Mien Tay (Battersea)

I have been to Mien Tay, our local Vietnamese, on a number of occasions. While I've never been able to say I've had 'good' service, Sunday night's display beggared belief. I booked a table for five to celebrate a birthday. When we arrived, the waiter seemed unable to find any record of the booking, and left us standing in the doorway for 10 minutes. During this time, a group of drunk, loud people arrived and asked for a table for 25. They were sent downstairs to the 'dungeon room', along with our small group of five. I spoke with the waiter immediately and said we would rather not be seated downstairs, as the noise and atmosphere would make it impossible to enjoy a quiet dinner with friends. The waiter assured me he would try his best, then disappeared. 20 minutes later, the group had ordered their meals and drinks, received their prawn crackers, and we had seen neither hide nor hair of the waiter. My friend went upstairs twice to ask to be re-seated and actually served - while reassured by the waiter that he would come to our aid in 'five minutes', time continued to tick by and we were steadfastly ignored. In the end, we got up and had to walk out - luckily we had a fantastic meal down the road at Banana Tree.

This restaurant is cheap, and the food is usually good. However, they no longer allowed 'bring your own booze' and their unbelievable attitude to customer service means that I will not be going back - ever - and they will most likely continue to lose customers who would rather pay a few more pounds to actually be served.
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0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Food was great for the money - as always. However service was awful - rude and arrogant to make us feel like we were incredibly unwelcome. They questioned us over BYO- apparently it's stopping. Also we were sitting downstairs and it was so hot.
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4 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 5
Friday, October 14, 2011

Been here quite a lot with groups of friends, large/small and just a couple of us - Basically before you go, you need to know what you are letting yourself in for to enjoy it - and to do so you have focus on the good things that are: the food; the price; and BYO booze which helps with the price. If you do that some of the most poor service and rude staff that I have ever witnessed become slightly comical, rather than an irritant. Overall the good outweigh the bad - but for a fast, cheap and tasty bite to eat with friends in a lively/disorderly atmosphere its a good option.
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6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, September 27, 2011

I live in Battersea and have been to Mien Tay quite a lot. Still queueing out the door on a cold Wednesday night i was glad i had booked last night.

The success story here is that the food is good (not amazing) and the prices are very very reasonable, especially for London. The fact its BYO also helps.

The service however has become cause for concern. Last nights service was absolutely shocking. We were shown to our table and had to wait 15 mins and ask twice to see a menu. We had to ask twice for the free prawn crackers they usually bring as soon as you are seated. The coke i ordered never arrived, the bottle of water i ordered never arrived, my rice sat on the table for a good 10 mins before the rest of the main courses arrived and at the end of the meal we had to ask for the bill three times. We noticed that those around us were having issues too, particularly main courses arriving at totally different times.

The food however was good. The salt and pepper squid and prawn toast were as good as ever. My Lamb stir fry with spring onions and ginger was good despite the rice not being as warm as it would have been if it had actually arrived at the same time as the Lamb.

The bill was £22 for two starters and two mains which is exceptionally good value, despite the awful awful service.

This restaurant is not as good as the hype. If the prices were in line with those around it, it wouldn't have the reputation it does. They have crammed for too many people into the restaurant and they can't cope with the numbers. If the food levels ever dropped or they raised the prices significantly, this place would would quickly become as popular as Jeremy Clarkson at a Greenpeace convention.

My g/f and i have decided this is now a take out place only, we won't be dining in the restaurant again.
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CJS
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Thursday, October 14, 2010

After reading the previous review, so we tried out their quail, unfortunately we were not so lucky, quail was badly cooked and pho noodle soup was very bland. The waiter didn't understand when we point out the quail and gave us grumpy looks, we had to get up and leave on empty stomachs!
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Ed and Sam.
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, September 19, 2010

This is one of the best Vietnamese Restaurants ever and I've been to a few across the UK, Europe, Asia and USA.

I've noticed recently that they have increased their prices with some as high as 60% (ie small bowl of Spicy Hot and Sour Seafood Soup was £2.50 but is now £4.00). Some increases are reasonable but if they wish to keep their regulars they need to keep the increases to a minimum. (Mien Tay - this is the reason for the 4 points for Value for money)

Can I also advise the owners/staff to keep staff areas, store cupboards closed and non-restaurant furniture out of customer view (you know which furniture item I am referring to). Also, a bit of a refurb would be good as it needs a bit of modernising. (reason for the 6 points).That said, the food is absolutely fantastic and the staff very friendly.

Love their Mien Tay Spring Rolls, Quail, Fried Goat, Soup Noodles, Fried Fish and Scallops. Everything that I have tried I have enjoyed. Would like to try the soup again but not at £4.00. Friends and family also eat here and tell me that they love the food! Everything is so fresh and delicious!
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8 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Food o.k. Not as great and flavoursome as the other Vietnamese we've been to. I think we'll be heading back to our old favourite.
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mike
1 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Sunday, July 11, 2010

Tried this place out, tasted ok, wouldn't go again.
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1 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Friday, April 23, 2010

First time here, and sadly won't be coming back! Crispy pancake was burnt and dipping sauce tasted watery, couldn't eat the main dishes....big disappointment!
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tom
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Sunday, February 21, 2010

I haven't had the soups, but why would you when you could have the crispy sea bass with mango? Or the green papaya salad with shrimp? Or the crispy pancake? This place is seriously delicious. You can easily have several dishes and not break £50. NB: It's cash only, but BYOB.
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LJ
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9
Monday, February 15, 2010