"55 pounds for racism and rudeness."
I want to begin this review by stating that I will be initiating action via the small claims consumer court online against the owners and operators of this restaurant.
I, and a couple of friends, who were on a consulting assignment at a large insurance provider based in Norwich, chose to dine at this restaurant after a long, exhausting day at work, last night. After placing our orders for starters, main course and drinks, we chatted while we waited for our food. A half-hour later, we realised that even our drinks hadn't been served so we reminded the waitress, and they arrived, with no apology or explanation. After close to an hour of restlessness, during which time, we saw people entering the restaurant, getting seated and served and almost finishing their meal. Every table but ours had been served food. We looked about trying to catch their attention, but with no success so finally, I approached the manager/woman who seemed to be in charge, to remind her of our order.
She hurried off without a word, and returned to place plates in front of us. The plates were not washed properly and my friend's plate, in particular, had food remnants stuck to the surface. We were made to wait another 15 minutes while we struggled to get the waitress' attention and get at least one plate replaced. Half an hour later, the food arrived - with my specific instruction to not add egg in the Pad Thai completely ignored. They didn't add peanuts either, and not a word of apology was uttered for the inconvenience caused. They grabbed the menus out from the table, and didn't offer any explanation for the delay.
Meanwhile, we noticed that every other table was served attentively, with the waitress and the woman-in-charge smiling and checking in after every order was delivered. Being within hearing distance of two other tables, the difference in service quality was rather obvious. Our table, which was not only made to wait for about an hour and twenty minutes for the food, on the other hand, received neither attention nor apology. Not wanting to waste any more time by sending back my Pad Thai (which is so basic that it is usually prepared in under 15 minutes by most Thai places) and ruin our night out, I had a couple of mouthfuls of the terribly greasy and tasteless noodles, and left behind most on the plate.
When we asked for the bill, they had no trouble in bringing that in under 2 minutes, and we were really puzzled as to how no one else seemed to have the trouble we had with getting their orders or getting them on time. This restaurant had a 4-star rating on TripAdvisor - what was going wrong for us?
Casually, my friends remarked that it seemed that we were the only people of Indian origin at the restaurant. Surprise, surprise - every other table had received its orders, and people who entered the restaurant 20 minutes after us were done with their meal by the time we received ours, which only arrived in the first place, after repeated reminders of our presence. No wonder, then, that nobody had bothered with an apology.
I must say that I am beyond shocked. To come across racism in this day and age, albeit in a less dramatic form than most others, demonstrated by Asians to other Asians, leaves me speechless.
Apparently, under UK law, it is illegal for "someone providing goods, facilities or services" to "refuse to provide you with goods, facilities or services because of your race or provide any of these things on less favourable terms or conditions because of your race", so I fully intend reporting this incident and seeking legal redress.
I will strongly recommend people of Asian origin to stay away from this restaurant, as they have clearly demonstrated disdain with no cause or reason, and if you'd like to have your order served in under an hour. read more
