Thai Bualuang Restaurant — Restaurant in Chelmsford

Usually one of my favourite restaurants for many years but tonight was an absolute disaster. Firstly ordered a bottle of pinot grigio and received a bottle of pinot blush, no big deal but was a sign of things to come. Asked for a jug of tap water 3 times but never received it. My friend ordered a lamb dish but received beef it looked like beef and tasted like beef. When asked the " acting manager" she said " well it looks like beef" she took it away for a few seconds then returned saying it's lamb ( My friend can't stomach beef and threw up when she got home) I ordered a pad thai and chicken curry ( Pad thai came out 5 mins before the curry so it was nearly cold but not a big deal) big portion and delicious so I decided to save half for take away. Was later informed that my food was thrown away because they received a phone call?? I said I wasn't happy about this and was told "acting manager " would come and see me. No sight of her but a bill was hastily shoved on our table without saying anything and not offering dessert no one asked for the bill. I complained and explained that half my food was thrown away I expect to be compensated. A while later another bill was shoved at us for 15% off the pad thai, a whopping £2 the entire bill. I decided then to get out of my chair and seek out " acting manager" as she obviously couldn't be bothered to come and talk to me at the table. When I asked why the service was so bad she said its because the owners are away and it's just how it is. When I asked her why we didn't get our water she said I shouldn't complain because it was free! This is the first time I have ever complained about a meal, I have had dining experiences where there have been minor problems and still had an apology. No luck here! This whole thing was s**t show. The owners of the thai bualang are kind and welcoming with wonderful food and wonderful service, sadly when they go away they left it...

Myself and partner collected a takeaway from here tonight, the duck wasn’t fresh, the sauce that came with was extremely vinegary and the pad Thai and green curry was inedible, didn’t taste like any Thai food I have ever tasted. When I took the food back and quietly explained my reasoning I was met with extreme rudeness from the owner/manager who basically told me to leave the food and to never come back, whilst huffily throwing the food I had returned back into the bag. I thought this behaviour was completely unwarranted and created an uncomfortable atmosphere for both myself and other diners when I was trying to keep the matter calm and quiet so as not to cause a scene and put others off their food. Wouldnt go back if you paid me, awful food, only outdone by the manager/owners awful...

Needs a clean, food very average.

Here are my observations....

Needs a good clean. If you walk past the kitchen extractors, you’ll see them looking really dirty and dripping with grease. (Never a good sign, and make you wonder what the kitchen is like.

Inside decor is quite shabby. Walls were dirty next to our table, with what I assume is splashes from other people’s curry.

Satay chicken was like rubber on a stick. Peanut sauce was ok. But chicken was deep fried and rubbery

Beef red curry, not bad taste. Veg was nice. Beef was tough though. Sauce was thicker than usual Thai curry’s I’ve had.

Service was ok.

Not my cup of...