Everything is wrong with Lotus of Siam NYC

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
21

I hope they didn’t repaint the room. I’ll be looking for the stain on the top of the wall that got there when a sabered jeroboam went awry. [basic-smile.gif]

22

There are no heat indicators in LV. You have to tell them 1-10.

Why was it a set $75/pp menu? Is that for everyone or did you guys prearrange something?

23

It’s a set menu for the soft opening. I’ve been trying to reach them. Their message says that they start taking reservations at 10:00 but as of 11:30 no one was there to answer the phone.

24

[shrug.gif] We’ve always been asked in LV.

25

Quick comments regarding our dinner last night (am at work and on a short break and my first access to a computer…TapaTalk doesn’t allow me to post on WB for some reason via my iPhone).

  1. I should have known there would be problems when the reservation got screwed up, and their reaction to it. I had made it on OpenTable for 4, but we grew to a party of 8, so I phoned them late last week to ask if it could be increased to 8. Explained we were fans of their Vegas restaurant and we were wine/food enthusiasts who were excited to come. Yes, the guy said, he would change it to 8–they could do that.

  2. When they called yesterday morning to confirm, it was for 4. I explained #1 above, how I had called, etc. Long pause, then they said “Well, I suppose we can change it since you SAY you spoke to someone but its not written down here. I’ll see if we can accommodate you.” He ended the call by saying “I’ll work something out since you SAY you spoke to someone.” (I found this a little off putting but ok…)

  3. We get there, the wine list is shockingly simple, they explain its temporary. Fine. Then the menu is a set price of $75 with very limited items which no one had mentioned beforehand. OK, I thought, fine…go with the flow. The somm comes, mentions wines, but doesn’t really get an order from us and its quite a while before we order and get a wine. We had mentioned several wines to him we’d like but he never “closed the deal” and by the time, later, we told him we would like them, he said “Oh, I just sold the last bottle a minute ago.” There would be long intervals between his coming to our table versus disappearing.

  4. Each wine was at room temp. I’d estimate 70 degrees.

  5. The servers always poured tap water into glasses with sparkling water. Happened over and over.

  6. LONG delays between dishes; like 30 minutes delay. After 2 1/4 hours we were just about to be served the mains.

  7. We asked for the manager who immediately got defensive, and started talking about how they don’t take parties of 8 but they did us a favor, and a lot of it was them doing us a favor by taking 8 people. I said “Surely you’re not definding the service?” He gave me a look like he could kill me.

  8. After the whole debacle, I said to him “I feel like letting the folks in LV know about our experience.” He said, “Oh, they’re here tonight. Would you like to speak to them?” When I said yes, he said fine and went away. We were there for at least another half hour and NO ONE ever came back, including him.

  9. After the initial interaction with the somm (who said he had lots of things off the list he’d tell us about but never did) he left NEVER to return…as in 1 1/2 hours of our dinner, he never came back.

  10. No wait staff or manager ever apologized about our dissatisfaction.

Unbelievable.

26

Did the somm leave the restaurant? I mean it’s just not that big of a place for him not to pass your table every once in a while.

27

Wilfred,

I read that there were language barriers with some of the staff; did it include the GM & Somm?

28

Wilfred, that is BS about them not taking reservations for parties of 8 as I had one for next Tuesday. I finally reached a live person and cancelled it.

29

Has anyone contacted the original location and informed the real people about this thread? Surely they would like to know what is going on.

30

No. He was in the same dining room helping other tables and ignoring us.

31

The Las Vegas chef was there, but, imo, spending way too much time schmoozing in the entry room. Now, with an opening I know there’s the need to meet and greet clients you know from Las Vegas, but he must have been there literally half the time we were there. He would’ve been better off directing things in the kitchen.

32

i left early that night. i got a thank-you card from my liver [drinkers.gif]

33

again … WOW!! I seriously hope none of ya’ll paid a cent. Soft opening or not, these are accounts of the most ridiculously bad service possible — shit, they must have gone out of their way to give such bad service. Seriously, my friggin’ dog could run the show better than they are. Riesling at 70 degrees!?! Ca-mon!! What-tha-fuck!!! This place sounds like a joke — if I were you guys, I’d be contacting the folks in Vegas (which it sounds like will be happening), tell them what happened, and ask for a comped meal for your next visit … at the Vegas location! This shit should never happen at a restaurant — a mistake here or there, sure — that happens, but this sounds like a nightmare.

34

No, we saw him serving other tables, and hanging around one particular table (I believe it was a 4-top) most of the evening. Hey, maybe those were the mysterious “owners” that never showed up!

Our waiter also was absent most of the time, we were served almost exclusively by busboys who were completely out of their element, barely spoke English (when we asked them for things a few times we got completely blank stares), and were somewhat rude (I was shoved aside several times so one could reach the other side of the table).

Our table wasn’t a bunch of noobs or rubes either: you had Wilfred and Christine and the Camhis who are practically professional eaters, a floor manager from both Tabla and 11 Mad, the owner of La Caravelle, Brad Kane and me. We knew that there might be some baby fat to work off, but this baby is practically stillborn.

Seriously, it was that bad.

35

It’s stories like this that reinforce my decision to avoid newly-opened restaurants. I’ll let the serious “foodies” serve as the test subjects, and then if it looks like things are working out well, I’ll give it a try.

Bruce

36

Huh? I thought Mom did the cooking in Vegas.

37

So, Brad, how many points are you on that?

38

Pretty poor form to post a scathing review on a restaurant that has been “open” for two weeks. Yes, it seems like you had a bad time, but to excoriate them on the most widely read WBB in the world before they are officially open is in poor taste IMHO. YMMV.

39

My mileage does vary.

It seems to me people are just reporting facts, and I see nothing wrong with it; they (the resto) did a soft-opening; they sucked; they took the customers’ money anyways.

IMO, the only “poor form” here is that the restaurant sucked like Dyson.

40

if you’re open, you’re open. And if you’re charging for the experience, then you are subject to review. The review did indeed note that they had just opened. I think the only poor taste in the thread was–the food.
alan