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+--- Thread: Is anyone else tired of bad food/service at expensive restaurants? (/thread-13600.html)
- Drew - 12-30-2004
Dined last night at Kali's Court in Fells Point, Baltimore. High reviews and expensive. All entrees were above $22 and completely a la carte = an average dinner of $50 per factering 1 appetizer course, 1 salad course, entree and 1 side minus drinks and wine. Below is the email I sent to management. Am I asking too much? BTW took son and daughter in law to see "Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hippodrome in Baltimore...Wonderful and strange at the same time. New interpretation of the musical I remembered a long time ago [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img].
Dear Management,
A less than expected dining experience was realized last night, Wednesday 12/29, and I'd like to give you the details. Reservations were recorded under Hall, 4 party for 6PM, my wife and I arrived at 5:50 and our guests at 6:15. We were seated in the front right bay window area (as you look onto Thames Street) which was rather cramped and cold from the drafty window. Our server was Jackie, known only by her name printed on the dinner receipt as it was not offered during service. Pleasant and attentive but forgetful as one drink order was forgotten and the second was served incorrectly. After studying our menus and starting to order, Jackie informs us that several items are unavailable and some specials are featured this evening which slightly delayed the ordering process. It would have been nice to have had that information when the menus were first handed out. It also was difficult to obtain descriptions of the dishes from her and no information was offered as to what would accompany each presentation,eg. I ordered the special, Daurade medallions with sliced lobster served with a clementine sauce. The three medallions were served over pureed potatoes and had I known this I would not have ordered the rosemary and garlic side potatoes which were tasteless and bland. The Daurade special was overcooked, tough and very fishy tasting, the lobster overcooked and leather like. The Kali's house salad contained mushy and mealy tomatoes. My meal was totally unacceptable and poorly made. The anchovy salad, ordered by our guest, was also unacceptable completely overdone with multiple anchovies, it was not eaten. To be fair, though, all appetizers were wonderful and expertly prepared and the salmon, sword fish and shrimp main courses were equally excellent. One issue which was very troubling was, although we informed our server 3 times that we were pressed for time due to a theater engagement, she disappeared several times for a longer than acceptable period of time and finally when she returned with what I thought was the check, it turned out to be the dessert offering. We politely declined and asked again for the check which took an additional 15 minutes to receive and process. The dinner by no means was a disaster but it was less than perfect given your advertisement which states "Specializing in Impeccable Seafood" and your pricing. Thank you for your attention to this email and I respectfully request a response.
Drew Hall
Belair, Maryland
[This message has been edited by Drew (edited 12-30-2004).]
- hotwine - 12-30-2004
Good grief! Don't blame you for being PO'd. Suggest you send a copy of your email to the restaurant critic at the Baltimore newspaper(s). Could be that the waitress was an isolated problem child; if so, management needs to know about it. But if management shows a lack of interest, the Better Business Bureau and/or Chamber of Commerce ought to hear about it.
- wineguruchgo - 12-30-2004
Being in the restaurant business I totally understand your frustration.
First - I have to ask how busy the restaurant was. Being that they are not providing you, the guest, with all the information you need, it seems as if the server has to answer way too many questions. While questions aren't bad, if they are taking too much of his/her time at each table, then it is prohibitve and any time someone doesn't ask one you feel blessed.
At the restaurant that I work in all dishes are explained, on the menu, in detail, and all specials (with details) are handed to the customer the moment you sit down. This allows the customers to be informed about everything (leaving only allergy or specific dietary questions to be asked)and it free's up the waiter to get drinks, wine and put in their orders in a timely fashion.
Shame on the management of this restaurant. Something tells me they have never been a server in their own restaurant!
- Thomas - 12-30-2004
Drew is either getting crotchety in his old age or he has learned so much from ww and me that he is spreading his wings...
Sounds like a dreadful evening. When that happens to me, and to my wife's horror, I usually don't wait until I am at my computer to register my displeasure. I dress down the manager as I leave the place or maybe I'll finally answer that stupid question at table: "is everything all right?"
[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 12-30-2004).]
- hotwine - 12-30-2004
Yeah, same here, I usually give 'em a piece of my mind on the spot, and inform the manager on the way out why I won't be back. Swave and deboner... not.
- Innkeeper - 12-30-2004
A few years ago we had a dreadful experience at an outlet of medium sized Southern chain. Won't mention the name except it something to do with Charlie. I talked to the onsite manager, and got no satifaction. When we got home, I emailed the president of the company, gave my complete background, full address, telephone number, et al. Got a call from the actual manager, asking "Was he a fat white guy?" All this resulted in our getting a two meal pass from that store, and an indefinite two meal pass from the president. We went back to the original place a year later, and it looked like the Air Force IG had hit it. Everything was positively different. We still have the other certificate, and we will see.
- winoweenie - 12-30-2004
EGADS! what a bummer. I'm with the Hot-Man on letting the manager know before I left. The waitres would also have received the standard Weener tip for bad service. 10% of my regular tip of 20% which comes to 2%. I know you were probably running late by then but love the E-mail. Sorry Buddy. WW
- californiagirl - 12-30-2004
Nothing worse than planning a special evening and having it ruined by a bad server. Hopefully the owner/manager responds to you.
- hotwine - 12-30-2004
One restaurant still won't let one waiter get near us. Three years ago, he hit on my wife, and dragged his ponetail across our plates when serving..... I had a prayer meeting with him on the spot and a chat with the owner before leaving. He stays on the other side of the room when we visit that joint.
Can't see putting up with lousy service.
- Drew - 12-31-2004
I'm usually vocal as well but had my son and daughter in law in tow and didn't want to ruin the evening due to my bad meal. Dinner and show was a Christmas present. The menu of this restaurant only lists the seafood/meat offered and does not describe the dish...anyways thanks for the replies, I needed to rant.
Drew
- wineguruchgo - 01-01-2005
"The menu of this restaurant only lists the seafood/meat offered and does not describe the dish"
Just bad business. I wish restaurants would stop being "hoyty-toyty". Just give us freakin' descriptions, give us salt n pepper, give us value and a decent wine list and we will be back.
Instead, you have just told everyone across the country to stay away.
They deserve it.
- winedope1 - 01-02-2005
Having been on both sides of the table, I do not tolerate poor service and/or food either. I will let the server and management know before leaving and at the time of the probloem if possible. Sometimes the problem is with the server and if you don't let management know, they cannot address and correct the problem. If the problem is with the kitchen management also needs to know in order to correct it. It is especially aggravating when dining with guests, as one doesn't want to make a scene. Any establishment worth revisiting will be more than happy to correct the problem if at all possible. WD
- stevebody - 01-07-2005
Late as usual but I have to chime in:
Like that time-honored mystery-novel axiom that most crimes are solved in the first 48 hours or not at all, criticism of a restaurant's performance carries a lot less weight when noted later on. I may be, as has been noted in this forum, unusually crotchety, but I really think that the reason that cities like NYC, New Orleans, San Fran, et al, are such good restaurant environments is that diners in those places demand good service and their food as advertised or they simply say no. NO payment, NO tip, NO return appearance. I've mellowed quite a bit over when I was 30, when I simply bit the head off whomever was closest, but I still call the manager over, say what was wrong, ask for restitution if it's not offered, and only come back if they do their best to make good. Your experience was just flat wrong, on so many levels it's hard to find anything right. The relative quality of the food is the ONLY thing here that's at all debatable.
I know that a lot of people in any dining party may be put off when one of their bunch complains but I think it has a lot to do with style. Seattle, for its soild handful of good eateries, will never be a great restaurant town because we're so studiously laid-back that we'd rather die than appear "confrontational". Restaurants here die all the time with the owners truthfully saying, "But we never had anything but compliments!" Polite criticism is the right of any diner and you should do it on the spot. Your email was a good follow-up with the owner but it won't have the impact of fixing things when they happen, IMO.
- thewoodman - 01-07-2005
"The Daurade special was overcooked, tough and very fishy tasting, the lobster overcooked and leather like. The Kali's house salad contained mushy and mealy tomatoes. My meal was totally unacceptable and poorly made. The anchovy salad, ordered by our guest, was also unacceptable completely overdone with multiple anchovies, it was not eaten."
Got to agree with Steve-O. Only two solutions to this problem. If I have time, please recook this dish and bring me a drink to make up for the problem, or if I'm in a hurry, please remove this from the bill and bring me a complementary dessert to make up for the problem. Unfortunately, many businesses these days will lower their standards to whatever the market will bear. Pride in your work seems to be a lost concept.
They won't do it...then send out the manager...eventually they acknowledge the poor food/service. Mind you I would rather just get what I expected in the first place, but give me a break, at the prices to eat out, who would pay for this?
If I'm going to pay serious money, I would think professionals could prepare something at least close to what I (a serious, but amateur cook) could prepare at home.
Did I mention my wife is often embarrassed by my behavior? But really in most cases, you don't need to be obnoxious. Ususally they are so shocked when you calmly say "This is really poorly preapred, please take it off the bill and bring us two desserts on the house for the table to share to make up for it" that they immediately agree.
Alas, we infrequently go out anymore. I can have 3 or 4 couples over and prepare a better meal than the two of us can have at a restaurant for the same $.
[This message has been edited by thewoodman (edited 01-07-2005).]