Four of us went to a new restaurant on Monday which is a converted Mission Church. I'll go back and take photos because it was absolutely wonderful. The physical surroundings could hardly have been better for the purpose.
The menu is unusual and very reasonably priced and the food was very good.
However something was not quite right. The service was very lacking in something. It wasn't exactly as though we were not treated well but the front of house was not organised. We decided to go straight to the table rather than have a drink in the bar area first. Our bread and olive oil etc came just as the starter came which was after we'd had time to consume the first bottle of wine. (I was on the wagon because I was the chauffeur for the evening - driving June's car not mine I have to add). The waiter who served the vegetables shovelled them onto the plates. We arrived at 1930 and were waiting for our coffee and dessert at 2315. They haven't quite got that right yet! They were very busy for a Monday night and may not have had the kitchen staff they would normally have had but if it's like that at weekends then they might have problems.
The whole thing is design led. Very attractively designed I have to say. The cutlery was heavy and good to use. It made a big noise when dropped. It was dropped frequently. We put it down to nervous and clumsy staff but eventually realised that it was because the design of the plates made it almost impossible to take a plate away without the cutlery sliding off it. Every dish seemed to have a differently shaped plate. The wine glasses were unusual and not really to my taste but quite different to the norm. The cups at the end were certainly a talking point. The waitress could not put them down on the table easily or elegantly. I didn't have any difficulty holding the cup although it wasn't that easy not to burn your finger because you had to hold the handle in a completely different way to usual. However the left-handed person amongst us had difficulty and had to use two hands.
At the end they brought the account - no plate, no folder just a bill.
And the loos - well I may describe them another time - but if you had a small bum you might just not manage to stay above the plimsoll line.
All in all a medium score. Pluses: very reasonably priced for the quality, wonderful setting and pleasing designs - tremendous potential. Minuses: service, and lack of thought for the end user in some of the design.
The menu is unusual and very reasonably priced and the food was very good.
However something was not quite right. The service was very lacking in something. It wasn't exactly as though we were not treated well but the front of house was not organised. We decided to go straight to the table rather than have a drink in the bar area first. Our bread and olive oil etc came just as the starter came which was after we'd had time to consume the first bottle of wine. (I was on the wagon because I was the chauffeur for the evening - driving June's car not mine I have to add). The waiter who served the vegetables shovelled them onto the plates. We arrived at 1930 and were waiting for our coffee and dessert at 2315. They haven't quite got that right yet! They were very busy for a Monday night and may not have had the kitchen staff they would normally have had but if it's like that at weekends then they might have problems.
The whole thing is design led. Very attractively designed I have to say. The cutlery was heavy and good to use. It made a big noise when dropped. It was dropped frequently. We put it down to nervous and clumsy staff but eventually realised that it was because the design of the plates made it almost impossible to take a plate away without the cutlery sliding off it. Every dish seemed to have a differently shaped plate. The wine glasses were unusual and not really to my taste but quite different to the norm. The cups at the end were certainly a talking point. The waitress could not put them down on the table easily or elegantly. I didn't have any difficulty holding the cup although it wasn't that easy not to burn your finger because you had to hold the handle in a completely different way to usual. However the left-handed person amongst us had difficulty and had to use two hands.
At the end they brought the account - no plate, no folder just a bill.
And the loos - well I may describe them another time - but if you had a small bum you might just not manage to stay above the plimsoll line.
All in all a medium score. Pluses: very reasonably priced for the quality, wonderful setting and pleasing designs - tremendous potential. Minuses: service, and lack of thought for the end user in some of the design.
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ReplyDeleteThere's a knack to using those coffee cups - you grip the "handle" with all four fingers - if you're left handed you skip the coffee and have liqeurs.