Bhan Thai (Mt. Laurel) — Restaurant in Mount Laurel Township

I have rarely written a negative review. My thought process is that if a restaurant was that terrible then word of mouth would travel and prevail. But this time I have no choice. I will not discuss my guests’ bad experience, just mine. I'm not going to talk about the appetizer that tasted as if it was left over from lunch and reheated in the microwave. What I'm going to talk about was my main course Pad Thai with Beef.

We went for dinner and arrived at 5PM. This was the second time visiting this restaurant which was under new ownership. First visit was more than several months ago and was for dinner, and I ordered Pad Kee Mao, (drunken noodles) and it was very spicey but not the worst I’ve had. The atmosphere however was very pleasant, and the staff very kind and pleasing. So I thought this restaurant deserved a second visit, this time a visit with friends who were never there before. I am completely on board with supporting the local businesses, particularly new establishments. However, I do not know what could possibly have happened to this restaurant over a period of several months that could have caused the quality of my meal I was served to be so disgusting.

I have frequented many Thai Restaurants, and have ordered Pad Thai countless times. This was absolutely the most horribly tasting Thai food I had ever eaten. The Pad Thai sauce? I have no idea what it was. The flavor? I could not tell you because I have nothing to compare it to. The Steak? Tasted like it was old microwaved leftovers. AND to top it all off, instead of spending our time talking and having fun, we spent it swatting away the flies from landing on our food. Flies in restaurants are a very bad sign folks. My guests all had similar complaints. It was embarrassing.

The staff came up to me several times and each time I told them that this was the most disgusting Pad Thai I have ever tasted, and I could not even swallow it. I asked the staff to please take it away. My guests were unable to eat their food either. The staffs’ only response was to ask me if I had eaten there before. Then they gave me a blank stare, and then they offered me the bill for the full price of the meal. No apology for the bad food, no credit voucher towards my next visit, nothing taken off the bill, no one took responsibility, I was just ignored. Worst thing to do. I have given other establishments a second chance especially if management owned up to a problem and taken appropriate action. Not this time.

So bottom line, what actually occurred, this establishment just lost a repeat customer. That is no way to run a business.

Folks, you can go spend your hard earned money anywhere. But me and my friends could not confidently eat at this...

I am sorry to write this.. as Bhan Thai had been our absolute favorite place for almost two years now. Before moving to the area, we would visit "Our Place" for special occasions. A few months ago, we moved nearby and started going more frequently; today being our 3rd time in 7 days, since today was my husband's birthday. But last week is when our experience started to go downhill. We decided to try their Thai tea. We ordered one pot for $3. They brought us one pot and one empty teacup. We asked for another empty teacup, as we would share the small pot of tea. The waitress said they charge per cup. We explained that we did not want another pot of tea.. just an empty cup; no water, no tea bag. She was clearly annoyed, and walked away. She never brought another cup; although we asked another waitress for one, and she quickly did.

Today, on my husband's birthday, we returned for lunch. We decided to give it a try again, figuring everyone has an off night. Same waitress. This time, when we requested an extra empty cup, without a response -- she turned and walked away again!! This time, she never brought our tea! After we watched her bring out tea for the table next to us, we knew she had decided to ignore us again.

Minutes later, another employee came to our table with one pot of tea and one cup. We again, asked for an extra empty cup. She explained that it is their policy to charge per cup. Thinking she was confused by our request, we explained again that we were not interested in having more tea.. just an empty cup. She clearly understood, but would not bring the cup. When asked if the owner was available to speak, she said she was the owner, and that the restaurant's policy was to charge for each empty cup.

We explained that it was the principle of the $3 charge for an empty cup that would keep us from returning to our favorite place. She still refused. There were no raised voices, no rude words.

Bhan Thai.. Turning your back on your customers and ignoring them, was the main problem for us. Not fulfilling a request for an empty cup was secondary.

Our average meals each visit were $30 for lunch, and $50 for dinner, including 20% tip. There was no tip today; a first for us ever, as is leaving an unhappy review. We will need to find a new place to call our...

I have loved Bhan Thai for awhile. Food is always delish & I give them 5 stars for that. Unfortunately, my last 3 take out orders have been wrong. There are 4 of us, and all but 1 of us gets a 3 star spice level. So, after the first mistake, I chalked it up to the one mild order getting put in with the other 3 dishes. But, the next time I made sure to adamantly specify MILD for the Pad Thai dish & explained what happened on the last order just to be sure. My hubby picked it up & when we sat down to eat, the pad Thai was so spicy again. This time, with only 1 spicy order along with 1 mild one, I figured we would be good… but, nope… both of them were done spicy (3 stars.) I called this time and complained. They said sorry, but didn’t really offer to correct and really the woman who answered the phone didn’t really seem to believe me. Tonight, 3 of us ordered from BhanThai and I MADE SURE to explain the pad Thai dish was to be made MILD and could she please make sure since the last 2 times we ordered the spice level was incorrect. Even when she read back the order, she read it back wrong. I repeated that the pad thai should be mild & the 2 Thai basil dishes are the ones that should be 3 stars. She said she had it… Nope! Very Spicy yet again! Called to complain and yet again… Sorry! And, she insisted she wrote mild on order. She said I could bring it back for another. Well, no thanks! We live 15 minutes away & it was 7:30 already. I put the dish in the fridge for someone to eat for lunch tomorrow & made something else. I just don’t understand how they can keep getting it wrong. I miss their pad thai… haven't been able to eat it for awhile now even though I’ve PAID to eat it the last 3 orders. So, 3...