Fav Bistro — Restaurant in Holladay

I have been ordering take out rather often as of late, in an effort to support small and local businesses. It's been a lot of burgers and such, though, and craving something different that I couldn't prepare at home, I made my way to Fav Bistro (Sister restaurants Chabaar and Tea Rose Diner are already favorites).

I reviewed the menu online, and then called to place my order. The fellow I spoke to was nice enough, but seemed to struggle when putting each dish into their system. When I asked for pork with my soup, after an awkward silence following the declaration of "I just can't find pork on here..." (Even though it was a clear option on their website) I offered that I guessed I could have chicken instead. He estimated just under an hour for it to be ready, and we arrived right on the dot.

The makeshift curbside pick-up area is pretty dingy looking (like, just take a few hours to refresh the paint and pull the rampant weeds). I curbed my judgement as all restaurants have been forced to make do with what is available, and with little to no planning. It seemed like an easy fix, though, and left a bit to be desired. I gave my name, and they brought the food directly the car about five minutes later. Back home, everything was well packaged and still hot. We had the following:

Curry Puffs - Why are curry puffs so good?! Why don't I eat them every day? Fav's predominately feature lovely tender squash. The accompanying cucumber sauce is a sort of sweet and sour vinegar with bits of (you guessed it) cucumber along with carrots and onions. It is a delight, and just the foil required for fried dough.

Tom Kar (Thai Coconut Soup) - The broth is beautiful: rich, creamy, sweet, and slightly spicy. Near as thick as a curry. Slivered swaths of coconut flesh keep friends with crisp-tender carrots coins and numerous button mushrooms. I found myself wishing for more vegetables, and in the future, would request a side of steamed veggies to supplement (as I usually do when ordering curry at Anny's other restaurants). This was still delicious as a leftover the next day, though the fish sauce, or whatever seafood-based seasoning is in the broth, was much more noticeable. This is a family size portion, and came in two large carry out containers.

My husband had cashew nut stir fry, which I only sampled, but it was tasty, with generous beef and lots of crisp tender fresh vegetables. Both of our orders included plentiful sides of rice.

I love the creative menu options, blending Thai with myriad other cuisines, resulting in unexpected entrees like Steak Massaman Poutine, Shrimp and Grits, fish tacos, and crepes (that's right, there's a whole bunch of breakfast dishes, too!).

My only real complaint is that the prices felt about 20% too high. I wonder if dining in, it might feel more appropriate. On the other hand, yeah, my soup was twenty bucks, but it also made two very filling meals. Overall, a pleasant experience, and I...

We tried stopping in for dinner tonight (1/31) and ended up walking out—something I’ve never done before. From the moment we walked in, the experience was disappointing. The dining area was filled with dirty tables, which could have been understandable if they had just finished a dinner rush. However, we waited at the sign that instructed us to wait for a server for about 5 minutes, during which four takeout parties came in and were promptly helped at the cashier area, while we were not even acknowledged.

Thinking we might be in the wrong spot, we moved to the takeout line. When it was finally our turn, we were told we had to go back to the first sign to wait. After another 10 minutes of being ignored, a large group came in, and a female server immediately greeted them. Even the group noticed we had been waiting first and pointed it out. Yet the server didn’t even glance at us, instead walking away to clean a table for their reservation.

With my background in service, I try not to be overly critical, but this was appalling. The aromas in the restaurant smelled amazing, but the lack of basic acknowledgment or respect completely turned me off. With so many other outstanding Thai restaurants nearby, I won’t be giving Fav Bistro...

We dined at Fav Bistro a couple of nights ago. Service was slow and poor. We waited 15 minutes after being seated at our table and still, no one had come to offer water or take our drink order. (The restaurant was not crowded at the time and we could see the servers helping other diners.) Finally, my boyfriend said aloud what I had been thinking: this was getting ridiculous. About 5 minutes later, a young water appeared at our table. My boyfriend ordered a beer and I ordered a glass of Malbec. I had a preview of what was to come when the wine arrived and the pour was meager. We ordered meals and I made a point that I wanted salmon with my panang curry. When the meals finally arrived, my dish had shrimp instead of salmon. I pointed this out to the server and waited. By the time the dish that I had ordered was set before me, my boyfriend was taking his last bite. The meal was decent but the salmon was overcooked. The slow, inattentive service + overcooked fish made for a poor experience. Pretty disappointing since I had been excited to take my boyfriend out...