Bamboo Hut Southeast Asian Cuisine — Restaurant in Town of Sylvan Lake

My wife and I just had the worst restaurant experience ever at Bamboo Hut. We have been supporting and coming to Bamboo Hut for many years and we have spent literally thousands of dollars patronizing the business over the years. Tonight we had our usual, yellow chicken curry. The first few pieces of chicken were fine, then I bit into a piece that tasted very sour. In the same instant, my wife looked up at me and asked me if my chicken tasted sour, because she had just eaten a piece of sour chicken. I quickly became concerned and promptly raised the issue with the manager. The Manager asked if we wanted new dishes of food to which I replied that at this point I was much more concerned about food poisoning than eating another dish containing bad chicken. The manager said she was very thankful for us expressing our concerns and sharing them with her but offered up nothing more than empty platitudes and I thought to myself, you've got to be kidding me? We're sitting here with potential food poisoning and you're thankful for us sharing our concerns? She brought our bill and charged us for the full meal. I was shocked and appalled and I explained to her the potential seriousness of the situation but she insisted on full payment and again thanked us for sharing. She insisted we should pay the full amount because we had eaten part of our meals, to which I promptly replied that we both stopped eating once we got to the bad chicken. We have never, ever been treated so poorly by any restaurant. The level of arrogance and lack of concern was absolutely shocking. Fresh chicken is not sour. Sour chicken is not fresh. Sour chicken is caused by dangerous bacteria. To serve bacteria laden chicken mixed in with fresh chicken is downright dangerous and speaks to the underlying attitude about safety towards unsuspecting customers. After going there for so many years, and being so disgusted by this experience,we will never set foot in that place again. Our trust in their food care and cleanliness as well as safety for customers is broken. Perhaps the business has been sold to new owners. Regardless, this restaurant is NOT what it once was. They got their $38.95 but have lost two long term customers for life.

As an update, my wife and I did end up sick with upset stomachs last night but thankfully did not get seriously ill. I hate to think what might have happened, if we had eaten our full meals of chicken.

My Response to Manager's Response Below:

Why would you need prior complaints about bad chicken? Shouldn't one complaint be cause for concern? Are you suggesting that because you had no prior complaints that our experience was void of credibility? We've had that dish literally hundreds of times over the course of many years so we know what to expect and never before have we been served sour chicken. I understand you have strict guidelines about food handling, but the fact remains, we were served sour chicken mixed in with fresh pieces of chicken. If some pieces were fresh and some were sour in the same dish, logic tells us that it didn't come from the preparation, spices or the sauce. The fact that you have strict guidelines doesn't take away from the fact we were served bad chicken. I find your deflective statements worrisome but sadly, not surprising. I asked you why some of our chicken was sour and you couldn't tell us why, that you had no idea. Wouldn't that be cause for serious concern? I find your statement about us eating most of our food very offensive, in fact the most offensive of all. Yes, we ate rice and vegetables as well as chicken but the moment we both tasted sour chicken, our dining came to an abrupt halt. Not once have I heard you take any responsibility, only to deflect away from it. As far as you never being able to serve us again , I find that statement both laughable and sad as it's just another attempt at deflection. As I stated before, we have no intention of ever coming back. Not because of bad chicken, but because of your impetuous attitude towards a potentially...

UPDATE TO THE BAMBOO HUT OWNER AND STAFFS!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for your response. While I appreciate the effort to address the situation, some of your comments misrepresent what happened and only add to my frustration.

First, I want to clarify that we were not "unsure" about dining in. Upon arrival, we clearly stated we were dining in. However, your staff handed us menus at the front counter instead of seating us. This is not standard practice in most restaurants, and as frequent diners, we found it confusing and unwelcoming.

You mentioned your team "interpreted" our actions as being undecided. However, there was no attempt to confirm or clarify our intentions. Instead, we were left standing awkwardly, waiting to be seated. A simple question or gesture to guide us would have avoided the entire misunderstanding.

Regarding the seating issue, we chose an available table because your seating process was unclear, and there were no visible signs or tags indicating that the table was reserved. Being asked to move for another group, while priority was given to them, made us feel disrespected and unimportant. It’s not about the size of the party; it’s about treating every guest with fairness and respect.

Finally, I must address your statement about us "shouting." This is inaccurate. When we left, we simply said, “This is disrespectful customer service.” There was no shouting. Our frustration stemmed entirely from how we were treated, and it’s disappointing that this assumption was made.

It’s clear to me that the issue may stem from the way your staff is trained or how the front-of-house operations are managed. I would strongly suggest reconsidering either the training of your staff or, if needed, a revaluation of management. A change in either could significantly improve your guest experience and prevent future incidents like ours.

I hope you take this feedback seriously and use it as an opportunity to improve communication, seating processes, and customer service. Every diner deserves to feel valued, respected, and welcomed. Remember, customers are trying to eat not to be judge and disrespected, a simple "SORRY" is the best answer for our group! Try your best to be a good host, competition is tight in your location - which is by the way hidden....okey?! We recently went to the Bamboo Hut Restaurant in Sylvan Lake with high hopes for a delightful experience. Unfortunately, we were quite disappointed with the customer service.

When we arrived, a friendly waitress asked us how many would be seated and tried to give us menus. However, another staff member whispered to her, and they forgot about us, leaving us standing at the front counter for 15 minutes. When we asked about the BBQ, the same staff member rudely asked us if we wanted to check the menus first before accommodating us with a seat. We found a vacant table good for 5 people to seat ourselves, but the same staff member rudely asked us to find another seat because the seat was for the other guests who came after us, and she even gave our current table seats to accommodate them.

This lack of consideration and brusque manner was truly disappointing, and it led us to leave, as we felt disrespected by the staff members.

The subpar customer service significantly impacted our dining experience, and we sincerely hope that the management will take proactive measures to address these concerns. P.S.: The rude staff member was a Thai Asian woman and...

Heard about the food there.. but was then shocked with the attitude of were good just eat and pay it attitude given but the staff. Would not recommend this place based on it's there place and you either like it pay and leave rather than customer satisfaction. Something as simple as asking for a napkin seems to be above and beyond what they think they should provide as there reputable service. So disappointed. Bamboo hut can just stick it u know were... hope someone that actually makes decisions in that establishment realized a 50 order cost them some bad word of mouth advertising. Hope it was worth the 50 bucks smh . Would not recommend this place. Unless your to lazy to make Mr noodles through some carrots on it and say it some secret family recipe. And if you dont agree there management will thank you for telling them how they failed. And your no longer privileged to eat there. Oh no what shall a person do. Order a different place and pay there driver to bring there food back to them cuz there that imbarrased they cant pick up the precious family food themselves. . Place should be ashamed of there staff and what profitability takes. Ur management lacks business ethics and plainly any type of business skills. I'll be sure to share my stories with other sylvan lake homeowners and business owners aswell as co workers ect. Yes I am being brash but it bugs me that hard working sylvan lake customers would have to spend there money on such a horrible experience without being told first. I agree with the post a month ago on this place management doesn't care and maybe people should know its NOT the place to eat.👎a cheap cute general exposing comment to focus the attention off your...