Bad experiences at good restaurants?

How do other forum members deal with this?

I took some out-of-town friends to Spoon Thai last Tuesday for lunch. If I was not eternally devoted to Spoon my loyalty would have been sorely tested. I ordered only items very familiar to me - the highlights, the better to please my guests. Items which had premade components such as haw mok and the banana blossom salad were good, but the rest of the meal failed spectacularly. The one-bite salad was simply a pile of toasted coconut and peanuts, with no detectable onion, shrimp, or lime. Shrimp paste rice with red onion, pork, egg, and apple was also missing the onion, and the normally delectable bbq pork was served in a mealy generic brown sauce. When I asked for red onion our waiter (not the owner) said they were out of red onion that day. Isn't this completely unacceptable? I would have complained but refrained as my guests were treating me.

To add insult to injury, a dish we ordered was completely forgotten, but the rest of the meal was so disappointing that we didn't bother to ask for it. The only saving grace was the spice level of the healthy soup, it was minimal and while I felt we were not being given the full Thai menu experience, my local friend who ordered it was thrilled since she could happily eat it without internally combusting.

What would you do in this case? Spoon Thai has never before failed me. I was thinking of calling the owner? They must have more than one chef, and one who does not prepare the Thai menu items properly. I'd like to know when to avoid going if this is the case. But the onion thing was absurd - we should have been notified they could not make those dishes.

Yesterday, I wanted to grab a quick bite at Semiramis, another favorite, before getting some groceries at Andy's Fruit Ranch. They have some magazines in the waiting area and I asked (yes, big mistake) to read one while I ate in the dining area. The hostess equivocated and said she would have to ask. She returned and told me that I could, but only until my food came, as they were worried I would spill food on the magazine and possibly ruin the current issue of Men's Health or Lucky. Hungry, and miffed, I told her they were an excellent restaurant but they had just lost my business. In retrospect I should have asked to speak to a manager (though I could have just taken the magazine to read without asking). I don't exactly blame the hostess, who may be working in a tight ship and be worried about getting in trouble, but it seems a very silly thing to alienate a customer over. And no, I was not dressed in the remains of my several previous meals - I looked perfectly presentable and unstained.

The first incident is more concerning since Spoon Thai is my favorite restaurant in Chicago, but the latter is disappointing if I stick to my guns about not returning. I was really craving one of their excellent sandwiches, and i still am!

Red onion seems like an odd thing to run out of, given that it's an ingredient you can pick up pretty much anywhere.

nutella wrote:How do other forum members deal with this?

I took some out-of-town friends to Spoon Thai last Tuesday for lunch. If I was not eternally devoted to Spoon my loyalty would have been sorely tested. I ordered only items very familiar to me - the highlights, the better to please my guests. Items which had premade components such as haw mok and the banana blossom salad were good, but the rest of the meal failed spectacularly. The one-bite salad was simply a pile of toasted coconut and peanuts, with no detectable onion, shrimp, or lime. Shrimp paste rice with red onion, pork, egg, and apple was also missing the onion, and the normally delectable bbq pork was served in a mealy generic brown sauce. When I asked for red onion our waiter (not the owner) said they were out of red onion that day. Isn't this completely unacceptable? I would have complained but refrained as my guests were treating me.

To add insult to injury, a dish we ordered was completely forgotten, but the rest of the meal was so disappointing that we didn't bother to ask for it. The only saving grace was the spice level of the healthy soup, it was minimal and while I felt we were not being given the full Thai menu experience, my local friend who ordered it was thrilled since she could happily eat it without internally combusting.

What would you do in this case? Spoon Thai has never before failed me. I was thinking of calling the owner? They must have more than one chef, and one who does not prepare the Thai menu items properly. I'd like to know when to avoid going if this is the case. But the onion thing was absurd - we should have been notified they could not make those dishes.

Yesterday, I wanted to grab a quick bite at Semiramis, another favorite, before getting some groceries at Andy's Fruit Ranch. They have some magazines in the waiting area and I asked (yes, big mistake) to read one while I ate in the dining area. The hostess equivocated and said she would have to ask. She returned and told me that I could, but only until my food came, as they were worried I would spill food on the magazine and possibly ruin the current issue of Men's Health or Lucky. Hungry, and miffed, I told her they were an excellent restaurant but they had just lost my business. In retrospect I should have asked to speak to a manager (though I could have just taken the magazine to read without asking). I don't exactly blame the hostess, who may be working in a tight ship and be worried about getting in trouble, but it seems a very silly thing to alienate a customer over. And no, I was not dressed in the remains of my several previous meals - I looked perfectly presentable and unstained.

The first incident is more concerning since Spoon Thai is my favorite restaurant in Chicago, but the latter is disappointing if I stick to my guns about not returning. I was really craving one of their excellent sandwiches, and i still am!

I know it's irritating when it happens but I'd put your recent Spoon Thai experience in the 'sh*t happens' file and move on. If it happens again, I'd probably ask a manager or owner if there was some reason that things are not as they've always been. Everyone has a bad day once in a while. I had a great lunch there earlier today and over the past few months it may have surpassed TAC as my favorite Thai restaurant in Chicago.

As for the experience at Semirami's, I have to say that I kind of agree with the owners. But if they don't want the magazines sullied, why even have them at the restaurant? There are many ways, aside from food, that magazines can get ruined. I don't think what happened to you would have bothered me but since it didn't, I can't say for sure.

On a similar note, I've noticed a (hopefully not) trend lately at a couple restaurants that I really like -- the 'not-as-good-as-I-would-have-ordered-myself' tasting menu. These haven't been "bad" experiences but they've been relatively disappointing. Rather than just ordering from the menu, I've gone with the chef's choice menu and ended up wishing I'd just followed my gut. At a recent dinner, for example, the menu was populated with all sorts of interesting selections. Mired in indecision, I opted to let the kitchen assemble the 5-course progression, as was offered on the menu. We were served 3 dishes I would have never ordered, 1 that wasn't on the menu at all and only 1 that I would have actually ordered for myself. Considering the percentage of tempting offerings on the menu, this was neary a mathematical impossibility. Moral of the story: let the chef cook your dinner but don't let him order it. (just kidding because I've had far more successful chef's choice menus than unsuccessful ones).

=R=

HI,

Spoon Thai
- I mentioned recently they have been withholding the dried shrimp unless requested. It would appear someone sometime made a big stink about this ingredient. I never noticed the other elements missing.
- Not explaining anything away, I've seen some dismal red onions lately. I picked through some at one place to find one that was more acceptable than less. It was definitely a compromise.

The magaizine from the waiting area, was it intended for sale? If not, I know I am not to thrilled to read an article spotted with food. Or recipe teased on the cover to be found missing. It is not the worst case of fussiness I can think of.

Regards,

nutella wrote:What would you do in this case?

I'd stop at Sticky Rice on the way home to see if I could get something tastier. Then go back and eat at Spoon the next week. There's nothing food-related in this city that I love more than the plethora of great Thai places: Spoon, Sticky, Aroy and TAC being my favorites. And there is no food I eat more frequently. But much as I love these places, one thing none of them has going for it is consistency. I've had mediocre to dreadful meals at every one (eating way out of balance Yum Eggplant from Sticky Rice as we speak - tastes nothing like the great version I had from them just a week ago.). At triple or even double the price I might do something about it, but as it is I just suck it up and hope for better next time. It almost always works.

ronnie_suburban wrote:On a similar note, I've noticed a (hopefully not) trend lately at a couple restaurants that I really like -- the 'not-as-good-as-I-would-have-ordered-myself' tasting menu. These haven't been "bad" experiences but they've been relatively disappointing. Rather than just ordering from the menu, I've gone with the chef's choice menu and ended up wishing I'd just followed my gut. At a recent dinner, for example, the menu was populated with all sorts of interesting selections. Mired in indecision, I opted to let the kitchen assemble the 5-course progression, as was offered on the menu. We were served 3 dishes I would have never ordered, 1 that wasn't on the menu at all and only 1 that I would have actually ordered for myself. Considering the percentage of tempting offerings on the menu, this was neary a mathematical impossibility. Moral of the story: let the chef cook your dinner but don't let him order it. (just kidding because I've had far more successful chef's choice menus than unsuccessful ones).

=R=

A similar thing happened to me at Green Zebra a couple months ago. I usually have such a time making a decision that I'm willing to trust the tasting menu they've (presumably) skillfully assembled.

Re khao kluk kapi: Got this at Spoon recently and also noticed that the pork is now much saucier. Fortunately, the red onion delivery seems to have come in that day, but really, this dish is better at TAC in just about every way (especially the rice). Haven't experienced any problems with the one-bite salad, though.

Re Men's Health: You missed an awesome cover story on how to get six-pack abs, stop your hairline from receding, and learn to last longer in bed, all in just two weeks. It seems to have something to do with blueberries.

Re: Spoon Thai - That's interesting about the red onion, I've seen really dismal ones recently also. But I've never had a bad version of any of these dishes before, they are tried and true. Spoon Thai has been so reliable that I wondered if something had gone wrong. That is - the Thai menu items are reliably good, and I reliably skip the regular menu items (except where they duplicate each other) assuming they are mediocre. I would hate for the execution levels of the two different menus to commingle. Is there any truth to the strange rumor I heard that there are two different chefs for the different menus?

As to restaurant hopping, I was with guests on a limited timeframe, thus the disappointment. I've also had a truly, truly dreadful meal at Sticky Rice, which everyone else seems to love. Greasy, bad tasting, just awful. Maybe I will have to go to Tac Quick soon, but I crave Spoon Thai.

The magazines at Semiramis were for people waiting for takeout, not for sale. When I eat alone I like to read, and if a restaurant has magazines to read all the better. This has kept me happily going back to Penny's Noodle Shop despite their middling cuisine. I don't think I've ruined one yet, and I never see any food spots on them. I'm also not convinced that the hostess actually talked to the owner, it seems such a petty thing to alienate a customer over. They also had no one in the waiting area, it was early.

I am really sad I missed out on those great articles in Men's Health, above everything.

nutella wrote: Is there any truth to the strange rumor I heard that there are two different chefs for the different menus?

It happens to be true and one I have had reaffirmed several times. They have a team of cooks who do the American menu items. Another team exclusively cooks the Thai menu, which once were the "secret menus." While it may seem strange, it is a practical solution. The Thai menu is more labor intensive with a higher skill level, which is one reason why this menu was once secret.

Regards,

ronnie_suburban wrote:On a similar note, I've noticed a (hopefully not) trend lately at a couple restaurants that I really like -- the 'not-as-good-as-I-would-have-ordered-myself' tasting menu. These haven't been "bad" experiences but they've been relatively disappointing. Rather than just ordering from the menu, I've gone with the chef's choice menu and ended up wishing I'd just followed my gut. At a recent dinner, for example, the menu was populated with all sorts of interesting selections. Mired in indecision, I opted to let the kitchen assemble the 5-course progression, as was offered on the menu. We were served 3 dishes I would have never ordered, 1 that wasn't on the menu at all and only 1 that I would have actually ordered for myself. Considering the percentage of tempting offerings on the menu, this was neary a mathematical impossibility. Moral of the story: let the chef cook your dinner but don't let him order it. (just kidding because I've had far more successful chef's choice menus than unsuccessful ones).

=R=

With apologies for derailing this thread, I seem to have the same problem Ronnie describes fairly often. I love the idea of a tasting menu, but so often I find other items on the menu that seem more interesting. I usually ask if I can substitute a dish or two, a request that is generally turned down. Inevitably, my wife and I create our own tasting menu and, in an effort to try too many things, stuff ourselves silly.

Why would you even touch a magazine that may have been handled by hundreds of people with questionable hygienic practices...let alone bring it to the table that you're eating at?

Would you pick it up if you had just seen someone coming out of the bathroom with it?

PJ Murphy wrote:Why would you even touch a magazine that may have been handled by hundreds of people with questionable hygienic practices...let alone bring it to the table that you're eating at?

Would you pick it up if you had just seen someone coming out of the bathroom with it?

OK, I consider myself something of a germaphobe, but this would never have occurred to me. Do I need to go back to U of OCD?

PJ Murphy wrote:Why would you even touch a magazine that may have been handled by hundreds of people with questionable hygienic practices...let alone bring it to the table that you're eating at?

Would you pick it up if you had just seen someone coming out of the bathroom with it?

Clearly you've never ridden the CTA.

Magazines, the silent killer.

jesteinf wrote:

PJ Murphy wrote:Why would you even touch a magazine that may have been handled by hundreds of people with questionable hygienic practices...let alone bring it to the table that you're eating at?

Would you pick it up if you had just seen someone coming out of the bathroom with it?

Clearly you've never ridden the CTA.

Or eaten in a restaurant.

or gone to the bathroom.

I am now relieved as the hostess obviously saved me from a near-death magazine touching experience.

So at Spoon they do have separate chefs! Would my assumption that the Thai menu chefs weren't there for a Tuesday lunch be correct? I'm trying to know when to avoid going, I've never had another bad meal there.

nutella wrote:So at Spoon they do have separate chefs! Would my assumption that the Thai menu chefs weren't there for a Tuesday lunch be correct? I'm trying to know when to avoid going, I've never had another bad meal there.

This is a detail, I don't know.

Not even sure this applies anymore, long ago Erik M felt Tank on Argyle & Broadway had the A-team during the day and the B-team at night.

Regards,

PJ Murphy wrote:Why would you even touch a magazine that may have been handled by hundreds of people with questionable hygienic practices...let alone bring it to the table that you're eating at?

Would you pick it up if you had just seen someone coming out of the bathroom with it?

LOL! Why does George Costanza suddenly come to mind?

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:On a similar note, I've noticed a (hopefully not) trend lately at a couple restaurants that I really like -- the 'not-as-good-as-I-would-have-ordered-myself' tasting menu. These haven't been "bad" experiences but they've been relatively disappointing. Rather than just ordering from the menu, I've gone with the chef's choice menu and ended up wishing I'd just followed my gut. At a recent dinner, for example, the menu was populated with all sorts of interesting selections. Mired in indecision, I opted to let the kitchen assemble the 5-course progression, as was offered on the menu. We were served 3 dishes I would have never ordered, 1 that wasn't on the menu at all and only 1 that I would have actually ordered for myself. Considering the percentage of tempting offerings on the menu, this was neary a mathematical impossibility. Moral of the story: let the chef cook your dinner but don't let him order it.

Dude - did you let him know you were a discerning client and ask him to cook for you instead of just giving you the chef's menu that ANYONE could order?

#plotnicki