Ma Doo Bua — Restaurant in Thep Krasatti

NEVER GO THERE!!!

This was by far the worst experience we had in Thailand and I can absolutely not recommend this place to anyone.

Everything started on a pretty good note. We were a little disappointed to not be able to do boat photography as it was sold out even though they told us no reservations needed, but anyways…we got a table instantly, placed an order within the first few minutes so nothing wrong there. But that was the last of the positives unfortunately.

Just 5 minutes after ordering our food and drinks, we get one of the bowls of rice we had ordered as a side to a pork dish. The pork dish itself didn’t show up for another 30 minutes (we ordered 3 of them, but only showed up) so obviously rice was cold. We then finally saw our cocktails come out after 30 minutes of waiting, only 1 of 3 ordered cocktails showed up. Bear in mind we ordered two of the same cocktail and another different one. The bartender is apparently unable to make twice the same drink for the same table within one cocktail shaker.

After waiting longer for food and drinks that didn’t show up, we asked the staff where everything was, because it doesn’t take 40 minutes to make their “signature cocktails”. The first server I talked to walked away from the table, and just started wandering inside the restaurant without telling any other staff member of our issues. We proceeded to wait another 10 or so minutes before asking another server which this time seemed to place the rest of our order for us. One of the two missing proms showed up along with the two rices. But yet no drinks to be seen! After finally a full hour of sitting down and seeing every other table receive their drinks we finally received our second cocktail out of 3 ordered. At this point we gave up, asked for the bill to get out as soon as possible. I unfortunate was the one in the group that never got my food or my cocktail after waiting an hour on the dot. The bill came and they added some drinks that weren’t ours (mistakes happen), but they didn’t have my food or drink on that bill. This clearly means it was never ordered. Which infuriates me as the server repeated our order and got it spot on, and we asked the server 4 different times for where the food and drinks were. Obviously they never tried to handle it! Not even an apology or anything! The staff can’t handle the amount of customers and it made a terrible experience.

The Café is beautiful, but that’s it! Will never consider returning...

This cafe is a beautiful location! Before coming here I think people need to understand a few things. This pond is not natural. These lily pads and beautiful scenery are constructed by the staff. Every morning they are up at 5am working on the lily pads, they remove the dead ones, retrieve new ones, and make the place beautiful. If you are coming for a free picture at the very least buy a drink or some food from them as this place takes a lot of work! I see comments all the time about the staff being rude, we never witnessed this. We did witness many “influencers” and people being extremely demanding and rude to the staff. Snapping fingers, raising voices, and making demands are all I saw customers doing. In fact this made the cafe hard to spend time at because these poor ladies serving drinks and food were working their butts off to keep customers happy and everyone just kept being rude and demanding. If you are mellow and looking to take some nice photos here I would recommend early morning or later afternoon to avoid all the crowds and chaos. If you are rude and demanding maybe just stay in Patong with the rest of your people. As for staying here: the rooms are nice (slightly dated) but the service and people make up for it all and beyond. Our room was cleaned every day with our clothes even being folded for us. They go the extra mile here especially if you are kind and smile! We needed some laundry done and the staff took it upon themselves to personally get it cleaned and pay for it for us so we could have clean laundry! Beautiful place, awesome staff, great service, and...

While the venue itself is visually appealing and offers opportunities for cute photos, my overall experience was disappointing. The space is quite crowded, which detracted from the atmosphere.

The coffee was average, and the mango sticky rice was decent but not memorable. Unfortunately, service left much to be desired. There was a lack of clear communication regarding the photoshoot process — I was not informed about the mandatory waiting list until I had to inquire a second time.

I was traveling with my mother, and as the photoshoot was only for me, we planned for her to wait at our table. We ordered additional drinks during this time. However, the staff insisted we pay the bill immediately, even though we had not yet received the new drinks. Despite multiple attempts to explain the situation, the staff remained unaccommodating and seemed unable to understand our request. Once the drinks were finally served, I paid the bill.

The photoshoot itself felt rushed; the photographers hurried through a few poses without much attention to detail. When I mentioned I was unhappy with some of the shots, they allowed one additional photo, but the overall experience felt transactional and hurried.

Additionally, when visiting the attached clothing shop, the staff member there made us feel unwelcome. She followed closely behind, adjusting items we touched with a visibly displeased attitude, creating an uncomfortable shopping environment.

In summary, while the location is picturesque, the service experience was lacking in hospitality. Better take cute pics by yourself...