BAAN BAAN Perth — Restaurant in Perth

I'm still unsure of what actually happened with my partner and I's visit to Baan Baan tonight. I generally only leave reviews for restaurants where I've had a really positive experience, as everywhere is subject to mistakes or just having an off night, but I had to make an exception here.

In short: our booking was mixed up, this lead us to be placed at a table in less than arms length of a six seater, service was slow, the dishes were delivered very staggered, and the food (with the exception of the mussels) was poor and chewy.

To be more detailed: We had booked online and received an email confirmation. Upon arrival, the lady who greeted us was unable to find our booking, saying we had "already been ticked off as being seated". That's okay, mistakes with online booking is far from uncommon. However, I felt like the mix up was being blamed on my partner from the way it was handled, which made me a bit uncomfortable. After a brief wait, we were lead inside and saw two staff seperating a 4 seater table. We were then placed in the middle, right next to the other 2 seater and a 6 seater, currently unoccupied. The other tables were close enough together that, later in the night, another customer struggled to squeeze between without bumping both tables. Our table was wobbly, so we asked to either move or just have something to put under it. One of the staff silently strode over and did something with the legs. It still wobbled.

So, somewhat minor complaints so far, sure. Definitely things that I would normally overlook.

We got to order drinks, and waited 15 minutes, then got the chance to order mains. After a longer wait, the drinks arrived, and the entrees arrived even longer after that. We had the garlic and chive dumplings and the chilli mussels. The dumplings were tasteless and insanely chewy, with the added downside of the outside having the texture of glue. I tried two, thinking maybe the first was just a bad one, but they were the same. I personally didn't really like the mussels, but my partner did, so fair go on that.

The wait for our mains was decently long. We had ordered the chargrilled black pepper chicken and the sour prawn curry. The chicken arrived, and lacked the green salad specified on the menu. The chicken was horrible. Cold in some places, really warm in others. Obviously microwaved or reheated poorly. It was grisly and fatty and chewy and just plain hard to stomach. I had a couple pieces, my partner had one, and we couldn't stomach any more. The sauces were okay, I guess. We waited another uncomfortably long time before the sour prawn curry came out. By now, my appetite was dead and I felt a spot sick. My partner ate what she could of the curry, saying the prawns were, as was the theme of the night, chewy and just not great. Neither of us could stomach too much, which worked out fine as the the tables next to us had filled and we could hardly chat with people so close. I mean, I was under the impression covid restrictions were still in place, and the 2 seater next to us got reseated to a more spacious area that had remained vacant all night just as they sat down. Why we were kept uncomfortably in the middle, anyone's guess.

We left without eating all the mains, feeling extremely uncomfortable and confused. From the service, to the food, it was just thoroughly unpleasant. I'd honestly rather have got hungry jacks, which we actually did end up doing after we left and our stomachs had settled.

I've had plenty of bad meals before, but not at a restaurant with a reputation like baan baan and at a price of $95. From the other reviews, clearly we had been there on a bad night or things had just gone wrong, but god. There's no way I could be convinced to come back.

I truly hope that if anyone chooses to dine here, they never have an experience close to what we did. I would have paid the cost of our meal to not have had one of the most uncomfortable dining experiences in recent memory, if only I had...

4.6 google ratings? surely, i did not experience the same way. maybe i have to join some kind of membership to get 4.6 star treatment or do they always bully first time or take away customers?

had two pad thais for takeaway, cooking was fast, considering it is peak lunch time, and i must admit, the portion quantity they serve, justify the price they charge. overall taste of the noodle had the “al dente” chewiness and the sour sweet salty complexion was hitting the right tune, without one overtaking the others and nicely well spread all over the noodles.

Perfecto??? Not Really.

what happened afterward, throw all these good stuff out of the window. my husband had diarhoea, and i had an allergic reaction. then we started to look back and mind map the pad thai. what was wrong with the dish? the oil? some expired ingredients? overly long frozen prawns? not sure, only the chef and the owner knows. i read other google reviewers who complain about the food also the owners’ replies, and i am convinced to their testimonies and i might say either the chef swap the fresh prawns with the dodgy ones, or the owner supply the chef the frozen dodgy prawns. or both knows.

i cannot speak for other reviewers, but no great food ought to abandon my sanity for our family well being and health. including the great Baan Baan Pad Thai. great taste last just minutes, but good ingredients last for days. such ashame, i thought i found my go-to thai restaurant in Perth. maybe i can offer the restaurant that i will bring my fresh ingredients and let the chef cook for me? who knows? but for now,

NOT RECOMMENDED

REPLY:

Shark Bay prawns are fine, if they are fresh. it is a good thing to sometime randomly check each delivery batch. Do not assume, always inspect. when in doubt, do not blindly serve it to customers.

i eat lots of spices, malaysian, thai, indonesian, most of them use tamarind. i dont think thats the case. this is also not the first time we eat pad thai, even in Bangkok. well, unless if you throw bombs of tamarind, but that was not true, because it will taste weird. are you trying to change the...

It was a particularly cold night, and we were looking for a good place to warm up our freezing butts. We didn't have a reservation, but they still accommodated us even on a busy Friday night, wait time was only about 5 mins. The staff were very busy but were nice and welcoming. Immediately, we were greeted by the warm aroma of their dishes, very herby but pleasant. Since it is a Thai resto, we had to order their Pad Thai and Tom Yum Soup. Since we were extra tired from work, we added Yellow Chicken Curry, as well as tried their Feid Rice with Sundried pork.

Firstly, their Tom Yum Soup for us, is a big winner! It was the perfect soup dish on a chilly Friday night. The herbs and spices were perfectly complimenting each other. Every sip from the dish felt like a warm hug from a lovely Grandma who took their time cooking the dish.

The Pad Thai was a different kind to what we've tasted before. It was almost slimy in texture but was very flavourful, not too sweet unlike other's versions. We're not Thai, but this is probably one of the best pad thai's we've tasted in Perth.

The rice and curry dishes were also good additions. The simplicity of the curry was enough to appreciate it, and the chicken was soft and not dry. The sundried pork in the fried rice was sweet. It was a nice combination with the fried rice that had a bit of smokey/burnt flavour to it.

Overall the food was delicious and we felt invigorated by the strong herby and spicy flavours. The whole experience was very comfortable and satisfying. Our cold and hungry stomachs were happy in the end! It was as if we were welcomed home and were fed soulful homecooked meals after a long tiring day at work. The price is alright, I thought it was fair and priced right, you'll know when you taste their dishes. We will certainly come back and try their other dishes. Highy...