Tham Restaurant — Restaurant in Lauterbrunnen

Tldr; I went in to say hi, wanting to ask how long the expected wait time is. They immediately and rudely asked me to get out. I did not even get a chance to try their food.

I was in Switzerland on holiday, after spending 6 months in Europe on exchange.

I haven't seen a Singaporean specific restaurant in Europe until now, and being Singaporean, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there's a Singaporean restaurant in Mürren. Also given the fact that I have not been back in singapore for the last 6 months, I was super excited to give their food a try.

So I walk in to the restaurant. It's moderately busy but there are some empty seats here and there. The lady at the counter is busy settling another customer's bill, and the uncle is busy cooking at the back. I think to myself: "Ok I should ask them how long the expected wait time is."

I wait until the lady is done, and then I greet her with a “老板娘” (translates to boss (feminine)). I decided to greet them in mandarin because they're Singaporean Chinese, so why not, right?

She continues to keep doing her work, and I thought: "Okay she is busy, I can wait." I didn't mind waiting, because how often do you come across such a restaurant in Europe in the first place?

So then, the uncle at the back walls forward, still cooking some food. I try to get his attention by saying “你好老板” (hello boss), wanting to ask him how long the expected wait time is.

Without even looking at me, he straight up says: “不要跟我讲话。不在这里吃就走” (Don't talk to me. If you're not eating here, then leave)

I was going to clarify that I wanted to ask how long the waiting time was, but the lady immediately followed up by saying: “别在这里搞乱” (Don't make a mess of this place)

I was appalled. I'm not sure whether its just because I'm just some chinese foreigner (but they're chinese as well, and from Singapore. I'm from Singapore too! I wanted to have some Singaporean food!), or maybe I was dressed weirdly, or looked funny? Maybe they had bad experiences with other mandarin-speaking customers? But rudely asking me to leave, and implying that I was here to mess up their place was absolutely unacceptable.

I just left immediately. I was disgusted and appalled. Simply a more courteous: "Sorry, we are a bit busy right now. Let me get back to you later" would have sufficed. And no, the meanings of their words were NOT lost in translation. There are definitely more courteous ways to say "We are busy right now" in mandarin.

I arrived here pleasantly surprised, and excited to try out authentic Singaporean food cooked by another Singaporean in Europe. I left disappointed and ashamed that I had such...

Our first time to murren! Our purpose was to come here to see the beautiful town but it was all covered with haze due to snowy weather… Hence, we decided to patronize tham chinese restaurant as per reccomend by our friend…

Our first touch to the restaurant was no one except an old couple which is the restaurant boss and lady boss… We started to communicate by ordering food… the boss was very restrictive in communication but as we talk and communicate, he is a very nice man… the lady boss is also very friendly…

We are singaporeans too! To my honest opinion, this restaurant is one of the best in switzerland that we had ever ate. We came here for both lunch and dinner… u can imagine how good the food is…

For lunch, we ordered the black pepper chicken that comes with rice (if you eat beef, it is a better choice), it is awesome! Next up, we ate the fried singapore prawn beehoon, this is by far the best i ate, it reminds us of our home… the other two dishes was ok to us only…

For dinner, boss offered us his famous grilled pork ribs… it is really very good! We loved it so much… the fried rice and pak choy is super awesome! We were too full, that we couldn't finish it… but it was really good!

Come to murren, you must come here! Both of them are very nice couple bosses! We love them… hope to...

UPDATE: We are back this year and the food at Tham Chinese restaurant is as authentic, fresh and as good as always. For just over 30 yrs this couple has been here making awesome Asian foods in the small mountain town of Murren. I first came to Murren one year after they opened Tham and have been to Murren 8 times and ate here every time. This time we added the Singapore noodles with Shrimp (awesome dish) and Chicken with vegetables and rice which was also outstanding.

LAST POST: I have eaten here before and remember really liking it. Recently came back for a 10 day stay and when they said cash only, we initially walked out. Came back days later with Euros (they accept that and US along with Swiss Francs) and so glad I did.

As I remembered the food is exceptional. Szechuan Chicken was incredibly tasty. Green Curry Chicken was also really good. We also ordered a Pak (Bok) Choy vegetable dish for the middle to share and it was perfectly cooked and delicious on its own. We have one full day left in Murren and now we must go back and eat here again. I wish there was a Chinese place with food this good in Orlando, Florida...