Ta Ra Rin | Thai Cuisine (Coburg Rd) — Restaurant in Eugene

Not sure where to start other than, all of our previous dine-in and take-outs here have been great. Today was a disaster. What I cannot figure out is whether this was a server problem, a kitchen problem or a management problem. Sunday dinner with guest from out of town (4 of us), arriving at 6:15pm. Drinks ordered, which were fabulous (the first STAR), but after that it went downhill fast, sinking like the Titanic. After ordering, it took about 30-40 minutes for the appetizers to show up...and they were cold. Clearly they had been sitting a while, both the 2 orders of Satay chicken and the tempura appetizer. We ordered 3 meals. One was discussed a length about the spiciness, turns out the one that was forgotten in the end. Time ticking, we had another engagement at 7:30 and by 7:10, after sending the appetizers back to be heated, we requested our main dishes to be "to-go". We received a bag with only 2 of the 3 meals as the third was forgotten. Since it took 45 minutes to get the meals, we couldn't stick around any longer to wait for the meal to be entered and cooked and boxed, as our other dishes would get cold. The kicker is once we got home the Pad Thai order was wrong (!) with tofu and not the chicken as ordered. Overall a disaster. I certainly watched many to-go orders fly out the door during our stay, and I wonder if the wrong priority was given to these orders and not the customers actually in the restaurant. As far as a management issue, you cannot have the server work 6, 7 or 8 tables AND be the bartenders and not exepect service to suffer. We make it a point to frequent local restaurants, and this one is, in particular, in our neighborhood, and we have been in many times, as stated before. Today was a HUGE disappointment on many levels. We won't be going back for a while, as we'll need this memory...

Went alone this evening (11/2/25). The service was quick, attentive, and thorough- with my server dropping off more napkins as though he could read my mind. My server was amicable and knowledgeable about the menu- extremely polite. The food was out without much of a wait, probably 10 minutes or less. I ordered the Lemongrass Chicken Curry (sans the mushrooms) and was quite impressed (although I feel there were more carrots than necessary- it was still a delicious dish). The curry sauce was rich in flavor and the large basil leaf really worked with the dish (I kept stirring it in and around, and I was basting the noodles and chicken with the curry). The medium spice was in the "just right" zone for me, but I would have also enjoyed the hot spice level, I think. The Thai Iced Tea is the perfect amount of sweetness. Not sickeningly sweet, not boring and bland- it was perfect. The noise level was low, with the restaurant at 1/2 capacity. Very calm and enjoyable environment, with decent music choices too. Temperature was cooler (i'm guessing ~66°), but I prefer that, so it was perfect for me. This would be a great place to take a date for a good lunch or dinner, I reckon. I love Thai food, so the next time I'm in town I'll probably drop in and explore some more of the menu. Service 10/10 (Felt like a king) Food...

Food is pretty good. Customer service on the phone is very poor. Very difficult to ask questions or get an accurate order.

For example I asked if the Chicken Satay was white or dark meat and the lady on the phone responded that it was white meat because chicken and pork are white meats. I restated the question by giving an example of each kind of meat i.e. breast vs thigh. She thought about it for about 30 seconds and then blurted out "I'm sorry what is your question again?". I asked again and then after another long pause she finally said she doesn't know and doesn't understand the question. I then ordered 2 orders of the ice cream which they explained that 1 order is a choice of 3 small scoops or 1 large scoop. So I said I want 2 orders of 1 large scoop each. When I picked the food up I got home to find out they charged me for 2 orders and gave me 1 order of 3 small scoops. After the earlier phone experience I decided it wasn't worthwhile to try to get the...