Yim Siam Thai Food — Restaurant in Arona

We found this place last year and had such a great experience, so I was really looking forward to my spicy fish. There's three of us. My son and hubby ordered from the lunch menu, and I had the Yim Siam fish, and specifically asked the waitress to make it extra spicy. I saw her wrote something so I thought the message will be passed on to the chef, just like last year. Two starters came, very nice, as expected. Then a long wait for my fish as they said it's all made fresh, which is a great thing, and I knew that, but I was just a bit anxious because we had an appointment in just over one hour.

Then my son's tom yum soup and my fish came. Was a bit surprised to see tom yum has coconut milk, I guess it's a variation from what is usually served in Thai restaurant in UK. My son said it's good, so not a problem. The fish, as before, looked amazing but straight away I was wondering why I don't see a sign of any chilli in the sauce. I tasted it, it tasted really sweet, not at all what I expected. I can't stand sweet flavour in my meal unless it's accompanied by sour and lots of chilli. When I asked, they gave me chilli slices and powder. A small consolation that enabled me to actually eat and finish the fish as I was pretty hungry. But I didn't enjoy it much because in every bite I had either too hot flavour when I crunched the chilli, or too sweet flavour when I wanted to cool down, instead of the combination of hot, sweet and sour in every bite.

Halfway through eating my fish, my hubby's Pad Thai still didn't arrive. We started to wonder if they have forgotten it. The waitress was in and out around us, she could have seen only two of us were eating and could have checked in the kitchen, but no one did. We finally asked, and yes they have forgotten it. Now, if the place was totally packed and they're so overwhelmed by too much order, it would have been understandable. But there's only two or three tables occupied, and the staff looked like they were just hanging around not knowing what to do. When the Pad Thai came, my husband said it was not bad, but he's had better.

It's a shame that this time we didn't have a great experience like last year. The owner is a great guy, but the staff managed to make mistakes on two of three order, which is a very poor performance. I was tempted to not leave any tips, but I thought I should not punish the whole team for the mistake of one or two, so I left a small one. Will we go back next time we visit the island? At the moment, I don't know. I know it had great reviews from many people, and the place certainly is capable of delivering exceptional food and service, but I don't feel like it...

This is the reply I got for wondering why my pud was such along time, hope you fail soon.........Dear gentleman i came to your table before you were leaving to see if everything was ok like i TRY to do with EVERYBODY ! You started going of on me that you were a diabetic and you waited on hour for your dessert and that you needed it sooner to put up your sugar level up.So I was amazed that it took that long so I said why you didn't mention it before to any of our staff or why not directly to me? Then you said to me " you only have time for your friends and you didn't even talk to me." I told you I am so sorry I didn't give you enough attention because it was very busy. Yes we had many regulars that I greed first because I know them already. You never waited 1 hour for your dessert as I checked with the kitchen and waiting staff. I apologized myself and tried to explain that we send your order when you ordered it. Unfortunately we have only 6 cooking fires in our kitchen and we had many people waiting for their food. Not to forget you telling me that where you worked before you MADE EVERYBODY happy. I congratulated you because I NEVER met somebody that can please EVERYBODY. I would start with my wife if I was you because she was so lovely and did not look very happy with your dramatic and childish behaviour before you left 😪 I would like to give you a bit of a caring advise.When you are diabetic you shouldn't drink that much because that's VERY BAD for a diabetic 😪 i know because we have a couple of diabetics in our family. Luckily you liked the new guy that was on the ball serving you a bit more pints then the 2 you said you only had 😂😂😂 That new guy even said that he can't understand why you didn't tell him about your dessert you been waiting for so long while you kept ordering pints? Come on mate are you sure all this drama was not just because you wanted my attention and because I congratulated you for your smart comments ? A refreshment with sugar or many other things could have put your sugar straight up asswel as it surely doesn't had to be a mango sticky rice you see 😉 Can't imagine us not trying to help you in this situation. I hope you are ok now and found your mango sticky rice and happiness somewhere else. Kind...

Not suitable for vegetarians. This place advertises itself as vegan and vegetarian-friendly, but my experience was far from it. I ordered a vegetarian curry that had a distinct fishy taste. When I inquired about the ingredients, I was informed that fish sauce had been used. As a vegetarian, I cannot consume fish products, but instead of acknowledging the mistake, the staff blamed me for not specifying that vegetarians don’t eat fish sauce.

Additionally, I saw a reply from the owner to a review about fish sauce, suggesting that vegetarians can consume it. I need to clarify that this is incorrect. Vegetarians do not consume any meat products, including fish sauce. However, they do consume dairy products, which is a significant distinction. The fact that the owner conveyed this misconception shows that there is a significant problem here for vegetarians and vegans.

If you’re going to market your restaurant as vegetarian and vegan-friendly, it’s essential that your staff understand the basics of these diets. For many, this is a crucial issue, and consuming animal products can cause serious discomfort or illness. I’m extremely disappointed and would strongly recommend that anyone with dietary restrictions avoid this place.

edit- the owners response below is untruthful, I did specifically ask for the food to be made vegetarian and when I complained about there being fish sauce in the food I was told that “vegetarian food isn’t the same here as it is back home for you” which is just playing the blame game and completely untrue. If the waitress has told you that I asked for it with vegetables and not vegetarian then they are wrong. Instead of blaming your guests please try to cater for their dietary...