Adwit Lal Pradhan is an entrepreneur graduate from the UK and is working as a marketing manager and accountant at BEST PAANI, Nepal, Lalitpur. He is into adventure sports, hiking, reading, and learning something new daily

On a warm Saturday afternoon, my friend and I decided to go have lunch at the Thai restaurant, Thai Ghar. It is right opposite to Grill Me and Moksh, two other popular restaurants in Jhamsikhel.

We were overwhelmed by the aura of the place. There were pictures of quotations everywhere. It took about 10 minutes for us to get seated; we read almost all the quotations there.

As it was quite sunny, we chose our seats out on the terrace, and fortunately enough there was a shade. However, after we got seated, we noticed multiple shoe prints on all the four sofas that were there. It was a total train wreck compared to the mood downstairs.

Beside the lounge we noticed a small room for the waiters to get changed and refresh, what we didn’t expect to see was one of them (male) washing his hair on the tap.

After a few minutes, a waiter arrived with the menu. We were famished, so for appetisers we ordered Larb (minced meat salad) and Yam Tuna (tuna salad). The tuna salad was good because of the richness in its flavour. The

Larb was a disappointment as it only had chilli powder and no other spices, not even salt.

For the main course, we ordered Khao Na (tofu and other vegetables with thick gravy over rice) and Nueng See (steamed whole fish with vegetables). We started devouring the food the moment it landed on our table. But the tofu had gone bad and it was inedible. The fish had no spices in it, the only taste it had was that of the sliced vegetables around it and, of course, fish. Although the decoration of the food was admirable, the taste sank the whole ship.

We wanted to make a complaint but none of the waiters were bothered about how the food was, no one came and asked what else we needed. It seemed they were busy in their own world (using Facebook). We just wanted to have a good meal and so we asked one of the waiters what they would refer, there was no reply. So we just thought about paying up and escaping from that place.

The actual bill for the whole course was reasonable; however, the tax was a killer.

I went to the restroom to wash my hands, and it stank, the floor was dirty and the flush wasn’t working. A clean toilet means a clean kitchen, so I had second thoughts about all the food we ordered.

Overall, the environment on the first two floors was amazing, however, everywhere else just felt a bit ignored. The quality of service was very bad as the waiters seemed to be shy, and knew little about the food and general courtesy.

There is a lot of room for improvement and it also has a great deal of potential. Thai Ghar definitely has the location and the décor to compete with other amazing restaurants.

THAI GHAR RATINGS

Ambience: 7

Food Quality/

Presentation: 4

Quality of Service: 4

Hygiene: 5

Value for Money: 5

Overall Satisfaction Value: 5