Chaiyo Restaurant, Nelson City — Restaurant in Nelson

Visiting from Auckland. Saturday night, booked for 6.30. Restaurant was about 50% full, the take away counter, which is in the middle of the restaurant, was very busy. Firstly - the food, I must say that when it arrived, it was delicious. The service was shocking. We entered just before our reserved time, , hung around for 5 minutes and instead of being seated, the staff member just pointed in the direction of a table. .After about 10 minutes the Manager ( his name tag said so! ) came and took our drinks and food order. Drinks arrived not too long after, and then we waited, and waited and then eventually after close to 40 minutes we had to ask what was going on. Our meals then came out. Not once were we asked if we wanted another drink, or how the food was- just nothing, but all the empty tables were being wiped down and reset, but no service for us. So- great food-...

Absolutely delicious food. My husband and I both had the Garlic Prawn (shrimp) Fried Rice. They were able to tailor it to different heat / spiciness preferences. I had the mild and my husband had the medium. The plates came quickly. I tried both, and they had plenty of flavor. I forgot to take a picture before we ate, but the plates had a perfect mix of rice, veggies, and prawns / shrimp. I would say that is a generous American / hungry Kiwi portion. If a person has a smaller appetite, I would recommend sharing the dinner portion we ordered for ourselves. Thai milk tea was yum. The service was lovely. The person who helped us had a happy-go-lucky, upbeat spirit, and the cooks were incredibly fast at making the orders. If we lived in Nelson, this would probably be a regular place for my husband and me. I would recommend...

Beef satay noodles, more like peanut watery soup with beef i couldnt eat, noodles well over cooked. The carrot was cut too thick so it more like a carrot stick.. my daughter got a lemin honey chicken dish which was that bad it was thrown before i could get a photo. The chicken cutlet was burnt and the so called lemon sauce tasted metallic.. i will never step foot in this...