I was pretty excited about this
evening. Dinner Companion (DC) and I had
done a bit of research before deciding on Thai food at the Blue Lagoon. The reviews on Taste Card (of which I have,
being a lover of food and all) seemed pretty good and it was in Central London. Perfect.
On arrival, the outside looked decent, and
was definitely more appealing than the Pizza Hut round the corner. However, as soon as I stepped into the porch
area all I could smell was toilet. It
was unsavoury to say the least. I mean I
have quite a good sense of smell (to make up for my short-sightedness I
figure) so I’m not sure whether this was just me, but I refrained from
venturing down to use the bathroom while I was there. The décor needs some work too.
DC ordered the red curry with chicken and
plain steamed rice (which came separately) and I ordered the noodles with beef;
fishcakes to share, glass of house white wine each and tap water.
What we received was watery red curry and old
rice in small bowls, a reasonable sized bowl of noodles (but with no broccoli which
was one of the reasons why I ordered the noodles), average fishcakes,
okay wine and lukewarm water.
Admittedly, we have high standards, but as
a paying customer everyone should expect high standards, right? I was willing Blue Lagoon to do well as it
had been my suggestion to come here, unfortunately things just didn’t improve.
My bowl of noodles (without broccoli) was
extremely spicy, so hot I had to swap dishes with DC. Of course, this was my own fault, but it didn’t
really add up as the red curry was the same spice rating as the noodles and I
ate the curry just fine. I also found it
a bit strange eating with a spoon and fork throughout our courses…but I guess
that’s just a personal thing.
DC asked for cold water again, the result
was a bowl of ice and a spoon. He
explained the boiler had broken so there was no cold water (I’m no expert in
plumbing but that doesn’t make sense to me…)
Even The Couple very close to us on the next table asked if they could
use some of our ice cubes for their water.
The service was terrible. I don’t think I have ever received such bad
service. The waiter was very awkward
taking our order and stood a table away from us (this was before The Couple had
arrived). DC was constantly ignored when
trying to ask for a napkin throughout the meal.
When we received the bill, our discount was
added (from the Taste Card) however we were charged for mineral water and
service charge added on. We explained to
the female waitress (who didn’t serve us throughout our hour or so there) that
the bottle of sparkling water on our table was generously given to us by The
Couple next to us (who had now left).
Okay simple mistake, we then asked for service charge to be taken
off. At this point, the waitress looked
at us and said no, it was mandatory, it’s stated on the menu. The waitress then continued to argue that ‘it’s
not very nice’ of us and that they had already given us a discount. The discount was part of the deal, we are
willing to pay for the food that we had but for service, what service? I’m sorry, but I usually pay service charge,
even when service is mediocre but this time it was poor, we felt that it just didn’t
deserve anything for this. The fact that
the waiters then disputed this only reinforced this point. The other waiter, who then actually stood
next to our table this time, with card machine in hand, then said he gave us
mineral water; we made our point that if this was the case he should have told
us and it should have come in a bottle.
Anyway, after we were left at our table for
a few minutes not knowing what was going on, the waitress returned, DC had to re-calculate
the total for us and we paid.
Technically, we should have received 55p change but they disappeared
into the kitchen without another word, and we just wanted to leave the place
and never come back.
All in all, I wouldn’t recommend this place
to anyone. It was not a good
experience. I mean, the food itself was
average, if you have to go, then the noodles (if you can handle the spice) are more worth your money than the
curry; I’ve had better and for good prices, the fact that it’s based in a very
good location means that they will still continue to get the unknowing tourists
coming in. Which is a shame as Chinatown is not very far away where you get brilliant
food and excellent service.
Overall rating: 1 out of 5
