Great food, horrible service
After having a wonderful dinner here as a couple last fall, we raved about Table and ended up eating there again last Friday as a table of four, to celebrate a friend's new job. This was a mistake. The service was so unpleasant we never wish to go back.
We were a mix of nationalities, including two French people, but our waiter insisted on speaking to us in barely comprehensible English most of the evening.
When he asked us if we would like an aperitif, one of our party mused aloud that he almost felt like a Kir, to which the waiter replied sneeringly: "We don't serve Kir, Monsieur. Nor do we serve Coca Cola."
When another member of the party, who was pregnant, asked if it might be possible to change some items on the tasting menu, if necessary (which at most good restaurants here -- David Toutain, Châteaubriand, Qui Plume la Lune, to name some recent examples -- is usually possible) -- the waiter, in an irritated tone, asked what it was she "wouldn't" eat. When she said: Well, raw meat and fish, unpasteurized cheese etc, he interrupted exasperatedly, "and raw fruit and vegetables? You don't eat those either?"
At this point his colleague, a waitress, taking on the tone of dealing with a "difficult customer," came over and forcefully said that it would be "very, very complicated" to change the menu. "You should stick with entrée, plat, dessert."
No effort was made to say "let me check with the chef" -- despite the fact that we were almost the only diners in the restaurant at that point, so they were really not too busy for a semblance of politeness.
The waitress forgot to bring over our vegetable dishes when she served our mains, so they arrived when we were already half-way finished, with no apology or explanation. (The chefs looked annoyed). The red wine we chose, which was supposed to be cool, was served at room temperature and our champagne with dessert to "celebrate" was sloppily poured into massive red wine glasses.
A shame, as the chefs seemed lovely -- with one taking the time to explain to us about the flacons of house-made elderflower vinegar on the bar beside where we sitting. And the food was, as before, fresh, delicate, surprising and delicious.
But as it was, we left, after paying the €340 check, no tip included, feeling thoroughly depressed and ripped off. read more