Gingertoon

Looking for a reasonable place to eat in NYC is always a bit of a hunt. I thought I found a place the other night while walking in Greenwich Village when I passed by Gingertoon Thai. It has a bright but pleasing decor and the young server who met us at the door was gracious and took us to a table. The menus were almost impossible to read due to the lamination and dark paper coupled with low lighting. We did manage to place a basic order....pad thai, sweet/sour chicken, dumpling and soup apps. The food arrived 1 dish at the time and we were not prepared to share, one of us being vegetarian and the other not. My dining partner got his dumplings, then about 10 min later my soup arrived, then his sweet and sour chicken, then about 20 min later the pad thai. We had hoped to eat a meal together, but that wasn't to be. The service became more slack as the dinner wore on; less eye contact, almost impossible to get a server's attention. That, couple with the fact that a different person visited the table every time allowed for no continuous knowledge for the server to work with. I was ready to go. We pulled out our AMEX cards and put them in the bill holder, after I went to the kitchen to get the bill, and then I took it back asking for them to split it down the middle. The "manager" returned after a bit and said they didn't split checks. I asked if it would be possible for them to bill us separated since we had distinctly different food served at distinctly different times. No, I was told. I insisted. Fine, she said, but the limit on credit cards is $30 (the bill was $38). An argument ensued with me asking to speak to the manager (her), then the owner (not present... "you deal with me") and finally after voices being raised and I just wanting to get out of the experience, the entire evening having been ruined at this point, I used one card and we left. The food was ok, but an unstressful experience at McDonalds would have been much preferred. I so don't understand why you would put credit card signs in your window and not split a bill down the middle. Between the incredibly mediocre food, the fact none of it arrived simultaneously, the pathetic service and the ending scene...I'd advise avoidance of this particular place. It was a terrible evening.