Saigon Thai — Restaurant in Gatineau

Food is pretty decent, that's why we would go regularly. One of the older waitresses is great also. But here are some additional sad facts for you to consider - interpret them as you like.

We arrived at 5pm for a birthday supper for 6. We ordered the table d'hote and started expressing concern with the wait shortly after 6pm and finally got our soup around 6:15pm. Sadly, I had to leave the group at 6:45pm to have time to grab some fastfood and get to a 7pm appointment.

But before I did, I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told that there are none and the server makes all decisions. So I explained that I had a very poor experience and suggested a very basic gesture to acknowledge the poor service would be to discount the soup (i.e. I didn't get to finish the evening with the group). "Absolutely not, it says on the menu that we warned you we are very slow because food is hand prepared". I was a bit in shock at how seemingly ignorant they were of what had been going on for 1h45mins. I paid and left.

The group experience just got worse...the food came well after I left...then the bill took an eternity also. AND NO, the restaurant was not at all full - we came at 5pm on a Wednesday to get ahead of any possible rush.

So my partner decides to leave a 10% tip...we contemplated 0% heaven-forbid but only wanted to send a message because none of our words that evening seemed to register. And to top off the evening, the terribly obtuse waitress chases my partner down into the lobby to alert that a normal tip is much higher and suggesting it should be fixed! That is tremendous irony, because what needed to be fixed was the terrible customer service experience that the restaurant had multiple opportunities to address.

I contacted the owner the next day, very hopeful that they would see the missed opportunities in our situation. I waited 3 weeks to write this review in order to give the owner a chance to address my concern. They said they felt "really bad" and offered me a free soup for the next time i would come in. I told them it was far too BIG of an assumption that there will be a next time with responsibility of that nature.

I hope your experience is better, it's the kitchen staff that keep this restaurant alive. Sadly, you'll see from the other reviews that our experience is...

Cozy, romantic and relaxed resto where you can bring your own booze it’s conveniently located with a large onsite parking lot. I have been to here multiple time and the food had always been delicious. You can come here to eat alone or come here with a group of friends. They pay attention to their presentation and service had always been friendly. Not to mention bring your own wine ( BYOW or BYOB) can really extend you stay sipping and enjoying drinks with friends)

Their table d’hôte. ( set menu) starts at $21 and it’s a really worth while order, both budget and stomach ) it includes a choice of soup and the dishes are quite well portioned.

However, if you want real authentic Thai or Vietnamese food, this is not the place. They have modify the presentation and taste to suite better local / Canadian preferences. Example , nest is not a really fried noodle in shape of a bowl nor the taste is curry is spicy enough, even very spicy.

Finally, great group or casual outing place and their presentation, ambiance and flavour will please majority of people. And not...

Was in town for a festival and came for dinner here. They have a nice vegetarian menu. My girlfriend and I ended up ordering Vegetarian fried rice and the lemon grass tofu. The food was so so, not really authentic Thai food to be honest but the flavour was nice. The atmosphere was beautiful and well presented but they did have some Chinese decorations on the wall that I saw, not sure why they had it since it is a Thai restaurant.

The hostess who sat my girlfriend and myself at the table needs to keep politics out about COVID as well..Even if with vaccine passports being done in Quebec, I respect the system since it helps people stay safe and the virus from spreading. If you make a comment that it is troublesome using the system, please remember you might run into someone who actually has had someone who passed...