Patpong Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in London

The food itself was good, but the service was truly awful.

We were a group of four and placed our order together. The food arrived, but the coconut rice was missing. I asked one waitress about it—she never came back. I asked another—again, nothing. Finally, I had to ask a third waiter, who eventually brought it, but by then the rest of our food was already cold.

Later, I ordered a banana toffee dessert that looked amazing on the menu photo. What arrived, however, looked completely different and nothing like the picture, so I sent it back. At that point, I also asked for the bill—and the waiting game started again. I had to ask several different staff members before I finally asked for the manager. She was busy taking a large table’s order, so I waited patiently until she was free.

When I explained the issues, she handed me a bill that wasn’t even in English and very difficult to understand. I noticed the coconut rice was still on the bill, plus a £12.85 service charge. After pointing this out, she removed the rice and the charge dropped slightly, but I told her I was not happy with the service at all. Only then did she remove the entire service charge.

What shocked me most was that throughout the entire ordeal, not a single member of staff offered an apology. The word “sorry” seemed forbidden in this restaurant.

The whole experience was unpleasant, and we will definitely not...

We've been coming to Pat Pong for years, the food is great and that hasn't changed. What has changed though is the service. It's appalling. We waited 1.5 hours for our starter and another 45 minutes for our mains. Very few other diners around us were eating too, and when we complained the waitresses told us everyone was complaining! We were told that the kitchen was very busy, that they'd had a load of people arriving at the same time, and that they'd taken lots of Just Eat/Deliveroo orders.

I don't think that's a good enough excuse, even on a busy Saturday evening. Why seat that many people all at once? Why take so many phone orders? Why not hire more kitchen staff?

This isn't the first local restaurant we've been to recently where we see staff coming out of the kitchen laden with takeaway bags for delivery drivers while we're sat there waiting for too long for our food (the White Swan in Woodford Green was the same). I understand this is good business for them but diner experience is suffering. Local restaurants need to decide what they want to prioritise - the table experience or the takeaway business.

We won't be going back...

Golden sacks, morning glory, and chocolate balls. Yes, I'm an adult child.

Two coworkers had recommended Patpong to me as a must try, so when my friend messaged me saying he was down I knew where I was taking him.

The restaurant looks like it's a family run business and the waitresses were really polite and attentive. The bathroom and dining area were clean and I liked that my plate was warm from having just been taken out of the dishwasher.

The food. They say laughter is the best medicine, so when I read Golden sacks on the menu I wasted no time in medicating my friend. The golden sacks are crispy spring rolls (ball shaped), with a side of sweet and sour chilli sauce. They were pretty delicious and perfect for my non spicy eating friend.

Over all the food was delicious. I regret not ordering a side of rice to go with my stir fried lamb, but it was delicious nonetheless, so much so I had finished it before I remembered to take a picture. I am a little disappointed we didn't order morning glory, but we have saved it for another day, because, there will be...