Sabhai Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Sidney

15 Years of Loyalty and Excellent Food Undone by One Rude, Publicly Berating Front-of-House Staff

One staff member turned what should have been a simple complimentary dish into a humiliating public scolding in front of my guest and other diners.

I have been a loyal customer of Sabhai Thai for over 15 years. The food has always been delicious, authentic, and consistent, and nearly every staff member I’ve met has been warm and professional. Unfortunately, my most recent experience with one particular front-of-house server was so negative that I can no longer return.

On a prior visit, a takeout dish we had ordered never made it to the kitchen due to an entry error in the system. By the time the mistake was noticed, the kitchen had already closed. The server that evening was very apologetic and assured me that the missed takeout dish would be complimentary on my next visit. I thought this was a fair and thoughtful resolution.

When I returned, however, the man at the front of the house handled the situation in a way that was rude, unprofessional, and deeply humiliating. As I was paying, I mentioned politely that there was a slip in the register regarding my cashew chicken. Before I could explain further, he cut me off abruptly and snapped, “What’s the name?” His tone was short, dismissive, and unnecessarily confrontational. From there, things only got worse.

Loud enough for the quiet restaurant to hear, he questioned me across the room and said he “couldn’t understand” why a dish that hadn’t been prepared previously should now be free. For clarity, the $49.14 I had paid previously was for the meals we ate in the restaurant, not the missed takeout dish. Despite this, he refused to honor the complimentary dish and instead presented me with a bill charging me 50% for the dish that should have been complimentary, and 50% for the extra chicken I had ordered — which I never expected a discount on. The difference was roughly eight dollars in the restaurant’s favor, but the cost to me was being publicly berated and called out as if I were trying to take advantage of the restaurant.

To make matters worse, my friend had been looking forward all night after work to his cashew chicken dinner, only to wind up eating two McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwiches instead. He was deeply disappointed, which made the whole experience even more disheartening.

To be clear, I wasn’t asking for “extras.” I simply wanted extra chicken instead of rice with my meal, which I was happy to pay for in full. I also noticed my tea wasn’t on the receipt and asked if it had been charged. Rather than clarifying, he snapped, “It’s not free,” as though I were angling for more discounts. I wasn’t — I only wanted to ensure the bill was accurate.

The entire exchange felt like a public scolding. The music was off, the lights were flickering as closing time approached, and the atmosphere was quiet — so every word of his hostility carried across the room. My guest was visibly uncomfortable, and I left feeling humiliated and berated in a place where I had always felt welcome.

For the record, this is the only negative interaction I have ever had at Sabhai Thai in all these years. Every other server has been gracious, professional, and a credit to the restaurant. But this one individual’s lack of tact, poor communication, and unnecessarily hostile behavior overshadowed years of excellent food and service.

I would like to add he was not apologetic for any of the situation that occurred, appreciated that I was trying to ensure I was not undercharged for the tea, or even said thank you when I paid and tipped on the bill.

We left a decent tip. After all it was a professional, attentive kind young man that had been our server an innocent as the other staff working that night. I hope he doesn’t treat his staff anything like he treats his customers.

It is a shame, because the food remains excellent, but hospitality matters just as much. After this incident, I will no longer be bringing my weekly dinner group or my business to...

more then a little bit shocked, I took my daughter for dinner at Sabhai Thai tonight. we started out with an order of each of the spring rolls which were fantastic. we finished those and waited 45 mins to get our entrees at which point my daughter had started eating the garnishes off our spring roll plates that were still on our table sitting empty the whole time. everyone that was around us that had shown up after we had gotten our appys had gotten and almost finished their entrees by the time we got ours. I ordered the Panang curry with pork and was so excited when it got to the table only to have my excitement turn to disappointment when I bit into a piece of pork that was still cold from the cooler. I asked for it to be warmed up and our server took it away only to bring it back 1 minute later still cold and tasted horrible. I pushed it to the side and munched on the dry over cooked rice. when the server came by finally after 20 minutes to do a quality check I told her the it was not good and she took it away. i sat there waiting for my daughter to finish dinner and when the bill came I noticed they had charged me for my Panang curry even though I had only eaten one bite and asked for it to be taken away. i asked to speak with the manager and she was abrasive from the second she got to our table and offered nothing but an insulting tone. I paid the bill and left. on the way out the door I was stopped by some friends that had also arrived after us and gotten their food before us and the manager came over and pushed us out the door. it was by far the worst dining experience I have ever had and will proceed to go out of my way to tell everyone I...

We came here last Tuesday with the 4 of us. Our party arrived earlier than our guest so we had to wait for a good 35-40 minute while drinking water. No, we don't drink alcohol, pop or sugary drinks to the staff's disappointment.

When our guest arrived, we ordered as normal. The food was good, especially the curry but before we were even halfway, the staff came to ask how we're doing and if we needed to pack our food up. Like what is this? Some sort of cafeteria, fast-food restaurant or cafe? I understand that they had people lining up outside but it's not like we were sitting there for 2hours! We were there for just a little over an hour or so and we needed to catch the ferry so we were watching the clock. We were eating food at a moderate speed while conversing. This sort of behavior was totally rude and off-putting. They kept up with some unpleasant gazes, circling around our table multiple times checking in and gave our whole table uneasiness. Finally, one of the employee decided to give our bill even when we didn't ask for it yet.

That was it. If this restaurant thinks that they can mistreat people just because they have long queues and decent tasting food then they will eventually self-implode and lose customers.

If you want good Thai food, go visit Richmond or Vancouver instead. They'll taste just as great without the poor hospitality.

If you're stuck in Sidney and want decent Thai food without any care about rude staff then...