Ta Bouche!

When a restaurant is too serious about its own theme, the dining experience becomes annoying instead of a pleasure.

La Fleur Vietnamese Cuisine in Sha Tin New Town Plaza is guilty of this. While leading us to our table, the hostess exclaimed Bienvenue!, and a server greeted us with the Vietnamese Chào mung!

I don't mind being welcomed, but someone ought to explain to her it's best done face-to-face, rather than yelling while she's showing folks her back.

The worst part was that each time she led patrons past our booth, she'd shout Bienvenue! in the same monotonous tone. Not one of the people following gave any indication they even understood her; her pronunciation was not unlike that of someone with a mouthful of marbles.

This went on with frightening regularity, while other servers continued to holler the Vietnamese version. After 10 minutes I was tempted to shout Ta bouche! to see what would happen.

I don't know the Vietnamese for Shut up!

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