Sri Siam review by Tom
It's an odd one, Sri Siam. On arrival despite having booked a christmas lunch table for 13 (10 of us turned up) we were herded into the bar and asked to wait while our table was "prepared." This perplexed me somewhat as the restaurant was about a third full and we could see several tables set for 12-14 covers. Never mind, it's a nice bar and the only place you can smoke in the restaurant which made several of our number happy. The manager then all but insisted we collectively opt for the £36 set menu (minimum 2 person), warning us if we chose á la carte we could be waiting a very long time as he was expecting 200 for lunch. Not really fancying the set, we declined. I'm not sure if this upset the manager somewhat as he then proceeded to shoehorn us around a round set for 9. Doing a quick headcount to ensure none of us had been abducted or absconded behind the bar, we pointed out we were in fact, 10 bodies. Ever adaptable, our manager whipped a placemat off the next table and voila! A table for 10 was set. We're a tight-knit team but sitting on top of each other is a bit much. When we pointed out our tablemats were overlapping the manager insisted it was a table for 10. When we pointed out one of the still-empty tables actually set for 10 (normal sized people, not pygmies) the manager started accusing one of us of not knowing what a table for 10 was and what we were sitting at was "perfect" for 10.
This was a bit of a shame really as the starter I chose (scallops with curried pumpkin squash on a bed of crispy seaweed) was quite possibly one of nicest I've ever tasted. The meaty plumpness of the scallops was nicely set off by the slightly sipcy pumpkin squash. It's number 10 on the menu if the manager doesn't browbeat you into ordering the set. My main of duck was similarly well-executed although could perhaps have benefitted from longer exposure to the advertised plum sauce.
Far from taking the threatened "very long time" the courses came within 10 minutes of us ordering them and the service was efficient, if slightly frenzied. There's a slightly bizarre collective rice bowl arrangement whereby if you think you've ordered 4 egg-fried, 4 thai-flavoured and two plain, you actually get a huge bowl of egg-fried, the same of plain and what purported to be thai-flavoured but just tasted like another plain. I'll overlook this though as given the cosiness of the seating arrangements, the management obviously want to foster closer relations between their diners.
At £25 a head including drinks, Sri Siam represents good value for money for a City restaurant. I'd say those who think it's pricey succumbed to the managers dogged insistence on the set menu.
Fantastic food we all agreed but the charade with the table, topped off by the fact that as you can probably guess, there was still 3 completely unbesmirched 12-14 cover tables sitting empty didn't really predispose toward paying the optional £30 service charge, a decision backed up we felt by the fact that waitress collecting our bill decided it would be easier to count the money at our table, making us look at feel like naughty schoolboys legging it having left two twenty pound notes with blank paper in the middle.
Perhaps the dinner service is better?
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Overall rating 
Food 9 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
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