I’m a big fan of eating – in huge quantities, very frequently, using amazing ingredients and (for preference) cooked by someone else. Yes, although I’m very happy to get down and dirty in the kitchen, I really prefer it when I make a plan to head out to some great restaurant, sit back, sip the wine and relax.
Because that’s what we all want from our restaurant experiences isn’t it? Someone to take all the strain and leave us with all the pleasure. But if you read our restaurant reviews, it’s amazing how infrequently this appears to happen. There always seems to be one thing which spoils the experience – here are some of the most common:
1. The service – shocking service is the number one complaint in our reviews with lots of people not even sticking around to try the food! Does searching to pay your bill leave a sour taste in your mouth? And what happens when the manager fails to put right mistakes – is this the final straw? What do you think?
2. The food – well for many of you such as Justine there is no substitute for good cooking! But is it fair to complain if things are simply not to our liking or should we only make a fuss when the quality is poor, the cooking is abysmal or the food is off?
3. The ambience – this is a tricky one but not for Unis who has no qualms about complaining about crockery and salt cellars! Do you think he has a point or is he just an old moaner?
4. The wine – now obviously for me, this is an integral part of the meal! The biggest complaints most people seem to have about wine is firstly the price and secondly the lack of availability. Should we just BYO all the time and avoid these problems or should we vote with our feet and find a better option?
These seem to be the most popular problems with our restaurant experiences – and I must say I LOVE reading about them all!! Horrible aren’t I? But at least if you tell people on Food24 about your disappointments, then not only do you warn others what to expect but you also give the restaurant the chance to explain and apologise when necessary as Grant from Bardelli’s and Graeme from Bhandari’s did this week.
So keep your reviews coming folks – we love reading them and at the end of the day, it’s a great place to vent all your wrath!
Let us know your top 10 restaurant gripes – email us on editor@food24.com, or search for the offending restaurant and review it. And if you want to say something nice instead of moaning then we’d love to hear it. We’ll round up your Top 10 greats and gripes and publish them and the top one will receive a R500 Kalahari voucher. Doesn’t that sound nice?
Cheers