Tiien Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Great Britain

Poor food, starter was just passable. We came down to Bournemouth to visit our son who is working here for some weeks. We wanted somewhere for a nice meal on Friday evening. The Covid management was superficially good, but my wife was sat about 1 foot from the man on the neighbouring table. We ordered and the drinks and starters arrived promptly. The starters were OK, although not extraordinary, and quite pricey. The dim sum was fairly tasteless, as though it had been streamed for a couple of hours. The spring rolls were very solid. The fishcakes were tasty. We then waited 45 mins for our mains. When the arrived they dissapointed on all sides. The stir fried beef seemed to be more a sauce with raw vegetables and mushrooms thrown in with no sign of them having seen a wok and chewy overcooked slivers of beef.

The noodles with tofu (phad Thai) were very sweet noodles, with very little other flavour and 3 small pieces of tofu.

I had ordered a Tiger Prawn TIIEN green curry (mild on the menu) and instead got a relatively hot chicken green curry. We had waited long enough and I didn't want to send it back and wait longer. The cooked chicken had just been put in (some on the top was not in the sauce) and again the veg were beyond Al dente.

My steamed rice was nicely cooked but, at 3.95 for a small bowl, pricey. My sons egg fried rice was inedible. It appeared to have been cooked hours ago and kept warm in a dry oven. The grains were dried out - as was the few peas and couple of bits of egg.. At 4.95 an embarrasment

It was one of the poorest meals I have had.

I note on your comment below that you don't believe this to be genuine. To help you, I booked by phone under the name Malcolm, we were booked for 7:45 on Friday 2nd October. We sat on the table in the window alcove on the left as you enter.. I have also cleared out my wallet, and a photo of the receipt is attached. In the light of our experience, I do wonder on the genuine nature of some of your 5 star reviews.

I also note on your reply to another review in TripAdvisor that you say you leave a table empty between each party. This was certainly not the case on the day we were there as a young couple were seated on the table next to us, very close to my wife. They seemed to be a local couple who knew one of the staff.

You comment that I reviewed a Mcdonalds. I did indeed as I stopped for breakfast with my son. We knew it would be quick. We were impressed by their Covid control, showing people to separated tables and taking orders at the table. BETTER SEPARATION THAN AT TIIEN. The food was not impressive, but their coffee and orange...

It tasted like innovative Thai flavours. But the serving was really hard to slow and we repeatedly stressed that we were really hungry but after an hour and a half wait we only got the starters. After asking the kitchen we were told that we would have to wait further before we could have our main course.

Overall: A very bad dining experience and the long wait was really annoying.

Update to my review in response to the manager's comments:

I am compelled to address the dismissive tone of the Tiien manager's response to my review. While I avoid public disputes, I believe it important to clarify this was a genuine criticism after an unexpectedly long food wait - over 90 minutes for appetizers, with no explanation.

Being told not to come during busy times is baffling. I understand restaurants get busy, but that should not excuse poor service. The point is not speed but quality - had I sought fast food, I would have gone elsewhere. One expects quality food and service from a reputable restaurant, including communication about delays.

We inquired only once about our course, not wanting to be a nuisance. Yet we felt neglected watching later arriving tables served as we waited. If the policy is not to seat during busy times, as the manager suggested, that should have been communicated, along with some action on our growing hunger and frustration.

As for the claim we were playing games on our phones, we were just passing the time while waiting an excessive time for starters to quell hunger. Timelier starter service could have improved the experience.

It is disappointing a manager overlooked concerns and responded so unprofessionally. Scrutinizing customer phone use is particularly troubling and intrusive - no diner wants that while dining. I stand by my review and regret that instead of constructive dialogue to improve, I am met with defensiveness. I hope this feedback aims to provide a better...

We have come back to Bournemouth after 4 years and the last time we came we really enjoyed our experience so definitely wanted to come back. So on our first day back in Bournemouth yesterday after 4 years we booked a table for 3. We were then greeted and taken to our table. We placed an order for 2 Tamarind ducks. When we were served we only got one as they had forgotten to put another one through. So the first dish duck dish was cooked to perfection. Just how I wanted it. My duck was moist and crispy. The second one they got to the table was rushed. The duck was crispy which we asked for but we still wanted that cooked so it is still moist enough to eat. The second one came out hard and not enough sauce with it to eat. Anyway so we finished our starters and mains and wanted to order dessert. We were given a dessert menu and wanted to order but when we called them to take our order they said to us their kitchen is closed. Surely either someone should have notified us that their kitchen is closing soon and asked us if we would like dessert after our meal or we shouldn’t have been a given a dessert menu after we had finished our meal. Why give a dessert menu in the first place if your kitchen is closed? Quite disappointed. There were also no mints or anything after our meal so my husband went up to the bar and quietly asked for one, they got out an empty bowl and shook it in front of him telling him that’s the reason why, because there is none and it’s finished. How rude? Surely you they could have just told him that rather than fetching an empty bowl to show him. The food is nice here when it isn’t rushed and they have taken your order properly. The service this time was a let down and for that reason we won’t be...