Camile Lisburn Road — Restaurant in Belfast

I’ve had a few mixed experiences over the years at various branches but after yesterday I won’t be back. We ordered food online to collect in person. When I arrived, the restaurant had a cold atmosphere - only one diner, two staff (one chef and one till operator), no lights or music, and the till operator was unfriendly and dismissive. I arrived a couple of minutes ahead of my collection time and was told “we’re getting the food ready”. While I was waiting, a group of friends of the till operator came in off the street and started walking around the kitchen, leaning on the worktops, using their phones etc. They came and went several times while I was waiting. This combined with the cold atmosphere raised red flags and I looked for the hygiene rating on the door which was nowhere to be seen. At this point I checked the FSA website to see they only had a 1-star hygiene rating and by this point I was put right off receiving any food. Just as I was about to cancel my order (after 20 minutes’ wait beyond my collection slot), I was called by one of the till operator’s friends (not staff) to collect. I went to the till then the girl took the bag back off me and said it would be another couple of minutes. Eventually, 40 minutes after ordering, I received the order but was not happy with it.

Not wanting to dispose of £40 worth of food, I took it and discussed with my family what to do and we agreed we weren’t happy to eat it. We checked the restaurant website which told us to contact the branch, which we did. The girl on the phone said she couldn’t refund us as the order had already been purchased (I’m not sure how you can refund something that hasn’t been purchased??). When asked about the hygiene rating, she claimed the sticker was at the kitchen, not the front door, which I did not recall seeing. When asked what the score was, she said it was 4-stars.

Still not content with the situation, I later returned to the store with the unopened food and explained we weren’t happy with the service and hygiene standards. By this point, there was a change in staff and I’m assuming I dealt with the manager who was equally inhospitable but did process the refund straight away. I also highlighted that the girl on the phoned lied about the hygiene sticker which was not displayed anywhere in the shop, contrary to her claim. Given that the FSA rated the restaurant 1-star just a few weeks ago and the refund was processed despite saying it wasn’t possible, I would assume the girl also lied about the 4-star rating which was not displayed anywhere.

Thankfully, we did receive a full refund in the end, but after spending my birthday missing out on a celebratory meal and travelling back and forth to sort a refund for the poor service and hygiene, not to mention the dishonesty of the staff, I will...

I saw a discount code advertised via a Facebook ad so decided to give this place a try. Ordered on the website to use the code. The website asked me to put in my postcode which I did, it then directed me to the Lisburn road branch to order. Waited for 1 HR 15 minutes for the food. When it arrived, the delivery driver proceeded to give me a lecture that my house was too far away from Lisburn road and that I should have ordered from Bally hackamore branch. I pointed out that I didn't select the store, it was automatically selected on the website and that Ballyhackamore is further away from my house than Lisburn road. He told me it is closer. I said it is not. He said "It is 1.5 miles closer. I can show you on the map" with a rude tone. He is wrong about that anyway so I wish I had just taken on his pettiness and got the map out. I looked up the map afterwards and there is 0.2 miles difference between the two from my house with Lisburn road actually being a shorter drive time wise. He gave off some more about how my house was outside of their delivery zone. I repeated that I hadn't selected the store and that I had made the order over an hour ago, they could have cancelled it if it was too far and that if it's outside of their zone they need to change their website settings. The argumentative delivery driver went on and on... Telling me I need to order on the phone next time. I said I didn't want to order on the phone as I had a code to use. He says "are you going to have a code every time you order?" Anyway the conversation went on and on because he just wouldn't let it go and given that I hadn't eaten in a considerable amount of time, neither did I. I was furious by the time he eventually left. If you don't want to deliver to a house don't set up your website to allow orders to go to addresses outside of your radius. My husband rang up immediately afterwards to feed this back and they were quite apologetic, the person he spoke to said it wasn't the first time the delivery driver had given off to customers and been complained about. We weren't offered a refund however.

Anyway on to the food: portions were on the small side. Taste was mediocre, which was almost a relief as I certainly wouldn't be wanting to have to try to place another order with them. I have travelled around Thailand, I have done a Thai cookery course during my travels. Whilst I am not Thai so don't profess to be an expert on Thai cuisine and I appreciated that the cuisine varied regionally in Thailand, I never tasted Thai green curry as bland or pad Thai noodles as dry and surprisingly vinegary as these. Once again I'm disappointed by a meal in Belfast. Bring...

I don’t usually review businesses but in this case I feel compelled because of the absolutely appalling experience I had last night. I went in with some friends yesterday evening, and before I ordered my meal I asked at the till which of the curries had shellfish/crustacean, as I have an allergy. The worker insisted, several times, that none of their curries contained shellfish/crustacean allergens. I ask him to check, mentioning the allergy, and he again insisted that there was absolutely no risk, so I ordered a Massaman curry. I was hesitant, as I’d already had an allergen issue with them about two years ago via delivery order. At first I thought perhaps they just changed their menu since then, but to be safe I went back to my table and searched Camile Thai’s allergen list on the website.

Lo and behold, not only did the one I ordered list crustacean allergens, but most of the curries did as well. I went back up to the till, pointed out the list on CT’s website to which the worker said “I don’t think they do, but I’ll check.” At this point they finally went to the back to check, and they returned with the sauce container. They said “oh, it actually does, but it’s only like tiny little pieces so it’ll be fine.” That’s absolutely unacceptable, not their decision, and obviously not how allergens work.

Then, figuring a vegan curry would be fine and not contain any shellfish/crustacean by nature of being vegan, I asked about the ingredients in them. The worker again said “oh yeah that’ll be fine” but when I asked him to check, he pulled out the vegan curry sauce and said “oh, no it actually does contain a slight amount.”

So, not only does the Lisburn Camile Thai not take allergens seriously, it appears their vegan curries aren’t actually vegan. If you read the other reviews here (wish I’d done before going!) it definitely isn’t the first time they’ve showed a lack of concern in this area either. Shocking carelessness and apathy from the staff about customer health no less.

Anyone looking to avoid a surprise allergy attack would do well to...