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| - I'm not sure I should lower my expectations or if I'm being overly critical of the "New Salad King". I've been a customer since the days it was a tiny, dark hole-in-the-wall eatery (before the first renovation at the recently burned down historical building on Gould St.). A good friend of mine knows the owner and it was one of our favourite Thai food places for a bite. The reason they had one of the busiest and best reputation for years was they actually had cooks from Thailand and he used the most expensive flour for his spring rolls (ever wonder why they weren't greasy and dripping in oil like other places serving spring rolls?). The flour was extremely light and didn't hold much oil when fried and it made them crispy. I was eager to try the new place. The first time I stopped by and the line up was out the door and down the stairs spilling onto the street (it was about 2 weeks after re-opening at the new location) so we decided to eat elsewhere and come back another day. The second attempt a few weeks later was successful as there was no lineup at prime time. That may have been a mixed blessing... perhaps others shared the same experience as I did?
The service: We were seated immediately but after 10 minutes, no wait staff or anyone to even take our order. This was not good as the old staff were excellent, very attentive, fast, courteous and easy on the eyes (at least the females were for me). We were seated right near the door and wait staff had to pass by us to get to the kitchen (several did but we didn't know who was our server). I was ready to get up and leave when a server asked us if we needed something... I said with a hint of sarcasm "water would be nice and someone to take our order." She was polite and said she wasn't our server and he should be here any moment. She brings us a glass of water and he finally showed up a minute later. He was not apologetic, quite blunt and looked like he was doing us a favour to take our order (ah, typical mainlander... being Chinese I can say that). The food took forever to arrive... the old place was 5-10 minutes tops and this was closer to 15-20 minutes. I was wondering if they forgotten our order? They could have at least brought the spring roll appetizers first. Nothing. We had finished our water and not even a refill. In my head, the tip was dropping by the minute.
The food: After about 20 minutes, our food finally arrives. My friend order phad thai and I ordered mango chicken on rice. I'm not sure if they still employ the same Thai cooks but the first thing I noticed was the spring rolls were a bit more oily than I recall at the old location... perhaps it's my memory that is failing me since it took them a while to re-open. My mango chicken tasted good, portions were as I remembered and medium spice done right just like the good old days :) At least that part didn't disappoint. While eating, my friend and I chatted about the operation noticing there was more seating and there were empty spots which was rare at the old place. Our delay in getting our meals may have been the kitchen staff not being able to cook as fast to accommodate the larger seating capacity. We also noticed some guy, who looked like he was in charge, standing around and the owner was absent which was rare (did he sell out or did he actually take time off??). Not sure but I'll need to come back to test these theories.
The verdict: I would usually give them a 4-5 star rating but my return here was a tad disappointing so a 3 star outing this time. They have made improvements in the size, seating and fancier decor but I feel they sacrificed service and quality resulting from their expansion. The prices went up a bit too (about a dollar a dish) which didn't make a huge difference but it makes you think about value compared to the old place. I'll definitely come back and we'll chat with the owner (if he's still here) and give him some feedback about our experience. If there is no lineups, I would think something is missing from their previous success formula. Will be back for a review update here.
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