Talat Market — Restaurant in Atlanta

So I really wanted to like this place. I have been meaning to go here for a long time now but since they don't take reservations, I held off for way too long. One of my foodie friends told me about this place. We finally found a good time to go with a few friends yesterday and it was honestly just very underwhelming. The wait was long (as expected). The the small plates were quite tasty (crispy rice salad and salmon tartare) and most of the drinks were great, good atmosphere too. One of our friends didn't like her drink and the waiter asked if she could get her something else so no biggie there. Things fell apart though when we got the main entrees. The chicken and rice came out with the whole broiled chicken and you were suppose to 'build your own plate' as they explained with the chicken, rice, peanut sauce and cucumbers and. It didn't come with a knife which was odd, but that may have just been a mistake. Anyway, it was not very flavorful - I was worst then my own chicken and rice at home which is saying something. I chucked this up to choosing something maybe too traditional for my tastes. Next, we received the coconut flatiron (after quite a long wait). It came with pre-sliced steak (whew since no knife was provided once again) and a a sauce of sorts. We had asked for medium, but it was quite rubbery and chewy, definitely overcooked. I am not a huge steak fan to begin with so I thought it was me, but the rest of the group spoke up first how rubbery it was. In its defense, I enjoyed the seasoning although the rest of the group thought it was way too over-seasoned. We finished most of it as we were all starving and the waitress came to check-in. I told her that honestly, the chicken and rice was not great, it really lacked flavor (I didn't even mention the steak). She listened to me for about 15 seconds and when I finished, she just looked away from me and just asked if we wanted the check, etc. It was honestly just bizarre. We were all confused and then she was painfully awkward every time she came over (we were probably awkward at this point too). I have only spoke up a handful of times in my life when a waiter said if the food was good or not so I did take it personally she ignored my comments completely which doesn't help. We received the check and my friend also was charged the drink she didn't like - not a huge deal at all, but they weren't happy with the unclear communication if we would be charged since the waiter asked if she could get her something else. So overall, I am sad by this, it was a place I have been dying to go go to, but maybe it was an off night for the kitchen as well as our waiter. But really the food nor the service will get me...

What can I say... I'm very disappointed.

First, while we wait outside for our table we ordered drinks. Great! But our waitress was absolutely very disrespectful and rude. Yes I'm a young adult (21+) and can't help that I look younger than my age. I don't need her sly rude remarks about my age and what I’m drinking.

Drinks were ok, nothing to rave about. I asked the waitress for her suggestion and she goes "I don't drink, everything is popular" rudely. Without trying to attempt to walk me through the menu.

Second, we get in the restaurant, seated. Great. We waited a while to get our orders taken and I understand its busy. Our first two dishes (oysters and pepper salad) came out and we had NO plates or utensils. After asking twice for them, we finally got them. Keep in mind a couple who got sat after us got all utensils and plates as soon as they sat. We ate the oysters (got 4 of each = 8) and they were ok. Nothing ravishing. But the pepper salad was great, I'll give them that.

Here comes the worst part...the fried chicken. I wish I took a picture of the inside. It was SO bloody to the point where we were uncomfortable eating it. We didn't even eat it we just cut the chicken open and saw blood gushing.

We brought it up to someone's attention and it happens to be the lady who took my drink rudely in the beginning (skinny lady with glasses and tattoos) and she said "it's just a big vain that's not blood, ummm that looks fine to me" "what do you want me to do about it? We've seen this a few times it's normal". Like no, it's not normal. Food Bourne illnesses are very scary and we were dining with TWO YOUNG KIDS. Definitely not ok! She asked us what she wants us to do about it then proceeds with "umm ok well I can tell the chef and kitchen about it but we can't get you a replacement because we're sold out of chicken" like ok? So we told them to just take it back and take it off the tab.

I've worked in the restaurant industry and have been around family members that own restaurants and I've seen a lot of "veins" in chicken which sometimes look "bloody" so trust me I've seen plenty of veins and this...is not a vain.

We got watercress and red curry and jasmine rice to close out our unsatisfactory meal. We were left hungry so we decided to go get asian food elsewhere. Total for these small plates was around $130 and we were still hungry. On to of being served with TERRIBLE service.

I refuse to acknowledge that this place is worth the hype. It is not and I am very disappointed in the food and the service.

As a southeast asian person, I'm always looking forward to trying asian food that makes me feel like I'm back home...and this place did not do that. We did not feel welcome here either. Will....

Update: Having been back 2 more times since the first review, I can without a doubt say this is a restaurant more for the vibes than the food. Prices are very high up likely due to import costs of seafood and locally sourced ingredients. With that said, for the expense of ingredients used, food quality often comes out sub-par; the flavor profile does not really match Thai cuisine and at best is an imitation likely to tailor to Talat's mostly white customer base. Given the history of the neighborhood, this is evident from the menu prices alone. My original take on lack of umami still stands. For better seafood, I'd recommend checking out Fishmonger. For more authentic Asian cuisine ITP, I'd recommend So So Fed's weekend popup at OkYaki. You'll often find some of the menu items at Talat offered at SoSoFed, like the red curry I first tried.

As far as service goes, it can be hit or miss. Typically on a busy day, you'll find less care.

The only good thing about Talat that's been consistent is its oysters selection and drinks. For this, I'd recommend Talat as mostly a happy hour place. Even as an oysters selection, Fishmonger would still be the better choice for a better overall experience.

I have nothing against Talat catering to the customer base it caters to and trying to survive as a restaurant; it's just not what I would look for when thinking of Thai food.

Regarding lack of MSG and Maggi... I can totally understand the case if the food had strong flavors to begin with; otherwise, I'd argue the restauarant is not bringing out enough of the natural umami of the ingredients they are sourcing so expensively and then passing onto the customers. MSG is also naturally occurring and a key ingredient of Asian cuisine. Everything was great except the red curry scallop. Missing the umami needed to really close on the dish. I'd recommend to add some MSG or leave some Maggi on the table for the guests to pour in. Otherwise, great atmosphere,...