PONG Drottninggatan — Restaurant in Stockholm

I went to Pong Buffe last Saturday, March 30th. I feel sorry that I did as I had my 1st experience of racial discrimination in Sweden, ironically at a Thai (Asian) restaurant. Not just that, their kitchen can't be trusted and the staff is rude, irresponsible and talks as if they are doing a favour by letting people eat in their restaurant. I specifically mentioned that I am a vegetarian but was served chicken soup despite several reiterations from my side while placing the order. Please read below the complete experience of the humiliating experience I had.

I entered the restaurant and asked the girl at the counter if I could have vegetarian food, as I am a vegetarian. She said it was possible. We discussed the menu for 1-2 minutes and she went inside. I kept waiting but when she did return for sometime, so I went inside assuming she must have gotten busy serving other guests. This is what happened then:

1. I went inside and sat on a chair when another staff (a young boy) came rushing to me and told me that I can't sit there in a room full of people. When I asked him the reason, he said it was reserved. When I inquired why I could not see any "reserved" sign on the table if that was the case, he went back and the girl who I had spoken to earlier came back and repeated the same. I asked the same question on reservation signs missing. She then said that I can't sit as I have not placed any order (which is what I was BTW waiting for as I was hungry.) I told her that that's what I would like to do and that the staff should not behave and talk in this way to their guests. I again confirmed that I am a vegetarian and I don't eat even eggs, fish or fish oil and ordered my food (soup and fried rice) to get started with.

2. The same girl came in sometime and plonked a water bottle very rudely and said "you can have water if you want."

3. The guy who told me earlier that I could not sit there came back with the food I had ordered. I tasted rice and found the rice to be completely bland (despite my requesting in advance if they could make it spicy for me.) I was still fine thinking that may be that's how rice are cooked there. I then tasted my soup and spotted some weird chunks. I called the same person again to check. He came after a while and confirmed it was chicken. I felt disgusted in my mouth and stomach at that moment. When I confronted him on what was happening - why was I served non-vegetarian food and earlier told that I could not sit - he told me that now indeed I could sit there. (Wow, I felt so grateful for being allowed to sit to have food which I abstain from!!) I asked him to call his manager so I could speak to him.

4. Their manager, David, came and I told him about what had happened. He told me it was kitchen's mistake as they overlooked the note written by the waitress and that I don't need to pay for the food - he repeated this 2-3 times. I found this to be so funny and outrageous at the same time - I would have appreciated some sensitivity here. He said while he was sorry, humans can make errors and I should cooperate just the way he was cooperating with me! I still don't understand how he was cooperating with me (perhaps by letting me in or letting me sit to order for paid food - what a big favour!) I told him it was very irresponsible on the staff and kitchen's part to attempt to humiliate their guests and serve them what they abstain from.

5. I got up and walked out with my head held high (someone who was traveling abroad for the first time would have perhaps very humiliated and embarrassed without any fault of theirs). Clearly my trip to Sweden was marred with this experience and not to mention the pukish feeling I had...

Visited in May 2015. Since the beginning of my visit, nobody greeted us. Much different with Spanish restaurant nearby (I don't want to mention the name). If people say that Asian people are more friendly than European, this restaurant successfully proves that the hypothesis is totally wrong! To order was another difficult thing as all waiters were busy. When we asked about explanation of a kind of food, an unfriendly staff mentioned much different way of description than what was scripted in the menu, which confused us, and she seemed want us to finish the question faster, seemed unwilling to help us. The food? I live in and come from Southeastern Asia and familiar with this kind of food, but I can say that their prawn spring roll was a bit tasteless and no further than "prawn scented". The sauce even was not authentic. The other menu we ordered, fried rice, was much less tasteful than original Southeast Asian fried rice. Then the bill which was addressed to us was a wrong bill (it belonged to next table), but they exchanged the bill with the correct one just before I protested. What a complete terrible experience. I would never come back and will never recommend this...

Great personell, great response during Covid-19. New food is delivered almost magically always on time. Never too late, never too early. The fried chicken was literally great. All the other food, too, was good. Slightly fresher than some other buffé places with the same foods. The price too, was good. 125 kr per person.

The only reason this isn't a 5 star, is because of two main things. Do note: I paid for a Lunch buffé, not a Luxury Buffé.

1: The desert was lacking. It really was, a meager attempt in making a cheap desert. The chocolate and cola sauce, was at least during my visit obtrusively disgusting. The ice cream is just any average "mjuk glass". Nothing bad otherwise.

2: Nothing really stood out. They did a great job with all they had except the desert, but nothing in particular stood out. It's just, a little improvement above your average Asian buffé restaurant. Same foods, same types of foods, same variety. It would be interesting to see another buffé place, with an entirely fresh - by fresh I mean new - selection of foods. However, if you're not going to Asian buffé restaurants often, this is a good place to be.

I have not tried their...