Ma Maison — Restaurant in Lumphini Subdistrict

Horrible experience at this restaurant. We booked it for our first night at Bangkok to experience really Thai food. But, apparently, restaurant staff either not trained enough or just ignorant to welcome their guests. Firstly, once we arrive we were greeted with the loud question: “Booking?”. There were no “Good evening”, no “Welcome”. We said that we had a booking, but all the staff looked like we came to the wrong place and they do not expect any customers to their place at all. By the way the restaurant had only 2 tables occupied and the rest were absolutely empty. Even we did not have booking, I do not think that it would influence on the workflow. Food is very subjective point, but, honestly, we expected higher quality from restaurant this kind. Food was just fine, nothing extraordinary, you could have food this quality at any other nice Thai regular place. When it was close to 22 pm staff came to us asking to pay, we paid and wanted to enjoy our last drops of drink and bite of food. But the waiter stand in 1 meter from us staring directly at our table. I know that restaurant has working hours, but we still had at least 10 mins to the closing time and I believe that even if customers take extra 5-10 mins to finish food it is usually acceptable.

To conclude, it was a huge disappointment and shame for restaurant that places itself as a nice place to provide such...

Food was alright and scene/decoration is generally nice - what you would expect from a restaurant in a well-established hotel (although you would get better value for money elsewhere). The parking staff were exceptional (giving this restaurant +2 stars just for the parking team).

The restaurant service was a different story. The staff were at times unfriendly and unprofessional while serving (e.g. no ‘ka’ or ‘krub’ when taking orders- just very curt and snappy tone, and one of my friends had come early and was told to wait at a table outside, but after just a few minutes she was told-off by another staff member saying it was the restaurant’s table and she cannot just wait here (suffice to say she was very confused and irritated)).

While we were finishing up our dessert and coffee, the lights in the restaurant were suddenly turned off without any warning or word from the staff - as if to signal for us to leave. We get that it was closing time, but it was such a rude way to ‘shoo-away’ guests. Not one staff batted an eye as we confusingly left the table and made our way outside without finishing up.

Never...

The story goes something like this: Nai Lert found this piece of land in the 1900s and bought what is now half of Bangkok. He built a small business importing ice from Singapore, then what became Thailand’s first bus company. He was a simple man. A simple man who did not like spicy food. His wife, ever enterprising, helped run his business (now one of the largest in the country) and cooked up marvelous (non spicy) food. They both came from humble means and this translates into using every single ingredient to oblivion and with remarkable adeptness. Take the “Mee Nam Park Nai Lert” for instance: it seems like a simple red Tomyum soup. But look closer, and it has leftover shrimp, fried vermicelli and a sweet sour kick. Pure perfection. Nai Lert and his wife have long passed but their legacy lives on through her and her recipes. A conduit to another time, a better one. Other standouts were the beef red curry and the Yum Tua Pu.

One last anecdote: a bomb fell in the front yard of the house, and instead of pouring concrete over it, Nai Lert made it into a beautiful pond. This tells you everything you need to...