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| - The Ft. Apache location of the Thai Style Noodle House may be the sister to the Chinatown original, but they hail from a different mother.
To be sure, the food is almost as good as it's more popular sibling, but that is no surprise, assuming the recipes got passed along at birth. But that's where the similarities end with this western valley reproduction of a well-loved Chinatown eatery (which is sad news for those of us who live in the western valley).
In my review of the original, I bemoaned the absence of an accommodating server who could provide the suggestions I crave when on a maiden voyage. It is fair to assume the language barrier played a significant role in this, but the server did do an excellent job with everything else - and I had Yelp to help out with the suggestion portion.
The same could not be said for the Ft. Apache location. Not only was there no perceivable language barrier, but, as the only customer during the lunch "rush", the server was presented ample opportunity to showcase his skills. It is here where he failed -monumentally.
It's hard to describe the feeling of invisibility, especially if the reader has never experienced such loneliness or felt the overwhelming desire to do a Huckleberry Finn on the fence post. It is especially difficult to imagine being ignored when you are the only customer in the place. Suffice it to say, I nearly had to cry out in anguish EVERY time I needed anything, from placing my order to requesting a refill to procuring the check.
Not only did the server not care about my presence in his establishment, he seemed perturbed by the rare interaction he did have with me. To add insult to massive injury, his response to my credit card was (and I quote) "Don't you have cash?" (picture Paris Hilton discovering her rental choices did not include a pink Cadillac Escalade.)
I half expected the bill to arrive in some minimum $25 charge, as some restaurants are wont to threaten with their little placards next to the register.
I was delighted to see that the server only charged my card the exact amount of my bill - it was, sadly, the highlight of my visit.
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