Eating food off your lap? That’s bloody unacceptable! God, my mother wouldn’t even let me get away with that at home. I’d like to actually set her on that manager!
I’ve had mixed experiences there. I’ve always found the food to be good – very good in fact, and their cocktails are delicious. But when the place is busy, it’s not comfortable and the management don’t seem to give a cr*p at times.
In all seriousness, I had one of the tip-of-the-top worst meals of my life in this un-inspiring excuse for a restaurant. Ridiculously over-hyped, ridiculously over-priced and plain crap, serving ‘asian’ food in a sauce you clearly made from bisto with a few peppers thrown in is not only not on, it tastes disgusting. I’d been in before for lunch and was completely whelmed by the mediocrity of that too. No idea why this place gets rated so highly.
I’d agree with the comment re Henry’s treatment of the wait staff – the setup in the lounge is not their fault.
I’ve no issue with the food – have not had a bad meal in the place, although I’d agree with Kirstie that it’s on the pricey side. Food service is also pretty nippy.
I’ve had middling to poor drinks service any time I’ve been in, though. Great cocktails and a good wine list, but the lounge/bar seems permanently understaffed and service is slow even when the place is quiet. When it’s busy, well… try waiting an hour for a round of drinks!
My last night out there was on my birthday in May when the place was packed to the rafters with a hen party and yet only seemed to have one barman working – and making cocktail after cocktail. Two cocktails for part of my group took an hour to arrive – even after a word with one of the managers. We got a free round of shooters by way of an apology, although we would’ve left before that had there been anywhere else decent to go in the area.
What exactly was wrong in Henry’s treatment of the waiting staff? He said he told them he appreciated their service, before pointing out a problem he had. If he was asked on his way out “Did you enjoy your meal?”, was he supposed to do the usual Irish thing and lie about it? If you say he should have taken it up with the manager directly – he did, but he said the manager was unhelpful.
The reason some restaurants get away with shoddy treatment is because people don’t complain, they just grin and bear it (“How is your meal sir?” / “Great, great” / “This is way overdone/off”)
Steve – if you read Henry’s full comment he cites his only issues as having been with the management, not the wait staff.
He commended the wait staff on their service but left a small tip and bitched about their bosses to them. I can imagine he was frustrated but it strikes me as a pointlessly vindictive response to the situation.
There are three guys running the shop at Koh so I’d suggest he take the issue up with them directly.
Thursday 12 November, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Eating food off your lap? That’s bloody unacceptable! God, my mother wouldn’t even let me get away with that at home. I’d like to actually set her on that manager!
Thursday 12 November, 2009 at 2:37 pm
I’ve had mixed experiences there. I’ve always found the food to be good – very good in fact, and their cocktails are delicious. But when the place is busy, it’s not comfortable and the management don’t seem to give a cr*p at times.
Thursday 12 November, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I’ve never been, but as an aside, I think Henrys’ treatment of the wait staff was unacceptable.
Thursday 12 November, 2009 at 2:50 pm
In all seriousness, I had one of the tip-of-the-top worst meals of my life in this un-inspiring excuse for a restaurant. Ridiculously over-hyped, ridiculously over-priced and plain crap, serving ‘asian’ food in a sauce you clearly made from bisto with a few peppers thrown in is not only not on, it tastes disgusting. I’d been in before for lunch and was completely whelmed by the mediocrity of that too. No idea why this place gets rated so highly.
Thursday 12 November, 2009 at 2:57 pm
I’d agree with the comment re Henry’s treatment of the wait staff – the setup in the lounge is not their fault.
I’ve no issue with the food – have not had a bad meal in the place, although I’d agree with Kirstie that it’s on the pricey side. Food service is also pretty nippy.
I’ve had middling to poor drinks service any time I’ve been in, though. Great cocktails and a good wine list, but the lounge/bar seems permanently understaffed and service is slow even when the place is quiet. When it’s busy, well… try waiting an hour for a round of drinks!
My last night out there was on my birthday in May when the place was packed to the rafters with a hen party and yet only seemed to have one barman working – and making cocktail after cocktail. Two cocktails for part of my group took an hour to arrive – even after a word with one of the managers. We got a free round of shooters by way of an apology, although we would’ve left before that had there been anywhere else decent to go in the area.
Thursday 12 November, 2009 at 3:20 pm
What exactly was wrong in Henry’s treatment of the waiting staff? He said he told them he appreciated their service, before pointing out a problem he had. If he was asked on his way out “Did you enjoy your meal?”, was he supposed to do the usual Irish thing and lie about it? If you say he should have taken it up with the manager directly – he did, but he said the manager was unhelpful.
The reason some restaurants get away with shoddy treatment is because people don’t complain, they just grin and bear it (“How is your meal sir?” / “Great, great” / “This is way overdone/off”)
Thursday 12 November, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Steve – if you read Henry’s full comment he cites his only issues as having been with the management, not the wait staff.
He commended the wait staff on their service but left a small tip and bitched about their bosses to them. I can imagine he was frustrated but it strikes me as a pointlessly vindictive response to the situation.
There are three guys running the shop at Koh so I’d suggest he take the issue up with them directly.