Phetyai Thai — Restaurant in Cairns City

Very disappointed with Phetyai Cairns (Sun 20 April, ~7pm)

I used to love this place, but tonight was a letdown. I ordered vegetarian spring rolls, crispy chicken with fried rice, beef salad and beef larb. They brought out chicken larb by mistake, and when I told the waitress, she rolled her eyes before taking it back.

What came next as “beef larb” smelt off. When I raised this, the waiter dismissed it and returned it to the kitchen. Then the head cook came out aggressively asking “what long with da dish?” I explained the beef smelt bad and I wasn’t risking my health. No apology. No refund.

Not fussed about the $19.90, but sad to see such a big drop in service and food quality. It used to be amazing when it was just a humble hole-in-the-wall. Hope it gets back to that standard.

FEEDBACK to Phetyai Thai’s response to my review. We have been long term and regular customers from when Phetyai started as a small takeaway on Lake Street. We are not arguing about Phet’s ability to cook nor their years of expertise in cooking larb.

We did not have to wait long for the dishes to be served.

First of all, our immediate response when the beef larb was brought out was that the meat smelt “off” - meaning it did not smell fresh. This complaint to the waiter and a few minutes later, to the cook owner was not about the type of larb or the way it was cooked; the beef on that plate smelled off.

Secondly, we left politely without demanding for a refund.

Restaurant owners in general would work with customers to improve their customers future experience. The fact that you have responded to our review in an argumentative manner shows that you are willing to argue with your customers and have not focused on the reason why the two star rating...

Food is decent, go for fried chicken dish instead of noodle dish. Huge portion. Prefer fried chicken to be little more meaty. Waited close to 2 hours for food to arrive because there were just too many takeout orders. It was not a good experience, chatted with table close by, they all spent more than 2 hours. we waited so long that they had to keep coming back to tell us they ran out of the food we ordered. At the end, they closed the restaurant 5 mins after the food showed up. They turned off most lights, we were under pressure to finish the food quickly, we ended up asking for takeout boxes and took the food home. The owner did come out to apologize after complaints, they did nothing wrong to prepare food in the order of when the order was placed. However, it is not right to see 20-30 takeout orders delivered before sit-down customers who actually spent the time to go there, sat down and wanted to have a good dinner experience. Locals know better to order takeouts. Suggest to order takeout instead of...

Ordered takeaway from here, and let me tell you, it was absolutely brilliant! Took one bite, and I was whisked straight back to my trip to Bangkok in 2006. Back then, I was a younger, naive lad, backpacking through Thailand with just a map in hand (before smartphones were a thing, mind you).

I remember one night hitting up a nightclub off Sukhumvit Road — the music was loud, the drinks were cheap, and, well, I might’ve overdone it on the Singha beers. The queue for the toilets was tremendously long, and let’s just say I learned the hard way that waiting wasn’t my strong suit after a few too many. Had to tie my jacket around my waist and make an early exit. Oh, the memories!

The meal I had from this establishment brought all of that flooding back (pun intended). Delicious food, generous portions, and polite staff. It’s amazing how something so tasty can spark such vivid memories of youthful adventures. Definitely will be back to relive my glory days — just without the...