We were in Ålesund for work, and as we've always used to go to the Orient, we chose them on this occasion too. We were working late, so we called the restaurant to check when the kitchen closed. We were told the kitchen was closing at 10:30 pm. We hurried to finish our work, and arrived at 10:13. We were waiting to be seated by the sign, but the waitress didn't come. When we walked inside and asked the waitress if we could choose a table, she told us that they didn't accept any guests inside at this hour. We referered to the phone call and she told us that 10:30 was for take out customers. Since she didn't mention this on the phone it made us pretty upset, and after some argument, we were given a table. The waitress then showed up and removed the other 4 plates in a demonstrative manner. She instructed us to order "very soon". We quickly decided on what to eat. When the food arrived she handed put the plates, so we had to put them down on the table ourselves. The food was tasted next to nothing, apart from the enormous amounts of celery, which was totally dominant. Then she was hurrying around, cleaning the other tables, not checking if we needed anything. My colleague asked if she could bring another glass of wine, but she didn't turn around to confirm that she heard him. When he asked again, she told him that she heard him the first time.
We were trying to talk to her about out experience, as we were quite frankly shocked by how we were treated, but she didn't take any criticism and told us that she was very busy and we had to understand that this was a result of showing up so late. There's a sign hanging over the door that says "Kunden er kongen" which translates to "The customer is the king." Clearly the staff at Orient are not royalists. I have never experienced to be treated with such utter contempt as a guest at a restaurant before, and I will never set my foot into that restaurant ever again. read more