Mai Thai — Restaurant in Prince George

My initial review of Mai Thai praised its food and ethnic distinction. With my second pass, has its luster faded?

Was that a proper introduction? I worry so many people get lost in my preamble and quit reading after the initial introduction. I often make light-hearted remarks which appear off-the-cuff as I type, and most of the time they are. It’s how I distinguish my reviews from others—my attempt to stand out amongst the twitter-squirts which appear to plague so many restaurant review sites. I returned to Mai Thai years after my first visit with numerous examples of Thai cuisine to stain my opinion in the interim. So to rephrase my opening question, does Mai Thai still hold up?

Yes.

However, I must add some caveats to that single-worded response. The first is that the service remains inadequate. It was a shock when I realized the elderly gentleman wandering around in a striped polo shirt actually worked there. That would look bizarre in any restaurant, ethnic or not. It’s so bizarre considering how much effort is placed in making Mai Thai authentic. The servers didn’t appear in uniform, or with any consistency whatsoever—that’s just plain lazy. I keep getting reminded that by visiting an Asian restaurant, you can dismiss any possibility of good service—a common attribute to be expected if not desired.

Yeah, no. I don’t give anyone a pass in that regard.

The food is still great; a little on the expensive side, but still great. I usually don’t praise rice, but Mai Thai may have the best rice of any restaurant ever. Seriously, it’s that good. Plus, the variety is stunning. If it wasn’t for its distant location to where I live, I’d come back often to sample different dishes. That being said, when I frequent restaurants, I often end up getting the same thing, a “usual” to be remembered by the staff, and the yellow and green curries would be those choices here. You really can’t go wrong. However, the best course of action is to grab three or four of your friends and have them share dishes, which is what I did this day.

This review may seem somewhat truncated compared to others but that’s only because my initial review was also a dinner, and I haven’t learned anything to deviate from my original review. The service still needs work; the prices are still a tad high, the food is still amazing. There are still elephants scattered about. The décor still looks that of an IHOP built in Bangkok. It helps that it’s the only Thai restaurant in town. I think we badly need another, maybe one on my side of town. Mai Thai is great, fantastic, so it troubles me knowing it can be even better with very little additional effort. Let’s hope that happens.

DECOR: 7 PLATING: 7 SERVICE: 7 FOOD: 9 VALUE: 8

OVERALL: ...

I went with my family and one other family was going to join us. We were ignored when we entered but found a seat that could accommodate us. We stood at the table for a few minutes hoping the gentleman at the counter would acknowledge us. He did not, so we decided to sit in hopes we would be brought menus. As soon as we went to sit he looked up and said "can't sit there." After finally being acknowledged I said "good evening, we are just looking for a table for us and another family." He replied "no way," without any indication as to why it would be a problem. There was another family eating at another table, so his blunt hostility made little sense. I replied "that is fine, we will find another place to eat," and we walked out. It is unlikely I will ever support this business or recommend it to anyone after this extremely...

I saw a lot of complain about service and “old man” but As a big fan of Maithai, I still pass by for dinner last Sunday. The price of padthai a little high $23 but still tasty. My favourite order is tom yum soup, fried rice with pineapple and pad thai. The old man as u guys said is rude, he is very nice with me. we even make some jokes, not only with me, even with other tables at the same time. he told me his wife as chef in back home now, so they run the restaurant with only 2 person. And both of themes are old, so I guess they are family business. For me I would love to support small business and local businesses. Will comeback for padthai again, and thank you “old men” for...