Blueport: The Wine connection

Restaurants, food, beverage, hawkers, and local markets and suppliers. This is the place for discussion on Hua Hin's culinary options.
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Tunafish
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Blueport: The Wine connection

Post by Tunafish »

My wife and I ate here yesterday. Today, my wife has severe stomach problems.

The issue is, that they have cod on the menu, but what they are serving is oil fish.

Oil fish looks very similar to cod, but it contains a high quantity of oil which is indigestible to humans, and also contains detrimental toxins. My wife and I come from Hong Kong, where there have been similar incidents, which have caused the health authorities to step in, which is why we are aware of the symptoms and causes.

I very much doubt if the "The Wine Connection" is aware of what they are serving, they have probably been duped by their supplier. Tomorrow we will try to make the restaurant aware of their problem, but in the meantime, do not order the cod.
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Re: Blueport: The Wine connection

Post by huahin4ever »

The oilfish, Ruvettus pretiosus, is a species of snake mackerel with a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical and temperate oceans. It can be found at depths of from 100 to 800 metres (330 to 2,620 ft), usually between 200 to 400 metres (660 to 1,310 ft). It can grow to a length of 300 centimetres (120 in) TL though most do not exceed 150 centimetres (59 in) SL. The maximum recorded weight is 63.5 kilograms (140 lb). It is currently the only known member of its genus.[1]

The flesh is very oily and although edible, the oil actually consists of wax esters, which are not digested like edible oils. The flesh has an oil content of around 25%, and with serving sizes of several ounces and upwards commonplace, some people experience a laxative side effect from such a large amount of wax esters.

Oilfish is pleasantly rich in taste and can be substantially cheaper than some other fish species, leading to some fish sellers intentionally mislabelling it as butterfish or even codfish, despite the utter lack of relation. This leads the consumer to often eat large servings, as they assume it is a fish with which they are familiar, and then some may experience a laxative effect. Because of this, Japan and Italy have imposed an import ban on oilfish. Australia does not ban oilfish from being sold but recommends retailers and caterers to inform consumers about the potential risk associated with oilfish consumption.[2] The US FDA has warned consumers about potential mislabeling of oilfish, but has concluded any laxative side effects that occur are uncomfortable at worst and pose no health risk.[3] Escolar, a relative of oilfish, also has high concentrations of wax esters and is mislabeled similarly.

Source: Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oilfish
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Re: Blueport: The Wine connection

Post by kendo »

I've eaten Escolar me and a friend fixed a deliver truck belonging to a fish importer and he gave some to us .made me bloody ill never would i eat that again. We were told it was spanish mackerel.
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Re: Blueport: The Wine connection

Post by Big Boy »

Tunafish wrote:I very much doubt if the "The Wine Connection" is aware of what they are serving, they have probably been duped by their supplier. Tomorrow we will try to make the restaurant aware of their problem, but in the meantime, do not order the cod.
What did the restaurant say? Did they agree?
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Re: Blueport: The Wine connection

Post by dundrillin »

The Captain at the Wine Connection has an interesting response to complaints. When I politely complained that my partners salmon steak was raw she replied that we had not asked for it to be well done!! I had ordered duck pate , what arrived was a coarse pork pate,when I pointed this out she said it was duck and showed me that the server had written down duck. Ah well
Such a shame really as it's a nice place,hopefully the staff will improve. I'll give it another try some day
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Shocking treatment at Wine Connection Blueport

Post by wordi.matters »

I've been in Hua Hin six months and usually spend over 2000 baht each time I take a friend for dinner at Wine Connection in Blueport - it is/was my favourite restaurant. However if I go at lunchtime I take the 249 baht deal, but usually have a wine and a coffee too, so still spend a bit more.

The lunch menu is one pasta/pizza + one salad/dessert. Today, i don't know why, but the waitress incorrectly assumed I ordered one pasta and one dessert, but not from the lunch menu - why anyone would do that I do not know. I even pointed at the lunch menu page when I ordered. But at the end she billed me the normal price, not the lunch time price.

It's a mistake, a small thing, but she made it and it should have been quietly corrected and ended there. But what they did next was rude, intimidatory, and to say the least highly unprofessional. The manager said it was my mistake and I had to pay the extra 100+ baht. As I was the only customer in the restaurant at that time, I then had the manager and all the staff looking at me and treating me like I was a criminal.

I refused to pay the extra 100 baht, so she then she tried to emotionally blackmail me by saying the staff would have to pay the extra. With all of them staring at me angrily, but I would not pay it.

After I paid the corrected bill I told the manager I had spent thousands in this restaurant and it was stupid to behave like this, but she was having none of it. As I was leaving, she - the manager of the place actually shouted 'and don't come back'. I couldn't believe it, so I went back in and asked her to repeat it, but she wouldn't.

And no, I wasn't drunk or belligerent, I had one glass of Red and was alone.
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Re: Shocking treatment at Wine Connection Blueport

Post by Dannie Boy »

wordi.matters wrote: Mon May 15, 2017 6:27 pm I've been in Hua Hin six months and usually spend over 2000 baht each time I take a friend for dinner at Wine Connection in Blueport - it is/was my favourite restaurant. However if I go at lunchtime I take the 249 baht deal, but usually have a wine and a coffee too, so still spend a bit more.

The lunch menu is one pasta/pizza + one salad/dessert. Today, i don't know why, but the waitress incorrectly assumed I ordered one pasta and one dessert, but not from the lunch menu - why anyone would do that I do not know. I even pointed at the lunch menu page when I ordered. But at the end she billed me the normal price, not the lunch time price.

It's a mistake, a small thing, but she made it and it should have been quietly corrected and ended there. But what they did next was rude, intimidatory, and to say the least highly unprofessional. The manager said it was my mistake and I had to pay the extra 100+ baht. As I was the only customer in the restaurant at that time, I then had the manager and all the staff looking at me and treating me like I was a criminal.

I refused to pay the extra 100 baht, so she then she tried to emotionally blackmail me by saying the staff would have to pay the extra. With all of them staring at me angrily, but I would not pay it.

After I paid the corrected bill I told the manager I had spent thousands in this restaurant and it was stupid to behave like this, but she was having none of it. As I was leaving, she - the manager of the place actually shouted 'and don't come back'. I couldn't believe it, so I went back in and asked her to repeat it, but she wouldn't.

And no, I wasn't drunk or belligerent, I had one glass of Red and was alone.
Well I'm sure her last words to you will be followed to the letter and no doubt many of the readers of the forum will follow suit and give it a wide berth.
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Re: Blueport: The Wine connection

Post by fft100 »

They have 132 places in Thailand, and the website seems very professional. I have also eaten there many times and service is very iffy if you try to ask them anything about the food. Staff don't seem to like coming forward after that. oils for salad always have to be asked for. Generally the food is ok (esp. the 249 baht lunch menu).

Head office details - as they may be interested if a prime location (with mainly foreign customers) manager is behaving like that:

WINE CONNECTION HEAD OFFICE - BANGKOK
(MON - FRI : 10AM - 7PM)
1 Sivadon Bld., 1st Fl., Unit 5, 10th Fl., Unit 1005, 1006 Convent Road, Silom, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500 THAILAND
Tel : (+66) 02-106-8262
Email : th.support@wineconnection.com
wordi.matters
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Re: Blueport: The Wine connection

Post by wordi.matters »

I did send them an email, I'll post their reply, if I get one.
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Re: Blueport: The Wine connection

Post by oakdale160 »

The place is far too busy for the staff's liking-- they have to do something to keep the volume down, they can get hours behind on their texting as things are at the moment.
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Re: Blueport: The Wine connection

Post by Nereus »

wordi.matters wrote: Tue May 16, 2017 12:31 am I did send them an email, I'll post their reply, if I get one.
Print your email out and post it to the General Manager at the address posted on here. Emails just get ignored and do not get to the right person.
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Re: Blueport: The Wine connection

Post by wordi.matters »

Good Morning S....,

My name is William and I am one of the Operations Managers in Thailand at Wine Connection.

Thank you for reaching out and letting us know about your experience at our Hua Hin location yesterday. I am sorry that it seems we have not upheld our end of our service standards and have let you down.

Please rest assured that what you have described is definitely unacceptable at the Wine Connection. At no point in time should any of our team make our guests feel like they are unimportant and it is unacceptable for any of our team to be unprofessional and demeaning towards our guests.

I would love the opportunity to speak with you and personally offer an apology. If you don’t mind, could you share your contact information so that I can reach out directly?

Looking forward to hear from you soon. Thank you.

Best Regards,

William Yeh
Operations Manager

Wine Connection
1 Sivadon Building, 10th Floor
Convent Road
Silom, Bangrak
Bangkok 10500, Thailand
O: +66 (0)2 234 0388, ext. 78
M: +66 (0)95 761 5810
E: William.y@wineconnection.com
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Re: Blueport: The Wine connection

Post by wordi.matters »

Update: The above William called me, he's American in fact. He couldn't have been more professional. Obviously he apologised for what happened and said they'll be doing whatever they can to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again. Although I'm usually quite sceptical, I do believe him, so I think there will be an improvement in the service at WC HH. If not I'm sure he'd like to hear about it.
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Re: Blueport: The Wine connection

Post by caller »

fft100 wrote: Mon May 15, 2017 10:21 pmoils for salad always have to be asked for.
I eat there from time to time and am always made to feel welcome. Mostly the food is good, although a couple of dishes I tried didn't do it for me.

But I agree with the above point, oils for salad and pepper for pasta always have to be requested and I guess others must ask for these, so I don't know why they can't just bring these or at least offer to? It's not a massive issue in the grand scheme of things, but it would just improve the overall experience.
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