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324 King St
NEWTOWN, NSW, 2042 -
(02) 8568 1... (02) 8568 1980(02) 8568 1... (02) 8568 1999
- Restaurants
Sumalee Thai @ The Bank Hotel is a very trendy and stylish place to dine or relax for a few drinks. Sumalee Thai offers a range of Thai cuisines, from curries to stir fries to hot pot. A few vegetarian choices are available. Sumalee Thai also caters for banquets, parties and functions, and it is a good venue with relaxing atmosphere and nice surrounds. Extensive drinks list and bar menu are available.
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Reviews of Sumalee Thai @ The Bank Hotel
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Moochies 60 reviews
This Thai restaurant provides a reasonable casual dining experience within a bar/pub setting (its located on the lower ground floor of the Bank Hotel). The atmosphere is lovely, as the restaurant is set out in an open plan, outdoor environment and surrounded by warm lighting and heating. The restaurant definitely has exceptional ambience and is a nice venue on both a summer arvo and a beautifully cool winters night. The dishes are not cheap (so brace yourself), however the servings are quite large- so you could probably share a meal. I suppose with this in mind, the prices are fair. Ive been here a few times myself, in a group setting (where we got a banquet meal) and in a smaller group where we went al a carte. It has to be said that the banquet meal is a bit hit and miss....its really expensive and you get very little for your buck or so it seems to me. So should you be didning at Sumalee do go al a carte to avoid disappointment or starvation (the irony). -
Syd10 Newbie 1 review
I went to eat before a show at the enmore and received exceptional service, they made space for us when we didn't have a booking. What are most impressive was that they explained the difference between the types of Tofu in each dish for me and then because I only liked one type they offered to change the type in the dish I had ordered. Talk about keeping the customer happy and customising orders
Awesome!!!
Oh and the food was delicious. -
wheelyweb Newbie 1 review
Lovely food, insufficient staff and poor floor management
Summalee Thai is a great place to go if you like Thai food, one of the better ones in Newtown, for certain, but it is both expensive and the "service" is almost non-existent. I also recommend avoiding the banquet menu or larger groups, (more than 6) delivering less food than if you ordered a la carte, at a greater cost per person.
The staff have a hard time counting, as, for our party of 17, we were given 40 wine glasses, 15 plates, 22 spoons and 13 forks, causing me to ask for more table ware and to remove some glasses. When we asked for water for the table we received one pitcher of mostly ice, until I specifically asked a waiter for three water pitchers, only half full of ice (it was a cool May evening, hardly a "full ice in the pitcher" day).It is not that difficult to supply a reasonable level of service when people are spending twice what they would be paying at a more humble establishment.
To begin with, at Summalee, there is no table service, just table deliverers, and you have to line up to order food at prices that would suggest they can afford waiters. I'm not complaining about the bar ordering system, just that it is not justified for the price and service received.
I hosted a table of 17, for my partners birthday, and we ordered from the Banquet menu, as I thought that would be simpler for them, and apart from the seriously bad delivery (providing a dish at a time, each ten minutes apart, with cold dried-out rice), we didn't even get the complete sum of all our dishes. Our three starters came, but only one of our 3 expected mains, but by then we were too frustrated to complain any further. Thankfully the wine, which was quite good, nullified our anger. I would have preferred BYOB though.
I had to have a word three times with the manager to try and organise the food better, but I definitely warn you this place is OK for a table of 2, 4, or 6 but they couldn't organise a banquet if they tried. Be prepared to be the waiter yourself as the management doesn't supply enough of them to begin with.
I have been to many pubs that serve food in this manner: order at the cash register, get a table flag, wait for it to come. No Problem. I can even forgive them for not telling patrons this as they approach what at first looks like a table-service kind of place. It is called being polite to your customers to explain how the place works. "Order food here and drinks there and we bring it to you"; easily done.
But in all other instances, the staff either bring you what you need to have your meal, or politely point you to where you can collect your plates and cutlery yourselves. Other places bring your mains in one go, not scattered apart so far you have to pass one around the entire table and allow some people to miss out. And the others deliver you the food you ordered, not reduced amounts or avoid some dishes. And when you have to politely complain, they acknowledge you and drop by the table to see how you're getting on.
Good food but expect to wait for your food, not be attended by the overstretched staff. Insolently tolerated. 0.5 out of 5 for service but a 4 out of 5 for food, so long as you go prepared.
To top it off, we had two bottles nearly full, of wine and we decided to take them home. We were rudely approached by the security staff who wrenched them from our hands and told us we couldn't take them home, but they did leave them behind the bar, not pour them down the drain, and I would not be surprised if they served them to clients in the bar upstairs. The excuse given was that they didn't have a take away licence, odd that I could see a bottle shop attached to the premises. If they have rules, fine, but being so rude and obnoxious was not necessary, and really puts me off taking any friends there in future. It's not like Newtown has other bars equally fun nor other Thai restaurants with comparable quality food.
Take patience as well as an appetite to what could otherwise be a real star in the Newtown universe. -
andrewc80 Foodie 44 reviews
Excellent casual dining and great quality Thai Food.
Servings are enormous, so would suit a large party rather than single diners.
Lovely open air dining area, with plenty of ambience, and the bar is just upstairs.
Does seem to get reasonably busy, and I don't think you can book a table. -
Nikkikats 25 reviews
Really nice thai, a great place to take friends or family for their birthday, have a drink and then venture to the restaurant, great on a nice sunny day. Not cheap but the dishes are big enough to share. Thai done very well with the freshest ingredients. Try a prawn dish while your there, you wont be disappointed!
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Monday:12:00 PM-11:00 PM
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Tuesday:12:00 PM-11:00 PM
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Wednesday:12:00 PM-11:00 PM
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Thursday:12:00 PM-11:00 PM
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Friday:12:00 PM-11:00 PM
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Saturday:12:00 PM-11:00 PM
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Sunday:12:00 PM-11:00 PM
Restaurants
Dining Options
Bookings Buffet Functions Outdoor Seating Take-Away
Cuisine
Thai
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