Phanthong Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Trafford

UPDATE: google won't let me reply to manager comment directly so here it is - I believe you are confusing me with someone else as I didn't even have my phone on me... you're saying i was rude, but every time i go, before and after i gave birth you guys were always talking to me and my children. hence me finding it strange that i was ignored

Today, I decided to place an order over the phone for me to collect. Upon arrival I went into the restaurant and was ignored for some time. During which the lady looked at me 3 times, I said "hello how are you" (with 3 different volumes) and was ignored each time.

She then picked up the phone, I brought it up to her and said "I feel as if you are ignoring me" she replied "I'm busy yeah". I was very unhappy. She then left to go collect my food from the kitchen. When she returned I thought that perhaps she didn't understand that I had been trying to get her attention and so asked her if she was aware that I had greeted her and that she ignored me, she said yes she was aware. I asked why she ignored me and she said she would get the manager.

The situation quickly escalated, as the manager arrived and I asked if it was a language barrier we were having or if there was another issue. I explained I was only saying hello to her and didn't understand why I was being ignored.

He told me to take my food and asked me if I was going to pay cash or card. I felt he dismissed the situation and repeated my question. Manager stated "if you don't take your food, you will be banned".

I was in shock! "Why am I going to be banned? I simply explained that I am not happy with today's services and your response is banning me?" seeing that I have been coming here for over 5 years now I felt very hurt with what was happening. This restaurant has been where my family and I make our celebrations for years! A lot of special moments occured in here, so the fact that the manager was so quick to threaten to ban me caught me by surprise....

The manager told me again to take the food. I said I would not be threatened into it and I would only take the food if he reduce the price as an apology for their behaviour today. He declined, told me I was banned and to not...

In days of yore, it used to be a hallmark of sophistication that one’s village boasted a Thai restaurant in addition to a chippie, Indian and Chinese restaurant. While that position has now been usurped by the Vietnamese restaurant (or Japanese sushi bar if a nouveau hamlet and Cambodian if hipster commune) there’s no denying that it remains the destination of choice for coconut themed spicy hits of flavour.

Being on my door step, Phanthong was a place that I often passed en route to somewhere else, so after a night carousing with my Malay and Singaporean (yes, there is a difference!) friends reminiscing about that usual topic - food and where to eat it, the abject lack of Nasi goreng in Hale came up. Thai was considered to be the next best thing now that Angor Soul has departed. Therefore when I drove past today, I seized the day and popped in for lunch.

To be fair my bench mark for a decent Thai lunch has to be the nondescript stalls in Chatuchak market rather than the rarefied offerings at 80/20 on Charoenkrung road. In this regard Phanthong scored full marks.

The Moo Ping took a few seconds to impress me with subtlety of the marinade. I must decipher it’s secrets to up my summer BBQ game.

The Pad Thai was umami and scrumptious mess all rolled into one. The tamarind was not overwhelming as can occur with an inexperienced chef.

I chickened out with dessert opting for the safe option. Now I regret not sampling the banana coconut option.

While I could be accused of throwing shade here, the folks at Chilli Banana could certainly learn a thing or two...

It was a good experience overall, and there wasn’t trouble getting a table as we got there at the start of the evening, however it does seem to pick up quite a bit as you go into the evening, though it wasn’t so crowded that by the time we left (around 8pm) it would feel overwhelming.

The food was excellent and the flavours were clean and fresh, the only issue I might have is the wait time can be a little long between dishes(25 minutes plus), but the staff were attentive and very helpful throughout the evening when needed.

I think it’s worth a try if you’re craving some Thai food, as they are quite accommodating to most general dietary restrictions.

Last suggestion and this applies to those who enjoy taking many photos/videos, would be the lighting can be a bit poor, leading to some poor photos as can be seen of the menu, but you wouldn’t know it if you weren’t taking...