All reader reviews by SJH

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.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0