Marilu F.
Yelp
"I can't put my finger on it, but something's missing. The pho I ordered is freshly made, piping hot, and full of ingredients, but it tastes unlike anything I have had before. Not bad but not good. Flavorless, bland, and making ordering the large a poor decision."
Those were my thoughts last night as I delved into dinner. Not much has changed since then. I really hate to do this, but I have to grant Green Papaya a one-star review. The experience my boyfriend and I had there is unacceptable. From the food to the service, it was one of those tales that you wouldn't believe unless it happened to you.
It all started when we arrived to the restaurant. We were surprised at the size of the restaurant - very small - but that isn't to fault the place over. The fact is we sat at the first available table we saw and it was by the door. The table had four chairs, and although, it was only my boyfriend and I making up this party, we had little to no room. We kept bumping our legs under the table. It made it uncomfortable to sit, and later, to eat.
When we ordered, we both chose to eat pho. I had a chicken one, while my boyfriend ordered a spicy one with chicken and pork (or at least that's what I believe the meats to be). Had it not been that I have had pho before, I might even say my pho was good, but I have had it before, and my pho was beyond lacking seasoning. I put as much cilantro and sauce as I could, and eh, I wish I could say there was an improvement, but there was none.
My only relief in terms of my pho was that it was under spiced, so at least if I accepted it as the blah dish that it was, it could be eaten. It is much worse when a dish is overzealous and tries to incorporate many flavors at once, after all. I think that is perhaps what my boyfriend's pho did. The only issue is that while he ate it, and well, while I sampled it, it didn't taste like much. Little did we know that my boyfriend later would have digestion issues for the rest of the night.
To make matters worse, the restaurant is severely understaffed. There were more than five tables with two to four people each and only one waitress. And an elderly one at that! I felt so bad, I didn't want to drink my water too quickly to even request a refill. The owner, or who appeared to be the owner, would occasionally help, but between her and the waitress, it was a question of finding Houdini.
Let me clarify that last statement. Both the owner and the waitress would occasionally disappear. They would go off with people they know, regulars I imagine, and leave the rest of the clientele alone. I wouldn't have an issue with this, as everyone has a personal life and this is a family-owned business, but the amount of rudeness I experienced because of this left me speechless.
When we were ready to pay and leave, the owner came to my table, asked me if I wanted to take my leftovers, and before I could even reply, ordered the elderly waitress to take care of it and she just walked out as if nothing to attend another guest. The waitress was busy, the owner returned after socializing, and she didn't even apologize for not even letting me reply. At this point, I just wanted my boyfriend to pay and get us out of here as soon as humanely possible.
The check came, and while it was on its way, they began to clear the table. Here's the insult to this injury though. At this point, this restaurant was a clear two-star one for me, but when I saw that they had given me a plate with a corner that was broken off, I just had it. What if I had placed my finger there and cut myself?
I know people are lazy or sometimes aren't aware, and perhaps I should have said something, but I was livid at this point. Even at home when people are lazy, they purchase paper plates. This is clearly a safety hazard - a partially broken plate! Ugh, I do not know if this is ignorance, laziness, or the worst of them all, a conscious decision to save money. At any rate, we will not be returning.
Oh, and I nearly forgot this, but I needed to go to the bathroom. Let's just say given the plate I was afraid to use the bathroom. Perhaps it was clean, perhaps I'm exaggerating, but one thing's certain: I am so grateful we sat at the table closest to the exit.