Sri Thai snack bar Vienna

There are places that make history, and there are places that are history. The Sri Thai Imbiss Wien belongs to the latter. The reputation of Sri Thai Imbiss Wien is legendary, it is said to be the best Thai snack bar in Vienna. Numerous newspapers have reported on it, and much praise has been heaped on it. The food certainly deserves praise too. The rest of it, however, does not.

Sabine warns me: Sri Thai Imbiss Vienna is something very special. Rumours are circulating about bans on laughing, the toilet in the neighbour’s cellar and slightly longer waiting times for food. It’s the same with the Sri Thai Imbiss Wien as with any other celebrity in the world: no-one talks about it anymore without a few quirks. Well, I’m here. I have something to say.

We arrive at the Sri Thai Imbiss Wien. We can’t find the reservation. In principle, nothing works without one. Only when Verena arrives and gives us her number do we get a table. The boss is the ultimate control freak. Georg is forbidden to hang his jacket over the back of the chair. Instead, he has to hang it on the wobbly stand right next to the entrance. The same goes for my laptop bag. I watch it sway anxiously at a height of 1.40 metres.

The papaya salad at Sri Thai Imbiss Wien is legendary. We have pre-ordered it, so it arrives after half an hour. Yes, not bad, but I can’t imagine that there is no better in Vienna. Then we wait for the main course. Go outside for a smoke. Wait. Go inside. Out again. Wait. I let the auxiliary nurse take me to the neighbourhood loo in the basement – it’s forbidden without an escort.

Then we sit down again. I study the crowd at Sri Thai Imbiss Wien. A colourful mix, and in some cases just as authentic as the food. A funny old man who looks like one of my favourite fuckers from Pattaya has his imported bitch with him. Home sweet home.

We wait. Drinking Singha. Guests keep coming in without a reservation. Nothing escapes the attention of the chef. Everyone is sent home more or less unkindly. She cooks very little and slowly. After about an hour, the first two dishes arrive. Green Thai curry. Good, but for 10 euros it’s also pretty measly. More Singha. Waiting. Smoking. Waiting. Singha. Waiting. At least we’re allowed to laugh. Sabine has already been forbidden to do so by Mrs Control Neurosis with an aggressive “Shhhhhh”.

Finally, after almost two hours of waiting in the Sri Thai snack bar in Vienna, my crispy duck arrives. Unfortunately, it lost its adjective at some point during the gigantic wait. It’s no longer crispy and is lukewarm at best. But after two hours, I don’t care. The three of us share it. In the middle of the meal, the control neurosis boss from Sri Thai Imbiss Wien comes to the table and informs Georg that his dish is unfortunately “out”. “No sauce”, she says and waddles off with the legendary “screw you” Thai grin.

The meal with three main courses for four people at Sri Thai Imbiss Wien costs a mere 85 euros. A real bargain when you consider the excellent service – on the money side, I mean. To express my enthusiasm, I put a cent tip on the table. It’s a bit much, but unfortunately I’d forgotten my hacksaw at home.

Sri Thai Imbiss Vienna is history. The food is quite nice, but is completely devalued by the most unfriendly control neurosis boss of all time. I came, saw and left without looking back. In other words, no. The morning after makes me angry. Sabine is feeling dirty from yesterday’s meal. We wish you bon appétit at Sri Thai Imbiss Vienna!

Current ranking of this page in Google for the search term “Sri Thai Imbiss Wien”.

Google normally takes 1-3 weeks to index pages on new domains. New pages on old domains usually take a few days until they are in the Google index. I’ve never seen anything like this page before. Just for fun, I entered Sri Thai Imbiss Wien into Google five minutes after publication: fifth place out of 100,000 :-)