Friday night, a whole bunch of us (mostly friends of my sister) went to Chai Yo, a Thai restaurant in lower Mowbray. It started well - they found a table that could seat 8 people, drinks orders were taken, and soon thereafter starters and mains were ordered. The starters arrived, and were particularly tasty - which indicated that the mains should be good too.
However, close to 90 minutes after the starters had arrived, there was still no sign of the mains. In fact we started counting down - initially 5 more minutes and then we would leave. After 5 minutes, there was no food - but the waitress came with a jug of water. One of the girls decided to tell her that if there is no food within 2 minutes, we would walk without paying the bill.
After the two minutes, we got up (well two of us got up, and the rest followed, some more reluctently than others); and it was another 2 - 3 minutes before we all assembled by the exit, where we informed the manager that we were leaving. At this point, the food was more or less ready; but most of the party had enough - and had already decided to leave even if the food was free.
I have never walked out of a restaurant before - and maybe it was unethical given the number of starving people around the world. It was not the fact that the food itself was late; but rather that no one told us that the food was delayed and why it was delayed - especially as tables around us seemed to be getting their food.
It was strange, and quite liberating in some respects. And we ended up going to Bruegels nearby - where the food was ready within 30 minutes of walking in; and ultimately proved to be a great place to have a meal with a group of people.
