There's a fine line between doing something clever and unique and just being dumb; Gocce (professor) crossed that line, in a modified Japanese sedan adorned with aircraft grade metal spoiler, while drifting, with the driver hanging halfway outside the car while subsequently hitting a curb, ejecting the occupants and injuring/maiming several bystanders.
[Our server was the driver of this car. Turns out that car was her parents and she's in deep shit - as such her service reflected her mood perfectly.]
Myself and 15 others made reservations for Gocce to celebrate a birthday. Upon entering we were seated in the deepest recesses of the back of the bar. The table for 15 made no sense, imagine a U-Shaped booth with 5 (yes 5) round brasserie tables crammed together and some additional chairs wedged directly against them.
As people arrived we realized we're not going to get 15 people in here with these five tables. Also despite repeated (3 times) requests, the staff were unwilling to remove even one of the tables to provide us room to move and sit comfortably. From there things got worse.
In our cave, we had no real light, instead we had candles on each of our five tables, while this did provide us the necessary "mood" lighting, we determined quickly that it wasn't a mood we wanted exposing, oh and it was Ducking hot!
We were told at the outset when we ordered two bottles of beer that they had no additional beers available. During my inspection of the bookshelves while in search of a bathroom, I come back to see the same server giving fresh beers to other customers, when asked what gives, I was ignored.
The toilet, that damned toilet - WHERE ARE YOU!?!?! Yes, the toilet is hidden behind a bookshelf that is not marked or labelled. My advice if you have to go urgently, walk outside and pee in front of the restaurant, that will be easier than locating the facilities.
After suffering through this scene for nearly 40 minutes, I spoke with the birthday girl and we agreed to find another place. (Located just next door is an establishment called Chez Vous it's number 15 on the same street and was wonderful).
Finally, adding insult to injury, we were given the bill. Wine was 11 euros per glass. Those elusive beers? Yes, 11 euros a bottle. And should you want a cocktail, fork over 13 euros. read more