do places catering to Thai tourists and locals.

Agree 100% on the payment issue, I always pay the full bill explain that the food is taking too long to arrive and that I have an appointment and leave the establishment never to return. The point is then made in a proffesional polite and correct way.

If you have not received the food after a very long wait, why pay?

Because you ordered it and the presumption is they have at least started to cook it. A menu is an implied contract, ordering equals obligation to pay. There is no time parameter on the menu, at least usually. I can see talking to the place and saying the wait is too long, I would like to cancel the order, OK? Sure they would usually say no but if you just walk out I wouldn't be shocked if that action triggers either violence or a call to the police. This isn't Kansas. I get it that many will label this advice as being a big wuss, but one thing I have learned here in the wild east, AVOIDING conflict pays dividends. Pick your fights, and better, pick no fights.

Strange points of view, all from a farang perspective.

From a different perspective, I have witnessed Thais say simply in Thai, "I dont want it now", pay for whats been eaten and NOT pay for what hasnt yet been delivered, not once have I seen a problem.

In fact its usually been followed by a wai and an apology for the poor service.

The last place my mrs refused to pay she was given a 10% discount card to use for future visits as a way of making up for the poor service.

[Tolley]

I didnt pay for the last meal. I just left it there and walked out. I hoped it was docked out of her pay and no I wasnt worried about any implications.

Funny thing is I usually eat with my TGF and I think that might protect me from some of the rudeness of the Thai waiting staff. They are a little bit more wary of being rude to Thais but as I found out they are not so shy when it comes to farangs.