Nakhon Thai Kemptville — Restaurant in North Grenville

I hate leaving bad reviews, and would much rather praise a resto for a good experience. Unfortunately, I feel the need to comment on the dramatic change I’ve experienced at Nakhon Thai. I used to love going there when they first came to kemptville (~10yrs ago), would go every Friday for pad Thai and pad kimow. Their ingredients were fresh, portions were right for the price, not overly generous, but not wasteful either. Both sit down and take out were equally good quality, and they had authentic flavour. Since loving this place 10years ago, I’ve travelled to Thailand and experienced the real thing. I hadn’t been to the restaurant until late Covid (2021-2022) since they changed locations, and it has really gone downhill. I was very surprised to find it was still owned by the same couple; the quality decrease would otherwise have indicated it was bought out by a local (non-Thai) kemptville resident. I don’t know if their attention had shifted to the Brockville location and therefore kville is an afterthought…? I’ve eaten there (takeout) 3-4 times in ‘21 and just recently in April ‘22; it will be the last time. I order a few different dishes, curries, stir fry, pad Thai, everything is flavourless. It appears to be good service frozen veggies and pre-pack chicken, heated up in thin broth. There is no body to the sauces, there is no depth of flavour. You can tell the ingredients are from frozen and quickly cooked without seasoning; they are bland and watery. Worse still, they don’t even add typically Thai things to the “pre-packed veg”, there’s no lemongrass shoots, no basil, no bean sprouts, no ginger slices (all ingredients I remember them using authentically 10 years ago). I don’t mind patronizing local restos and I understand the difficulties Covid has placed on them. When costs have gone up, I am ok paying more for the same, or paying less for less (if they need to compromise with quality of supply). But their prices have risen, and their quality has decreased substantially. This is food I expect a 16yr old working fast food could prepare. Bag of frozen veg, count out 3 small chicken strips (also frozen), mix w water and powdered curry. I hate to say it, but ThaiExpress fast food has more flavour than what Nakhon has been making lately. It is extremely disappointing to have this wonderful restaurant unique for kemptville, offering good quality food we don’t have here otherwise, go downhill like this. I know they can do better, and if they can’t’ do better with both locations, then sell one and focus on the other, don’t pretend to sell Thai food here if you can’t do it right. Some folks in kville have never had Thai food, and when the owners are Thai, this level of quality reflects badly on their entire cuisine. Please do better, I’d like to be able to come back. But $16pad Thai chicken with no chicken, $17 curries, and +$3 for rice (3$ buys the better part of a KG dried if not more, this is a ridiculous overcharge), is a sad excuse for...

Updating my review as a lot has changed since I wrote it. Giving Nakhon in Kemptville a 2 star overall but mainly because the service is good and the place looks clean. When it comes to flavour, I’d give this a 2 star because it’s virtually non existent. We ordered tonight because I noticed their menu changed and they’ve been pushing a lot on social media so I was hopeful it may have improved. But no. It could even be getting worse.

Here’s what we ordered: Veg Spring Rolls: They’re the frozen type and are just meh. Tom Yum Soup: at first sip I thought YAY, FLAVOUR and then I realized the obscene amount of salt it in. Not to mention there’s no shrimp and it’s simple made with bamboo shoots, mushrooms and chicken. Not the Tom Yum I know. Spicy Chili and Basil Stir Fry: Literally ZERO spice and flavour. Just awful. The carrots are clearly from a frozen bag with no flavour. Cashew Nut Stir Fry: Also no flavour and zero spice.

For context, I ordered from them during Covid and asked for spice in my meal because I assumed they were canadianizing their food and I hated it, and was told no they couldn’t add spice because of ventilation issues… fine.

When they posted on Facebook that they were back, I reached out and asked if they were going back to adding spice and they said yes… I’m not sure what spice or flavour they’re talking about but it’s honestly terrible. I’d be more keen to eat at Thai Express at this point.

So disappointed, especially considering that I spent around $80...

Has to give one star or was unable to post, not a one star restaurant experience.

I am over 50 and have never been more dissatisfied with a dining experience in my life. We were in the restaurant for 90 minutes for the all you can eat lunch and were only able to get 7 small items between two of us. We would have ordered more but did not have any more time to dedicate to lunch.

The quality of the food was average but the time it takes is more than absurd.

The owners need to take a look at the business model. Are you are looking to discount your food to get people to try your restaurant?

If that is your intention it's not working. You may get them in but only once, that may pay the bills this month but with little to no repeat business it's not substantial.

Quality dining does not need to be highly discounted, customers will return if they got value from their dining experience.( good food at a fair price in timely manner.

If you were to have a lunch special consisting of a soup, one app and a main you would not be over taxing your kitchen and waiting staff.

To prepare and serve a lunch portion consisting of three items should make your kitchen operate at a reasonable speed. You can still offer choices just a lunch portion not a nibble.

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