Jintana Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Windermere

Avoid this restaurant if you have a food allergy or intolerance. As a member of our group has coeliac disease, we spent considerable time researching restaurant options in advance of our trip and booked Jintana Thai based on the extensive gluten free options advertised on its online menu. I called the restaurant before making the booking and the person who answered the phone reassured me that they could modify many more dishes on the menu to make them gluten free if we informed the waiter of our requirements on arrival. In reality, we found that the dishes marked gluten free on the online menu were not available gluten free at all and that the waiter who served us had no understanding of coeliac or food allergies. When asked for help to understand the confusing allergen menu (which had dishes marked with both ‘contains gluten’ and ‘gluten free’!) he shrugged his shoulders and told us he is ‘just the waiter’ and that the manager/chef were too busy to assist us.

After waiting 25 minutes, we were assisted by a manager who confirmed that neither the online allergen menu nor the paper allergen folder were reliable and that the dishes marked gluten free were not gluten free at all. This is completely unacceptable and extremely dangerous for those with coeliac or other food allergies. Thai food generally offers many gluten free options and we found it odd that dishes which are typically gluten free, such as pad thai and chicken satay, were not safe options. The manager was apologetic and offered to have the chef prepare us a safe option which we appreciated but unfortunately the dish was not enjoyable.

The service was extremely slow and disorganised. We were seated at 8pm but didn’t receive our drinks until 9:15pm. We were waiting so long to be assisted that a member of our group had time to leave the restaurant to check if other restaurants in the area had better coeliac-safe options. Unfortunately, they were all fully booked so we had to make do with the extremely limited options at Jintana Thai. All members of our group are big fans of Thai food but found Jintana Thai extremely...

A Very Unpleasant Dining Experience

Today, the four of us dined at Jintana - Bowness on Widermere. The food was mediocre, but the service was relatively prompt. When it came time to settle the bill, we had ordered four meals and four beverages. However, the bill came to £13x, and upon reviewing it, we noticed that they had added an extra 3 or 4 items. We promptly brought this to the attention of our waiter.

A polite waiter kindly offered to check the bill. However, moments later, an older-looking Thai woman approached us. She claimed to distinctly remember serving our table and insisted that we had ordered spring rolls and tom yum goong (a Thai soup), even though we hadn't ordered or consumed them. I explained that we had not placed these orders, but the woman pointed at me and gave me a stern, unfriendly look before walking away. This was incredibly rude.

Afterward, our bill was left unattended, so I approached the younger Thai woman who had taken our initial order. She confirmed that we had not ordered the items in question. She along with the polite waiter apologized and corrected the bill. However, the older Thai woman continued to watch us from a distance with an unfriendly expression.

I have never encountered such a situation before, it is absurd! How can orders be added to the bill without consent and be insisted upon as if we had consumed them? I am unsure if the older Thai woman is the owner, but if she is, her attitude was truly dishonest.

I would also like to commend the polite waiter and the younger Thai waitress for their excellent service. They handled the situation professionally and even apologized on behalf of the older server. I hope this incident is an isolated one, but I must express my disappointment with your...

I wanted to share this review because I recently remembered an experience I had while traveling to the Lake District. I had been to this restaurant before, and while the food was okay, my wife, who loves Thai cuisine, suggested we give it another try. This time, we went with some friends who were visiting us and had planned a trip to the Lake District. We decided to dine at this restaurant together and ordered a variety of dishes and drinks.

From the moment the waiter, who seemed to be from an Eastern European background, took our order, his attitude was quite rude. Despite this, we proceeded with our meal and were enjoying the food until we noticed an insect in one of the dishes, specifically in the soup. I felt extremely annoyed and embarrassed because I had recommended this restaurant to my friends, and this incident left a terrible impression.

I called the waiter to address the issue, and his response was disappointing. He simply said he would remove the item from the bill, but his tone was dismissive and lacked politeness. It felt like he was doing us a favor rather than addressing a serious issue with proper customer service. Instead of apologizing or showing concern, he brushed it off, which made us feel even worse.

Overall, the experience was not only disgusting but also deeply embarrassing. A restaurant should maintain high standards of hygiene and customer service, but this place failed on...