All restaurateurs know the importance of what goes into a customer’s mouth; but what can have even more influence on the restaurant’s reputation and ultimately the bottom line; is what comes out. And I don’t mean from an upset stomach; but from “word of mouth”. A customer’s word of mouth comments carry even more weight today, due to the popularity of social networks and blogs, instant messaging, and the birth of the fanatical foodie.

Word of Mouth

So what influences a customer’s word of mouth? It all depends of expectations. In Australia there are no Michelin star restaurants; so we must rely on the SMH Good Food Guide awards to know; which restaurants are at the top of the foodie chain. Sydneys’ 3 hat restaurants are: Bilson’s, est, Marque, Pier, Quay and Tetsuya’s. So it must be all gastronomically downhill from these dizzy heights of gluttony. But then this makes it so much easier for casual dining restaurants like Chedi Thai, with no hats or awards but so many regulars.

All hoteliers know that 5 star guests are hard to please; as expectations when the bar is high are difficult to appease. But when your restaurant is located in Newtown customers do not expect more than average. This is the secret to success and where service, food and ambiance can all work together to produce a memorable experience and positive word of mouth.

But occasionally we get customers who for what ever reason can not be pleased. They want to ruin your business because their meal was slow in delivery or their dietary needs where confused with their lack of knowledge about a certain type of cuisine. One bad customer can spoil the broth.

Fortunately, we have some extremely positive reviews and many regular customers who bring their friends and tell their colleagues. So it can work both ways. But word of mouth is important and is a combination of many factors; which make a positive dining experience. Crucial factors such as first impressions, service, ambiance, quality and presentation of food, and finally lasting impressions; all culminate to make a customer a regular and a promoter of your business.

All customers want to be remembered, thanked and appreciated. So you better make your good bye as gracious as your welcome. I like to offer a customer a small gesture of appreciation for dining at Chedi with a complimentary liqueur, dessert or coffee. It doesn’t cost much to make someone feel special.

A good friend of mine once said “if you can’t say something good about someone; then don’t say anything”; but then he is an exception.

Word of Mouth Visualized shows that bad comments have a far greater multiplier than good comments. Just like the old saying “bad news travels fast” and that was before the spread of twitter. In hospitality, when a mistake is made it is crucial to ensure the customer feels that they have been treated and compensated fairly. It might be a complimentary drink, meal or discount. As it is much better for the customer to leave satisfied with their dining experience than unhappy.

So in conclusion: to all those fantastic customers, who appreciate our dining experience: we salute you and hope you tell all your friends about Chedi Thai.

Enjoy Chedi Thai

Many recipes for Thai Green Curry recommend making your own curry paste. But in multicultural Sydney, any Asian grocery will have a selection of packaged curry pastes, which can be used if you do not want to make your own.

Thai Green Curry

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2 people

Ingredients:

30 grams green curry paste

Vegetable oil

1 kaffir lime leaf

200 grams coconut milk

150 grams of chicken breast

10 grams palm sugar

Fish sauce

2 Thai eggplants

12 pea eggplants if available

15-20 leaves of sweet basil

1 red chili

Directions

Heat up a saucepan, then put the green curry paste in it with just enough vegetable oil to fry the paste.

Stir the curry paste for a few minutes then add the kaffir lime leaf and about1/2 coconut milk. Stir it, then bring to the boil.

Add the chicken, the palm sugar and remaining coconut milk, and stir until the chicken is cooked, before adding the eggplants, sweet basil and chili. At this point, taste it to see if it needs a few drops of fish sauce. Your curry is now ready to serve.

Tips from the Chef

1. Since the green curry paste already has plenty of flavour, do taste it before deciding whether to add fish sauce. Add a few drops of fish sauce right at the end of cooking, but this will depend on your taste.

2. You can make the curry greener and more aromatic as follows: Put 50 grams of coconut milk, a sprig of coriander and 10 grams of sweet basil in a blender and blend well. When the curry is cooked, add this mixture and stir gently.

3. If you can’t find fresh kaffir lime leaf you can use dried ones. You will need 10 dry leaves for every fresh one. Before using them, put the leaves in water for 10 minutes, and then dry them for a few minutes until you can smell the distinctive kaffir lime aroma.

Enjoy green curry

I never watch Masterchef Australia; due to being at the restaurant when the show is televised. However, one of our Chefs mentioned an episode on June 3^rd which was an Elimination Challenge featuring Thai Green Curry.  As all Masterchef episodes can be viewed on-line at the Masterchef Australia 2010 Official site; I went to my computer to view.

For all those who missed that episode; I will give a microwave version of the show. Two contestants Jake and Joanne had to play Russian roulette with their taste buds and identify 23 ingredients in a pot of Thai Green Curry. As this challenge was designed as a taste test; the authenticity of the recipe is not crucial to the outcome. But it is my opinion that anyone professing to be a Master Chef should use a recipe that it authentic and be true to the culinary heritage of the cuisine. In this case Thai.

After the 2 contestants identified several ingredients such as chicken, kaffir lime leaf, baby corn and lime zest correctly; Jake thought he could taste palm sugar and as a result was ousted. Actually, if the show was produced in Thailand; Jake would have been correct. As most authentic Thai Green Curry recipes would use palm sugar instead of white sugar. But I believe only a real Thai chef could taste the subtle difference between sugar and palm sugar.

But what my Chef found odd was the use of baby corn in the recipe. By including baby corn the entire flavour of the curry would change. And in the words of my Chef “not be delicious”.

So, I would recommend that when Master Chef crosses over a culinary border they should ask a local or else their culinary expertise could become a recipe for disaster.

Green Chicken Curry

A recipe for Thai Green Curry Chicken is available under the Recipe category of Chedi Blog

Enjoy real Thai

Restaurateurs are extremely fussy eaters and hover at the top of the foodie chain. So where do restaurateurs like to eat when not dining in-house?

I returned to Sydney after a 10 year stint in Asia, so I am quite particular about food, service and the restaurants I like to frequent. While living in Thailand, our favourite restaurants where located inside some of Asia’s best hotels, such as the Sukhothai, Grand Hyatt Erawan and of course the Bangkok Oriental.

So when I landed back in Sydney and was confronted with mediocre meals, service with attitude and Master Chefs, I was somewhat disappointed. The Sydney restaurant scene I fondly remember from the 70’s and early 80’s was dead and buried. Great restaurants such as Cassim’s, Yellow Book and Dimitri’s 5 Doors; where cops and crooks dined at adjoining tables; compliments of the ATO: were no more.

But then I met Darren Templeman, who is the Chef owner of Restaurant Atelier in Glebe. He is originally from England and runs Restaurant Atelier with his wife Bernadette. Darren really knows a lot about food and wine. He introduced me to Sebastian of Bar Mattino in Chippendale and soon I had 2 of my favourite places to eat.

Restaurant Atelier

Now after being home for over 5 years, the list of my favourite places to eat in Sydney has grown to include Sushi E for Japanese, Pizza E Birra for Italian and Dragon Eye in Hong Kong for Chinese. Sorry, but I can’t find good Chinese food in Sydney.

When not dining at Chedi, I often go to Thaifoon in Darling Harbour for great Thai food with a spectacular view. I now know where to eat in Sydney.

Sydney Skyline from Thaifoon

Enjoy good food

Our location in the heart of Newtown’s entertainment quarter makes Chedi Restaurant ideal for pre-theatre dining. Perfect proximity to The Vanguard, Carriage Works, Enmore Theatre and of course The Seymour Centre allows patrons to relax and enjoy a meal before the curtain rises.

An extra bonus for patrons of The Seymour Centre; is a special pre-theatre offer of 10% off the total bill when dining at Chedi Restaurant.

Sapphires at The Seymour Centre

In addition, Chedi Restaurant has secure off street parking; which alleviates the frustration of looking for car space in Newtown. Diners simply park with us and then drive their car to the theatre. Please call Chedi 95161127 for directions to our car park.

Enjoy live theatre

One Saturday night in May, Barry & Sara celebrated their wedding party at Chedi Restaurant. But instead of the usual bridal waltz the bride and groom chose to literally get down.

Barry was so head over heals in love with Sara that he couldn’t help to show off his delight at being just married.

Soul is where everything begins - Van Morrison

Actually, Barry is an extremely good break dancer and got the party in the mood by getting down and dirty.

Enjoy dancing

During service on a busy Saturday night, a customer commented on the Tom Yum Gung soup that he had just eaten. His comment was that our recipe used button mushrooms instead of straw mushrooms, which are traditionally used in Thailand. At the time I was extremely busy and failed to respond beyond a smile to his critique.

After service I told my wife about the customer’s comments. Her reply was perfect, “only canned straw mushrooms in brine are available in Australia”. And thus the brine spoils the taste of the soup; fresh is always best.

Canned Straw Mushrooms from Thailand

We have previously used oyster mushrooms in our Tom Yum Gung but customers told us they prefer the taste of button mushrooms.

Fresh Button Mushrooms

Straw Mushrooms

Following a Google search for straw mushrooms, I was surprise to find that the variety is not grown in Australia because is closely resembles the toxic Death Cap mushroom.

Death Cap Mushrooms

This excerpt is taken from an article on the website Get Farming.

“The Death Cap may be confused with other, edible mushrooms such as the Straw Mushroom used in Asian cuisine.

All parts of the Death Cap are deadly if eaten, with one cap sufficient to kill a healthy adult. Initial symptoms of stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhea may occur between 6 and 24 hours after eating.

There is no full antidote for the mushroom’s toxin. Once eaten, survival depends on early recognition and treatment.”

Tom Yum Gung Soup

So now I can say with confidence that we only use fresh mushrooms in our Tom Yum Gung soup and promise not to poison our regulars.

Enjoy fresh

The cover story in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Living “Dining in the Dark and other Restaurant Gripes”; was a pleasure to read. The article by Scott Bolies is a collection of complaints of what most annoys our restaurant critiques when dining out.

Under the heading “The Things That Rile”, were listed seating, lighting and noise. It seems that Sydney’s restaurants are far too dark and noisy with uncomfortable seating. Stools are definitely out.

Book Lamp

So it is with confidence I can write that Chedi Restaurant has adequate lighting to read a menu, plus we supply book lights for those lone diners who wish to read. Our lighting is both decorative and functional. The large saffron hanging bell lamp was imported from Thailand and is a combination of hand beaten iron and silk.

Iron & Silk Lamp

Our high back seating was designed to afford privacy even on a Saturday night. I am not a fan of communal dining and agree with Keith Parker about stools being “too small”, too low, and too uncomfortable”, even though I must confess to never dining at the restaurant mentioned.

High Back Rattan Chairs

And for the final grip; noise in a restaurant is at times hard to control. But our carpeted floor plus recessed speakers with soft background music helps to create a spa like ambiance. OK, the happy birthday music on a Saturday night can be noisy; so for that I apologize.

Enjoy Good Living

This delightful and very photogenic little girl came to dine at Chedi Restaurant with her family. She ate all her food and was forced to give up the spoon only with a bribe of a vanilla sundae.

Her cousin visiting from America was kind enough to send me this picture which was taken with his i-phone.

Enjoy Ice Cream

This great review was posted on the restaurant review site Eatability, by Alisso on 20th May, 2010.

It’s not possible to praise Chedi enough for their combination of great food, great service, and complete confidence in their gluten free options. One of my friends suffers from coeliac disease, and finding a restaurant that serves reliably gluten free food (cross-contamination is almost always a risk) and can provide detailed information on what’s on offer, is always a challenge.

Every time she visits Sydney, we make an excuse to go to Chedi, and we have never had a bad experience there. The food is always amazing, and the last few times we’ve been, we’ve been told that, barring a few entree dishes, pretty much everything on the menu is gluten free, without any alterations required. This is such a rarity as to be almost unheard of.

Knowing we can sit down and order whatever we want takes so much of the stress out of managing gluten intolerance. And knowing that the food is going to be brilliant every time helps too. They also offer vegetarian dishes, and have been extremely helpful to other friends of mine who suffer from food allergies and intolerances.

On top of all of this, the service is fast, efficient and skilled, half the time your meal starts arriving before you’d imagine it could possibly be ready and the staff are friendly and helpful. If you’re looking for good Thai food, or good gluten free food in Newtown, you really can’t go past Chedi.

PS: The salt and pepper squid is fantastic.

Enjoy Gluten Free Thai