jane
Well-Known Member
Went to FXB in Temple Bar for a work thing with my American students. They were narky about taking our booking, and last time, tried to make my colleague pay for the meals for people who didn't make it, despite the fact that the restaurant wasn't full, and the tables would probably not have been filled anyway. (I wasn't there last time, it was a different bunch.)
The first thing they said to us was, "We need the table back by 8:30." Okay, it's a practice I don't like, but whatever, I can accept that they do that in some cases, and I don't mind so much if the service is efficient (because the worst thing is when they take ages to serve you, and then rush you out the door, giving you no time to eat). So we said, "Sure, that's fine. We'll be gone by then." And he said, in his best passive-aggressive, "They're sitting down at 8:30, so we need you gone by 8:15." Some of the students were a few minutes late, and they were pretty peeved, and a few didn't show, and fine, it's annoying, but it's a big group, and they're students, and it's just what happens. The place was pretty much empty anyway.
They spent most of the meal staring at us from in front of the kitchen window, and when dessert came, they put a dessert down in front of someone who hadn't ordered. I hadn't noticed (it was my dessert), and so he assumed it was spare and just said he'd eat it since it was going. Then, when I said I hadn't got mine, fair enough, it's annoying, sure because big groups can be like that, but they didn't even come down as far as me to deliver the thing, just stood at the far end of the table with plates, waiting for people to point. I'm used to people actually putting a plate down in front of me. So the waiter comes back, says, "Who took a dessert who hadn't ordered one? Hm? Who has a dessert who shouldn't have one?" Then POINTS to the guy, and says, "YOU, you have something you shouldn't." He proceeds to take the plate away and bring it over to me, all the while I'm protesting, "No, it's fine! Just bring out another one! He can eat it! I don't mind!" But no, he said, "No, he took it." Fucking christ.
There's a way to handle a minor mishap in a big group, and there's a way not to.
The thing is, the food was decent, the service was actually fairly efficient, but they just threw the food down, and stared at us, waiting for us to finish and leave. We tried everything to be pleasant and gracious in the situation, and the students, who are ridiculously polite and generally very go-with-the-flow (and also, they're happy they get a free meal, so they don't complain), thought the bad service was pretty comical. They were a bit shocked, especially since most of them have waited tables themselves, that it's possible to behave like that and still keep a job, but we all laughed because there wasn't anything else to do about it.
I don't know when I've been so badly treated in a restaurant, especially one that charges so damn much for what is essentially passable grub.
The first thing they said to us was, "We need the table back by 8:30." Okay, it's a practice I don't like, but whatever, I can accept that they do that in some cases, and I don't mind so much if the service is efficient (because the worst thing is when they take ages to serve you, and then rush you out the door, giving you no time to eat). So we said, "Sure, that's fine. We'll be gone by then." And he said, in his best passive-aggressive, "They're sitting down at 8:30, so we need you gone by 8:15." Some of the students were a few minutes late, and they were pretty peeved, and a few didn't show, and fine, it's annoying, but it's a big group, and they're students, and it's just what happens. The place was pretty much empty anyway.
They spent most of the meal staring at us from in front of the kitchen window, and when dessert came, they put a dessert down in front of someone who hadn't ordered. I hadn't noticed (it was my dessert), and so he assumed it was spare and just said he'd eat it since it was going. Then, when I said I hadn't got mine, fair enough, it's annoying, sure because big groups can be like that, but they didn't even come down as far as me to deliver the thing, just stood at the far end of the table with plates, waiting for people to point. I'm used to people actually putting a plate down in front of me. So the waiter comes back, says, "Who took a dessert who hadn't ordered one? Hm? Who has a dessert who shouldn't have one?" Then POINTS to the guy, and says, "YOU, you have something you shouldn't." He proceeds to take the plate away and bring it over to me, all the while I'm protesting, "No, it's fine! Just bring out another one! He can eat it! I don't mind!" But no, he said, "No, he took it." Fucking christ.
There's a way to handle a minor mishap in a big group, and there's a way not to.
The thing is, the food was decent, the service was actually fairly efficient, but they just threw the food down, and stared at us, waiting for us to finish and leave. We tried everything to be pleasant and gracious in the situation, and the students, who are ridiculously polite and generally very go-with-the-flow (and also, they're happy they get a free meal, so they don't complain), thought the bad service was pretty comical. They were a bit shocked, especially since most of them have waited tables themselves, that it's possible to behave like that and still keep a job, but we all laughed because there wasn't anything else to do about it.
I don't know when I've been so badly treated in a restaurant, especially one that charges so damn much for what is essentially passable grub.
