A warning to those with allergies/intolerances.
I'll preface this by saying that I was not allergic/intolerant to the item that I requested was not included in my meal. In all honesty I'd just prefer not to have it. I've worked in a food service environment in the past and would not find this wholly unreasonable as it was basically a garnish to be added literally seconds before the dish was to be expedited rather than altering a major part of the dish. Around half-way through eating I found evidence that the item that I had requested NOT to be added to my order had, in fact, either been on the plate and pulled off at the last minute without the plate being changed or an incident of cross-contamination (both absolutely unacceptable in my opinion). Not a big issue for me, but for those with allergies or intolerances this is *completely* unacceptable.
Like many people, I have less than 60 minutes to take my lunch break during work; I waited 10 minutes after being seated for my drink order to be taken and in total it took 40+ minutes from placing the drink order to my food being served. There was 3 other tables seated in the restaurant at the time so I'm not entirely sure what caused the delay in preparing a relatively simple (in my opinion) dish.
I witnessed a table of 3 leave complaining about lack of choice on the lunch menu - 4 main meals in total and a few sandwiches that I disregarded because I wanted something cooked.
There was a very unprofessional-looking notice on the door of the main entrance (a sheet of A4 paper haphazardly stuffed into a poly-pocket and sellotaped to the glass, saying that the Indian menu was not available at present).
Note: it was not a server that took my order, it was the owner of the establishment. My drink order was incorrect but not way off so I didn't bother complaining. As previously mentioned I have worked in both customer service and food service environments in the past 15 years and do not feel that it is appropriate to hurl abuse to a customer-facing colleague about my true feelings when I know for an absolute fact that the individual colleague is not at fault at all. Perhaps it's the teenage retail worker in me that lies to the person asking me "was everything OK for you?", sighing and replying "yes" so as not to demoralise an innocent party and dampen their mood even further than I imagine the owner does already. Nobody needs that at work.
A very minor point, but the pepper shaker at my table was cracked and leaking small grains. Again, a very minor issue but if the owner and senior management are willing to overlook this then I dread to imagine then major issues that they have been made aware of.
EDIT: to the owner, I do not have to remain anonymous, should you wish to contact me directly I will tell you exactly this either over the phone or in person. Also, this being a small community I have word-of-mouth recounts from several acquaintances that have previously worked for you. I have decided not to post them here as they are not my personal opinion, but as you know, word spreads fast in a small community and from a first-hand view of the way I've witnessed you behave towards both customers and contractors in the establishment, unfortunately for you I am inclined to believe every word they say. read more