Hard Rock Cafe opened.

[piewarmer]

same response as Torry @ Downunder

 

[CMKiwi]

Must be something in the water on the street!

[Chicog]

So how much is your basic burger and fries then?

[scottiejohn]

13 hours ago, Chicog said:

So how much is your basic burger and fries then?

I don't know the costs as they do not have any prices/menus on display. 

 

You have to ask one of the staff outside who are holding the menus.  I hate places like that where nothing is shown outside, unlike the Red Lion nearby which has a huge sign with his beer prices etc clearly on display.

 

PS I am not trying to plug the RL!

[scottiejohn]

22 hours ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

 

 

I guess that's relative.   The soi numbers definitely go higher towards the night bazar and the river.

 

BTW on their website pics you can see that Burger King is closed, with some renovation going on there.  I wonder if that will remain as Burger King, or will become something else..

Burger King is not closed, it just has some work going on at one part of the building.  It was open for business last night.

[Dante99]

32 posts and only 2 from people who have actually been there, yeh yeh yeh

[kalbo123]

32 posts and only 2 from people who have actually been there, yeh yeh yeh

 

 

And the ones who have been there actually liked it...

[Chicog]

4 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

I don't know the costs as they do not have any prices/menus on display. 

 

Well they can shove it up their ar$es then, what do they think it is, a Michelin-starred eatery?!

 

 

[Cockwomble]

I think the burgers are around 500 baht from what I remember the other evening, HRC's have never been the cheapest place to eat, but to be fair the standard of food is generally decent enough.

 

No idea why people seem to be so anti the place, it's just another option for people to be able to go, so that's good for me, especially as there are not that many places that have live music in that area

[Chicog]

2 hours ago, Cockwomble said:

I think the burgers are around 500 baht from what I remember the other evening, HRC's have never been the cheapest place to eat, but to be fair the standard of food is generally decent enough.

 

No idea why people seem to be so anti the place, it's just another option for people to be able to go, so that's good for me, especially as there are not that many places that have live music in that area

I'm not anti-live music, although I wouldn't say a Flip cover band is exactly thrilling.

 

 

However, if they're charging western prices for a Burger in Thailand, I won't bother going there.

Be interesting to see what happens when Tripadvisor reviews start coming in.

 

[metisdead]

Off topic trolling posts and replies have been removed. 

[balo]

Looks to be busy already , I only watched from the outside , too expensive for a CC . 

 

[Chiengmaijoe]

Hard Rock Cafe? There's nothing Hard Rock about it - pop rock, morelike, and by a band that just plays songs exactly as the original artist did, without any great solos or individuality that you might expect of a Live band. I love Live music and have seen and heard plenty of good Live music in Chiang Mai over the years, but I see no reason to go to Hard rock for a night of great Live music.  Whilst Hard Rock was pretty quiet at 10pm tonight, a quick walk to Boys Blues and you were in a place that was packed and had great music and a good vibe.

 

Another interesting thing about the place is the prices. If you are paying a premium because they have Live music, how does that apply to the hours of  noon till 9.30pm or so when the band isn't playing? Also the system of adding on service charge and VAT to what is already a high price is sure to annoy plenty of people as it isn't standard practice in bars in Thailand. I've never understood why places do it knowing full well that some customers will be annoyed. Isn't the point of business to keep the customers satisfied, in order to get repeat business and recommendations? Pissing off people is never good business. I heard of an example tonight where a guy I know said he went for a quick look and when he finished his beer he left the 160B that he thought his small beer cost, only to be chased after by the staff because the bill was actually 188b (I think) with tax and service. He said he won't be going back, and not just because of the ++. 

 

My feeling is that Chiang Mai is not really the place for a Hard Rock Cafe (I think of them more as being places for capital cities in Asia)  and if it were, the Night Bazaar is not the right spot. Other than the initial month or so of people going to check it out I can't see locals, especially their target group of well-off expats (loads in Bangkok but few in Chiang Mai)  and more importantly wealthy Thais wanting to go to the Night Bazaar - nowhere to park and it's not a hi-so area. It may attract that crowd if they were on Nimman, but not Night Bazaar. Even well off Thai tourists, which can be a fair number of people during the cool high season,  are far and few in the night bazaar. They are more likely to be found around Nimman. Sure, the Night Bazaar can be busy with tourist, but I'm not sure that they are so interested in Hard Rock or prepared to pay those prices with so many cheap alternatives nearby, especially for food.

 

So far they are not that busy, although they are still in a soft-opening period with a lot of the outside area, that will stretch all the way to the corner near Burger King, still not finished, so things may change. Only time will tell.

 

 

[Chiengmaijoe]

I forgot to mention - the Night Bazaar, as the name suggests is busy from 6pm till midnight, but pretty quiet for the rest of the day. It's not a Central Business District with moneyed executives popping in for lunch. I wonder if they took that into account?  And let's not forget that they must be closed and everyone out the door by midnight, which may explain why the music stops at 11.30pm. Actually, by 11pm the Night Bazaar is already pretty quiet, even in the high season. Your average 2 nights in Chiang Mai tourist (who are the sort of people that are in the Night Bazaar)  have to be up at 7.30am to be ready for the 8am-8.30am bus to Doi Suthep, Mae Rim,  elephant camps etc. 

Edited December 12, 2016 by Chiengmaijoe

[KhonKaenKowboy]

What is amusing about this thread is that in 42 posts, we haven't got a single comment about how terrible the Thai beers are....180 for a small Leo and it's "affluent Thais and wealthy tourists" ..but if anyone actually mentions a promo like three large for the same price without the ++; they are immediately ridiculed for drinking cheap, nasty elephant piss.  Does the taste really change that much with the price?  TVF; home of the pretentious pensioners....

Edited December 12, 2016 by KhonKaenKowboy

[LivinLOS]

Oh the predictability of the 'how much' crowd..  Absolutely proving my point about which markets you would want to be in business and cater to and which ones are not worth it.. 

 

And yet, when the services that cater to them diminish.. Oh where has it all gone.. 

[KhonKaenKowboy]

5 hours ago, Chiengmaijoe said:

Hard Rock Cafe? There's nothing Hard Rock about it - pop rock, morelike, and by a band that just plays songs exactly as the original artist did, without any great solos or individuality that you might expect of a Live band. I love Live music and have seen and heard plenty of good Live music in Chiang Mai over the years, but I see no reason to go to Hard rock for a night of great Live music.  Whilst Hard Rock was pretty quiet at 10pm tonight, a quick walk to Boys Blues and you were in a place that was packed and had great music and a good vibe.

 

Another interesting thing about the place is the prices. If you are paying a premium because they have Live music, how does that apply to the hours of  noon till 9.30pm or so when the band isn't playing? Also the system of adding on service charge and VAT to what is already a high price is sure to annoy plenty of people as it isn't standard practice in bars in Thailand. I've never understood why places do it knowing full well that some customers will be annoyed. Isn't the point of business to keep the customers satisfied, in order to get repeat business and recommendations? Pissing off people is never good business. I heard of an example tonight where a guy I know said he went for a quick look and when he finished his beer he left the 160B that he thought his small beer cost, only to be chased after by the staff because the bill was actually 188b (I think) with tax and service. He said he won't be going back, and not just because of the ++. 

 

 

 

 

Actually, he still owes them 32 satang.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

1 hour ago, LivinLOS said:

Oh the predictability of the 'how much' crowd..  Absolutely proving my point about which markets you would want to be in business and cater to and which ones are not worth it.. 

 

And yet, when the services that cater to them diminish.. Oh where has it all gone.. 

Median household income in my home county of over a million people is 13 times higher than CM, and 188 for a small bottle of beer would likely fail, even with free food.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

5 hours ago, Chiengmaijoe said:

I forgot to mention - the Night Bazaar, as the name suggests is busy from 6pm till midnight, but pretty quiet for the rest of the day. It's not a Central Business District with moneyed executives popping in for lunch. I wonder if they took that into account?  And let's not forget that they must be closed and everyone out the door by midnight, which may explain why the music stops at 11.30pm. Actually, by 11pm the Night Bazaar is already pretty quiet, even in the high season. Your average 2 nights in Chiang Mai tourist (who are the sort of people that are in the Night Bazaar)  have to be up at 7.30am to be ready for the 8am-8.30am bus to Doi Suthep, Mae Rim,  elephant camps etc. 

 

That's very true.  Lunch business must be completely dead there.  Makes it very brave actually to go for that location.  I'm hoping it's the start of turning the whole Night Bazar area much more vibrant.   That said they're not the first; Le Meridien first and foremost has gone in there and is doing quite well.

 

2 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

Oh the predictability of the 'how much' crowd..  Absolutely proving my point about which markets you would want to be in business and cater to and which ones are not worth it..   And yet, when the services that cater to them diminish.. Oh where has it all gone.. 

 

Well yes, but for a restaurant to be charging prices that are really substantially higher than anything else, even some 5 star hotel restaurants, it's going to raise some debate as to what you actually get for your money.    

 

I wonder how they'll be going about car parking actually;  while you can kind-sorta park down a soi somewhere and walk, I doubt that's the kind of entrance that people with nice cars would want.  Parking next door at the Royal Lanna maybe? Or some valet service perhaps.  They probably have it covered, being a Bangkok based company.

Edited December 13, 2016 by WinnieTheKhwai

[hml367]

17 minutes ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

 

That's very true.  Lunch business must be completely dead there.  Makes it very brave actually to go for that location.  I'm hoping it's the start of turning the whole Night Bazar area much more vibrant.   That said they're not the first; Le Meridien first and foremost has gone in there and is doing quite well.

 

 

Well yes, but for a restaurant to be charging prices that are really substantially higher than anything else, even some 5 star hotel restaurants, it's going to raise some debate as to what you actually get for your money.    

 

I wonder how they'll be going about car parking actually;  while you can kind-sorta park down a soi somewhere and walk, I doubt that's the kind of entrance that people with nice cars would want.  Parking next door at the Royal Lanna maybe? Or some valet service perhaps.  They probably have it covered, being a Bangkok based company.

 

Parking:  Is there still paid parking behind McDonalds?

[LivinLOS]

1 hour ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

Well yes, but for a restaurant to be charging prices that are really substantially higher than anything else, even some 5 star hotel restaurants, it's going to raise some debate as to what you actually get for your money.    

 

I have only ever been in a couple of hard rocks, totally not my musical tastes and always seemed geared for the visitor / tourist market (the pool in the Bali ones hotel bit  pretty nice though) and every time they seemed much more expensive than local options. Almost seems part of the brand. 

 

[KhonKaenKowboy]

Looks like more than a quarter of them have failed.  Many in places that are much bigger tourist traps than CM.  www.nr-19.com/HRC/19-HRC_all_cafes.htm

[chiang mai]

Chiang Mai needs a Hard Rock about as much as Vatican City needs Macd's.

[Chiengmaijoe]

25 minutes ago, KhonKaenKowboy said:

Looks like more than a quarter of them have failed.  Many in places that are much bigger tourist traps than CM.  www.nr-19.com/HRC/19-HRC_all_cafes.htm

 

An interesting figure. 4 out of 5 closed in England with the only one remaining, not surprisingly, being London. From what I have heard they have invested about 70m baht in the place in Chiang Mai!

[jobin]

But, the Vatican IS getting a new MCD, although not all the Cardinals approve.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/10/19/cardinals-oppose-perverse-plan-to-open-a-mcdonalds-in-vatican-city/

 

Let them eat nuggets or BigMac for once and the Cardinals will be singing the praises of the Golden Arches. 

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, jobin said:

But, the Vatican IS getting a new MCD, although not all the Cardinals approve.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/10/19/cardinals-oppose-perverse-plan-to-open-a-mcdonalds-in-vatican-city/

 

Let them eat nuggets or BigMac for once and the Cardinals will be singing the praises of the Golden Arches. 

Unless Joshua gets his trumpets out and they all come tumbling down

[pgrahmm]

2 hours ago, jobin said:

But, the Vatican IS getting a new MCD, although not all the Cardinals approve.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/10/19/cardinals-oppose-perverse-plan-to-open-a-mcdonalds-in-vatican-city/

 

Let them eat nuggets or BigMac for once and the Cardinals will be singing the praises of the Golden Arches. 

 

[piewarmer]

11 hours ago, KhonKaenKowboy said:

Looks like more than a quarter of them have failed.  Many in places that are much bigger tourist traps than CM.  www.nr-19.com/HRC/19-HRC_all_cafes.htm

add another 50% for a burger in the KL franchise, it just gets silly.

[stament]

KL? 

[worgeordie]

3 hours ago, stament said:

KL? 

Kuala Lumpur , capital of Malaysia. 

regards worgeordie