Vanilla Bean Cafe & Restaurant — Restaurant in New South Wales

I enjoy Thai food and eat it regularly. I usually go to a different Thai restaurant in Bathurst, but this time I decided to try somewhere new. This place always appears busy and has received many positive reviews here, so I had high hopes. Sadly, I will not be returning.

The atmosphere and service were lovely, and the staff were very attentive. However, we found the restaurant uncomfortably cold inside during winter. It was so chilly that we could not take off our coats.

The first sign of disappointment came with the entrée. The vegetable spring rolls did not taste like Thai food at all, which immediately made us concerned about the rest of the meal. Unfortunately, our mains confirmed that concern. We ordered two of the most classic Thai dishes, Pad Thai and Laksa noodle soup, and both were lacking in authenticity and flavour.

The Pad Thai was not what I expected. Rather than the usual flat noodles, it was made with thin ones, and the sauce was too strong and sticky. The prawns I selected were quite nice, but I ended up leaving most of the noodles on the plate. It did not resemble any Pad Thai I have ever had before.

The Laksa noodle soup also lacked depth. It was simply a mildly spicy coconut soup with soft noodles, missing the flavour and richness typical of a good laksa. The taste was heavy and unbalanced.

We will go back to our usual Thai restaurant in the future. However, this place may be suitable for large groups or families, as the menu is very broad and includes items like pasta and chicken wraps, etc, which are not part of traditional Thai cuisine. The dining space itself was quite large and may suit those looking for a...

I recently took an elderly friend here for lunch, who had just come out of hospital after having radiation treatment. He wasn't wanting a big meal, and asked the waitress if he could just have a sandwich. She told us no they couldn't do that and he'd have to order something off the menu. He ordered a ham/cheese melt, which was hanging over the sides of the plate. After four or five mouthfuls he had enough, so the remainder of the meal was wasted. The crazy thing is that everything he wanted in his sandwich, was on that plate. A follow call two days later to the manager, I given a very curt answer, "We don't do sandwiches". I'll remember that the next time I'm in Bathurst. I was also overcharged on alcohol, on a...

Pretty unimpressed really! For a venue that charges premium prices, I expect more. Tom Yum soup had a strange waxy flavour and none of the sweet & sour bite it should have. An entree of Crying Tiger beef salad was also disappointing with barely a hint of chilli, certainly no tears of joy. Mains of bbq Pork neck had no real bbq flavour or charring on the meat and a nondescript stir was so forgettable that I can't remember what it was supposed to be!!! At $90 odd certainly not good enough. No...