Tanon — Restaurant in Great Britain

I have very fond memories of going to the smaller Tanon as a student (at least once a week for 2 years). I wanted to try the newer, bigger Tanon for nostalgia and wish I hadn’t as it ruined my memories of it.

The good quality is not nearly as good as it used to be. However, most importantly, the staff are incredibly rude. In particular PG (pronounced Pee-Gee) was condescending and rolling her eyes and muttering under her breath while I asked questions.

I came in by myself and the sign stating a minimum amount for card payments was obscured. The waiter knew I was eating alone and didn’t say anything about a minimum bill. When I went to pay, PG said I had to pay cash as I spent £13.40 and the minimum payment for card was £20. This is ridiculous - most places require a minimum bill of around £5. £20 is very high especially as someone eating by themselves. I struggle to see the rationale behind such a policy as sure they wouldn’t be disadvantaged by extortionate transaction fees for a bill of £13. PG said I had to order more food or drinks if I wanted to pay by card.

I ended up having to walk 20 minutes back to my hotel to get my card, go to an ATM and then return to the restaurant.

Tanon has lost their personal touch or kindness as they’ve expanded...

First off, let me say that the Thai food is authentic and pretty close to what you would get in Thailand, so we loved that. I did find the teas a tad too sweet for my liking. My favourite is the green curry and the Tom yum.

Menu is rather extensive with a mix of Chinese and Japanese, which I didn't quite understand but hey, it's a great spot for Asian food.

Ambience is pretty local but I found tables too close together (I tried really hard not to listen to other people's convos) and there is barely much ventilation as you move further inside.

Service is friendly but it was really hard to get anyone's attention as they do seem very short-staffed, even when the place is not entirely full. One occasion, our drinks came only after we finished our meal.

The restaurant gets packed really fast and it's best to make reservations or come early...

USED TO BE REALLY GOOD I was really looking forward to another lovely meal here whilst visiting my daughter, but instead was served minimal over salted food. The egg fried rice was almost plain rice with a fraction of an egg and teaspoon of vegetables. The chicken with cashews was completely drowned in a pre-made sauce which was SO salty it drowned out all the flavours and gave me a headache. There's apparently a new chef, which explains standards dropping, but I wonder if it's a completely different company now as it was also really poor service in general (we waited a long time to be served despite it being quiet. Left feeling ill, sad, with a headache and £40 poorer after 2 main courses and a starter. Big question... where did the...