First time disappointed at Ben Thanh
I have eaten here before with great pleasure: back then, in MArch '08, the food was outstanding and the service attentive, as well as the amenities being clean and attractive. Recommended the place to numerous others. Will not do so again. The staff seem ALL to be out-to-lunch when it comes to awareness of customers: we waited at the entry desk, but were only spoken to and seated after asking for help. The maitre de was pleasant, but seemed out of his depth. Our waiter was poorly trained, though courteous. He seemed oblivious to our needs, and often sailed by without even a glance to check on us. We had to ask for condiments from another server, and the array brought to us was both skimpy and in dirty containers. The fare itself was all right, tho' not up to the tasty level of earlier visits. After finishing our meal, we sat with our stacked dishes ignored by all for ten minutes. Our waiter went by half a dozen times, intent on wiping down empty tables. We were apparently invisible. When we asked another server to clear the dishes, she instead went to ask our waiter, who did not appear till we had moved to another table. For all I know, our dishes could be sitting there yet! We did tell the maitre de (gently and firmly) that sevice had been poor. but his reponse was to ask if he personally had been remiss -- he should be trained to response more professionally and reasssuringly to comnplaints. We did tip our waiter 10 per cent out of goodwill, but he needs major practice in doing his job well! I am going to let all the folks I've recommended Ben Thanh to to steer clear for a while. Won't be back myself till I hear that it's back up to snuff! What a shame. This WAS a special place for Guelphites and guests to feast. No longer.