Saffron Cruise by Banyan Tree Bangkok — Restaurant in Khlong Ton Sai Subdistrict

Amazing dinner cruise on a beautiful boat. Unfortunately, I had a bit of trouble with my server.

Firstly, I had specified that I'm vegetarian when I made a reservation and confirmed this again with the very friendly staff at the dock.

When I was seated - on a table in the very corner of the lower deck - my server took a while to even get to me and then served me a amuse bouche trio with dips containing meat and fish. Only after I asked, he took away the plate and returned only one of the dips.

Next, he asked if I wanted sparkling or still water, I said still. He brought back and poured sparkling. I didn't correct him because he seemed busy. When he wanted to top my glass off, I told him no sparkling water, that I had ordered still. He had some trouble understanding me but eventually brought me still water. All was well.

Regarding the food: everything was good, but I was a bit disappointed that both the starter and the soup contained plain sliced tofu. It wasn't even marinated or cured or anything. Apart from that, the main course and dessert were delicious, and so was my virgin cocktail, a Jao Chor Malee with Coconut-Celery-Lime Syrup, Tropical Shrub, Passion Fruit, Lime and Butterfly Pea Juice.

After the main course I quickly went to the upper deck, as the dining room was incredibly cold due to the A/C, and enjoyed my dessert with the amazing view of the Rama VIII bridge, where the employees offered guests to take photos, which was very nice.

When we slowly made our way back, my server came with the bill, which included 1 bottle of sparkling and 1 bottle of still water. I had only had 2 glasses of water all night, my server never came to top up my glass after that first time, even though it was clearly empty when he served me my cocktail and later my dessert.

He then tried to argue with me that I had to pay both, which I refused. In the end, he grabbed my bill and stormed off. He stayed away for 5-10 minutes, finally returning with the bill only consisting one bottle. I didn't argue any longer, even though I still think it's very questionable to charge for a full bottle when I hadn't even had half, probably.

He handed me a pen and then proceeded to aggressively point to the line where it said 'tip', repeating "signature, signature", even hough it said 'no signature needed in bold letters'. I signed the receipt anyway, and handed him back the check book, which apparently, he took as me not tipping, and he looked very angry. I then handed him a cash tip of 100 Baht, much less than I usually like to tip, which he took without another word and stormed off.

All in all, I don't know if I would return. The views were amazing, the food was a 7/10 for me personally (!) and 90 % of the staff were absolutely lovely. Unfortunately, this experience with my server really soured the entire evening for me and made the roughly 80 € dinner seem not worth it.

I would still recommend you do the...

I, a Japanese high school student, went on this cruise with my mother on August 6, 2023. Why we chose this is this cruise was the filming location of KinnPorsche The Series. So to be honest, we didn't know much about the food or the service beforehand. However, the cruise was amazing, even though we didn't have enough knowledge, the staffs were so friendly and that made us enjoy. The staff's English was great and they introduced the dishes perfectly. Actually,I was afraid that I have many least favorite foods,but all the dishes were so tasty.Every meal was freshly cooked and we could feel how Thai food is!!! My favourites were the dessert:) Not only the dishes, but also in terms of memory, it was a great experience.For example,when I was taking pictures in front of the bar,they allowed me to come in.Each group had a kind of PIC staff,and our one was Mr.B. He was so kind,awesome! He was so kind,awesome and he spoke to us in Japanese to make us feel comfortable,then my tension faded away.Also,his service was so fine,like I took a picture with him and when we went upstairs,he followed us to take pictures. In addition,the views were so beautiful and the DJ’s music was also awesome.But if it was rain,it might be hard to enjoy because upstairs doesn’t have the roof. The cruise stopped for a while at each sightseeing spot and that enabled the cruise to finish just in time,10:00 pm. Finally,we were wondering about our clothes,but you don't have to worry. You don't have to wear expensive clothes. We wore the simple dress and that's enough, so please don't take it too seriously. The price is not cheap(like the drinks were a bit expensive), but the dishes, staff, service and view were incredible, so it definitely deserves the price!! Thank you for every staff members. This experience is so special and I will never forget!!!! Sorry if my...

It was a perfect experience. EKKORN did his best for my family, so I appreciate. He passionately explained in detail about foods and how to eat them. He also explained about landmarks around the river.

Checking in at ICON SIAM port 2, they asked me about food allergy and preference for spicy food, and it was well reflected to dishes.

In the cruise, facilities were sophisticated, even enjoyed the toilet since it used Banyan Tree products. The food was a 4 course with Thai cuisine, not stereotypical. I could find a new aspect of Thai food.

I had informed that I would celebrate birthday at the cruise, they gave us a surprise cake with birthday song on the deck, after enjoying desserts. All of my family members were so satisfied and thankful.

So satisfied with everything on the cruise, but there was a disappointing thing before boarding. Booking a stay at Banyan tree, I had made the reservation for saffron cruise prior to the stay, directly to Banyan tree. But I later found that some travel agencies selled the dinner with promotions. The agencies evincing that Banyan tree provides shuttle for hotel guests to the cruise if book directly to the hotel, I maintained the reservation despite it was more expensive. However, checking in the hotel, they confirmed that they have no any shuttle to the port, and told me to go myself by taxi.

So if you're planning to have a nice dinner at Saffron cruise, go ahead but consider to make a reservation by travel agency.

No any benefits from Banyan tree hotel, but the cruise...