Grandma Thai Food

We were doing a food cart run on Sunday afternoon before heading back home to Vancouver. Not much was open and I ended up here for pad thai. The sauce was bland yet overly ketchuppy and the noodles were overcooked and soggy.
I think I was lured in because the slow-​moving Asian father figure manning the stove reminded me of my dad. I may or may not have creeped a photo to show my father.

I don’t know whose grandma cooks like this but cast aside any idea you have of tender nana crooning over an oven stove with her apron on.
I think this foodcart’s problem is breadth over depth/​consistency. More than a few times I’ve been lured in by the super cheap prices — they have a large sign advertising $ 5 meals — a discount from their larger sign that touts everything is $ 6. Sometimes all I have is $ 5 and I look around, see what I can get for that amount of money, and this cart wins. The service is friendly and generally there is no line. The deep discounts seem to have forewarned others.
This cart really embodies the idea of, you get what you pay for. A heaping pile of bland noodles with pieces of frozen broccoli and peas and carrots spread around. A few sprouts. Your slice of lime will be too dry to squeeze. If you have some soy sauce lying around back the office, this would be a good time to use it. You can tell your office mates you didn’t know what to buy, the prices looked good, and you were lured in, what with your damning hunger and lack of cash and patience.