I'm leaning more towards a 2-star rating, but I'm feeling generous today, I guess. We were wanting Mussels and Yelp led us to Le Bocal.
Look, the food is 4-5 star. It was very good. We really enjoyed the Mussels - they were big, plentiful and very well made. The rest of the night was what really put a negative spin on things.
We get our food just fine. We eat the food just fine. We decline dessert. We ask for the bill. Then we wait. For about twenty minutes we see no employee. We figure they are busy and hell, what do we care? We're on vacation. But another fifteen minutes go by and I finally flag down a table busser. I ask him if he can get our bill. He explains that you can only pay inside. Umm, okay, why weren't we told that?
Now, keep in mind I have nothing to show the person you pay with. The man standing behind the register inside the restaurant asks for my bill. I explain we never got one. I tell him what we ordered, even the wine. He gets pretty upset. Yells out to our server and he asks her where our ticket is. She looks confused and says she doesn't know, she gave it to another employee. He barks at her and she gets mad, replies and walks away to find that other employee. That employee says she doesn't know where it is, and walks away. Keep in mind I'm standing there watching all this, feeling like an idiot because all I want to do is pay and these people are fighting all around me. The first server comes back when the owner/manager/guy behind the register yells at her. She gets mad, goes into the kitchen, finds the ticket, comes back and slams it on the table next to him. Meanwhile, I'm standing there. He then looks at me, barks out a figure (I believe it was about 65 Euros). I hand him my credit card. He shakes his head and says "No cards. Not here." This is when I get mad. You mean to tell me that no cards are taken at an establishment where the bills must run over 30 Euros, even for a single diner? Hell, the table next to us clearly had at least a couple hundred Euros for a bill; are you going to tell them no card?
Luckily we had cash on us, but this was really weird. The way they acted, the way they fought and then to drop the "no cards" on us at the last second? No signs anywhere indicating this, no mention when ordering that cash is the only accepted form of payment.
For the food I would suggest this place. But that's it. I can't support the behavior of the guy manning the register. If he owns or manages the place then I hope he takes some training on how to speak to his staff. And damn, put up a sign that says cash only and you have to pay inside. It'll save everyone a headache. read more