It’s Valentine’s night, not just a regular Tuesday night. Any decent establishment should know to properly staff their employees to handle a high volume night. Well. I went to Bossa Nova for a friend’s birthday and endured one of the worst customer service experiences. We had a large party of about a dozen people. The booth had enough seats to accommodate all of us and when I arrived, the place settings were already set. The waitress took our drink order and leisurely came by to service the stragglers who came in late. When we finally ordered our food, we had the option of either ordering straight off their regular menu or from the prix fixe menu. With our large group, two people ordered off the prix fixe and everyone else ordered enough tapas to feed our army of guests. About 45 minutes later, the food started to pour out. With no rhyme or reason, the server came by and started to drop off food plates. I asked, “What are you bringing out?” His smart ass replies, “I’m bringing what you ordered.” No shit asshole. Clearly I can see that. With at least 6 plates simultaneously coming out, he should have had the common courtesy to tell us what was on each plate. I told him, “We don’t remember what we ordered. Can you tell us which dishes are part of the prix fixe menu?” He responds, “Look, I’m just the server. I bring out the food. You can ask your waitress.” What.a.fucking.moron. I desperately looked for his hat and cymbals, like typical performing monkeys have – But no such luck. I wondered if I gave him a penny he’d sing and dance. Two hours into the meal, we asked for the check. After waiting 45 minutes for requested silverware (since there wasn’t enough place settings) and still waiting for the check, I stood up and looked for the waitress (which was no where to be found). One of the servers came and I asked, “Could we please have 2 boxes to go and the check. Now.” She looked at me as if I was going to laugh. “We’ve been waiting for 45 minutes for the check. I really need to go.” She replies, “I’m asking for your patience tonight because we’re really busy…. And we made special arrangements to accommodate your large party on Valentine’s night.” Then she walks off. I completely understand restaurants being busy on Valentine’s night – but people in the hospitality industry should know AND expect a packed house on nights like these. Definitely not our fault for the manager’s lack of common sense to properly staff their employees. If serving a reservation that was made 2 weeks ago “accommodating a large group”, I’d hate to see what they do with their normal business. While checking the status of our waitress sorting the bill, I asked a bus boy, “Who is your manager tonight?” He responded, “We don’t have one tonight.” What kind of business are they running? I’ve dined at Bossa Nova a few times in the past and had regular service. Nothing over the top, but nothing as terrible as tonight. I wonder if they’re under new management. Whatever the case – The food is pretty good, the place is cute but the service sucks ass. Keep that in mind if you ever go – Make sure you have at least 3 hours to spare for shitty service.
Neighbor Saga Reincarnated
Ok, maybe a little dramatic on my end but I’ve had a string of bad news this past week. The straw? Early Saturday morning I noticed a crate on my sidewalk…. then I noticed my downstairs neighbor messing with it. I immediately asked him, “Are you moving?” He responds, “Yeah….” I nearly freaked out. I went into panic mode asking him a string of questions. For those who are curious, he’s moving back to where he lived previously (in another state). Sure, I might be over reacting… but if you had a nasty neighbor like I had before, you would probably react the same. The young man downstairs has been an angel compared to the devil bitch who used to live there. Here’s hoping that my Neighbor Saga doesn’t get reincarnated to another story.
Bootleg Bar… a Hidden Gem in Potts Point
During my stay in Sydney, I had dinner with a friend at Bootleg Bar and Italian Food in Potts Point. The establishment was tiny. Passing through the front door, we walked past the bar on the left and intimate booths on the right. Not too many steps further, we got to the “dining room area” which was basically a few table tops that were aligned in front of a long bench against the wall. The lighting was dark and the music playing was old school hip-hop (think Wu Tang and Tribe Called Quest). I immediately fell in love with the place. In addition to the table menus, I noticed hand-written specials on the chalkboard on the wall opposite of the bench. Lucky for us, the bottles of wine were half off that night! When the waiter approached our table, I noticed that not only was he good looking, he was knowledgeable of the food menu and incredibly kind. The atmosphere of the Bootleg is trendy and non-pretentious – a perfect mix. As we leisurely enjoyed our wine and dinner, the waiter kept perfect pace with the service and didn’t skip a beat with filling our water (once our wine was done). I would recommend Bootleg Bar for a casual dinner or an intimate date. The food was good (we both ordered the prawn linguine special), the wine went down nicely and the service was outstanding.
Chef Watching at Chefs Gallery
Hand made noodles. Yum. On a Saturday, I had the chance to try Chefs Gallery. This Chinese restaurant is not the typical run-down Chinese restaurant. Located by Townhall in Sydney’s CBD (Central Business District), is this impressively clean, modernly furnished Chinese restaurant. The interior is decorated with cubed tables and chairs, but it was the wide window of men working with raw noodles that caught my eye. Similar to many sushi restaurants where you can sit at the bar and watch the chefs prepare raw fish, they have the same concept – but rather than looking at raw fish, you see boilers, steamers, tables of flour and chefs using their whole upper bodies to stretch out the flour to create perfectly shaped noodles. For our meal, we looked through their hard-bound menu with beautiful pictures of dumplings, noodles and an assortment of food. We ordered a number of dishes and everything that came out was magnificent. Every dish had its own distinct taste and satisfied my palette. The service was odd. They had waiters and runners, but were all dressed alike and it was after mistakenly ordering through a runner, we soon found out the difference. Overall, the service was good. They were relatively attentive with our water glasses and they picked up our empty plates in a timely manner. I would definitely visit Chefs Gallery again. Not for their service, because it was average, but for their distinctive handmade noodles.
Coffee Bar. Too Bad they Can’t Get That Right.
Every neighborhood has its coffee bar. You know, the place where you become a regular, enjoy the food, enjoy the coffee and really get to know the workers. Let me tell you about Coffee Bar. Good fucking grief. Every time I go, there’s always a fuck up. Don’t get me wrong, I understand some places brew the “laid back” culture (like Blue Bottle – another blog post to follow), but there are times that I’m in a hurry and I don’t understand why it takes half an hour to get a latte. Really. And just to note – their coffee isn’t even that good. Regardless of the time I get there, this is the usual routine when I visit Coffee Bar: I’m standing behind the 4th person in line for at least 15 minutes, and after I order my latte, I have to wait a good 15 minutes to get my drink. Why is that? Well, they have 3 people behind the counter. The cashier, the barista and someone that stands there to “oversee” what the other 2 are doing. To give them credit, the people who take the order and process the payment (cashier) is generally really nice and personable. The café itself is really cute. Walking into the entrance, you pass the patio seating and as you walk into the café, you suddenly have the urge to buy Apple stocks as everyone inside is on their mac. The interior is clean and has a wood cabin atmosphere with couches and wood benches. The only time I’ve enjoyed Coffee Bar was when I actually sat down and had lunch. You’re probably thinking, “If you always have a horrible experience, why do you keep returning?” It’s because I have hope for them. Maybe, JUST maybe, they’ll get it right. Ok, who am I kidding – They have a kick ass cobb salad and they offer this delicious ‘sugar bun’ pastry. If it wasn’t for the salad, I would never return.
Sydney’s Signature Cafe is Absolutely Amazing
While in Sydney, I tried to frequent as many cafes as I could manage. In the morning before work, during my lunch breaks and anytime I could sneak into a café, I did. Each one that I visited was great, everyone was friendly, service was prompt and the food was pretty good. However, there was one particular café that blew me away. Signature Café on Sussex street is straight up, awesome. Whether I arrived at 7am with no one around or 9am during their peak hour, they’re always efficient and courteous. They have the ordering process down to a science. They have a gentleman by the door receiving orders and writing them on the lids of the coffee cups, and he simultaneously yells the orders to the 2 coffee baristas. If there’s a food order, he yells that to the guy by the grill. Once I get to the register to pay, I probably wait 2 minutes (maximum) and my coffee is being handed to me by a separate gentleman who is passing out the drinks. Honestly, I’m a bit particular about my coffee – I always add dashes of cinnamon on top. As I receive my latte, I ask the gentleman for cinnamon and he adds the spice to my drink as I open the lid. The very next day, I go through this again – the only difference – they remember my drink when they give it to me and I don’t need to ask for the cinnamon. I left with the biggest smile on my face. How amazing is that? Every time I visited Signature Café, I was never disappointed.
Olivo in Darling Harbour is Crap
I had the opportunity to explore Darling Harbour. Darling Harbour is an area located close to Sydney’s CBD (central business district). At night, the Harbour is very charming with a lake surrounded by restaurants and shop lights giving a glow to the area. It could be a very romantic area. For me, it was just a casual night out. The ground was wet from the rain, but the air was dry. I was having dinner with a friend and we decided to try something Italian. We randomly walked up to Olivo, an Italian restaurant that had seating indoors and offered a cute patio. The host immediately greeted us with a friendly demeanor. We opted to sit outside to enjoy the cool breeze. Although I enjoyed my friend’s company catching up, I couldn’t help but notice that it took nearly 15 – 20 minutes before our waitress came to our table to greet us. She started with, “Has anyone told you about our special tonight?” We both shook our heads and she continued to explain, “You can choose from any of the two items on the menu and if you want, you can choose a third but those are the specials we have for tonight. Do you have any questions about the items on the menu?” Puzzled, I ask her to explain the special to me again and she points the menu to me and repeats herself in an irate tone of voice, “You can choose any of the two items here or here and if you want you can choose to have the third. But you can only have two. And those are our specials.” At this point, I think I’m getting stupid just listening to her. I pick my original order of spaghetti bolognese and she rushes off. As she’s leaving, I turn to my friend and ask him if he understood the special for the night. “I don’t know. She confused me and asking her again didn’t help me either.” We laughed and although I’m annoyed, I don’t think much of it. Another half hour or so passes and our dinner finally comes out. Mind you, the restaurant has a good crowd. It’s not terribly busy, but it’s not dead. They are appropriately staffed with waiters/ waitresses serving both indoor and outdoor patrons. When my dinner came out, I asked for chili flakes. The dumb waitress asks, “Peppers chopped in oil or dry chili flakes?” I told her the dry, chili flakes. The bitch brings out the peppers chopped in oil. During my meal, I asked three different people for a refill of water (of which, only the third guy – the host – brought out a pitcher). I was so fed up at the end of dinner that when they cleared our plates, I immediately told them to give us the bill. The service here sucks. They employ idiots and their food is mediocre. At least the view of the harbour was nice. I wouldn’t return nor recommend this place to anyone. Sydney has tons of really cute restaurants, it’s a shame this one tainted my Sydney dining experience.
Australia – An All Inclusive Price
Being born and raised in the United States, the concept of “tipping” has been ingrained in my vocabulary. From getting my hair done to eating dinner to grabbing a cup of (already expensive) coffee – I’ve been wired to tip. You can imagine how astonished I was when I arrived to Sydney to find out that no one tips. No one. Their idea of tipping is rounding up. Initially, I didn’t get it. “You mean when I pay a cab, I don’t tip? What the hell?!?” Well, a couple of days later, I found out why – they incorporate it into the total price. Additionally, the minimum wage in Sydney is $15.51 AUD/per hour – that’s equivalent to $16.84USD. Holy smokes! The price presented on the menu is the inclusive price, which includes tax and tip. When I first ordered dinner, I thought the cost was a bit pricey, but when I broke it down, it was equivalent to what I would pay in San Francisco. The odd thing to me, almost all of my dining experiences consisted of really great service. I was truly impressed.
The Young Man Downstairs
I’m sure a few of my readers are interested to know how my living situation is now since the wicked witch moved out from below me. As mentioned in my previous post, a young man has moved in. During one of our first passing, I asked that if he contact me if he had any noise problems with me. I explained that the previous tenant was a complete whack job. We’ve passed one another a number of times in the hallways and always had pleasant conversations. There was an instance where I apologized that my space heater was loud. He replied, “Oh, I didn’t even hear it. I sleep with earplugs anyway.” Then he continued to offer advice on how to turn it on/off without it making tons of noise.
On some nights, I could hear him practicing his guitar. What a lucky girl I am! I even get live music from time to time…..
Sweet, oh sweet Sao Paulo – Mercure Hotel
I recently took a business trip to Brazil and after complications getting there (read US Airways – You Suck), I found myself in Sao Paulo for the first time and staying at Mercure Hotel. Nestled in the charming Paulista district, central to Sao Paulo’s downtown, the exterior of the hotel was nothing too exciting. The driveway (if you want to call it that) was awkwardly positioned and I was sure my taxi driver was going to run over the bellman when we pulled up. The bellman immediately grabbed my luggage and guided me through the dark glass doors. Entering the lobby/ check in area, I was surprised by the lack of space. As I was standing in the lobby checking in, behind me was a bar counter and even further behind that was a restaurant. After the beautiful receptionist kindly helped me check in, I made my way to my room. After realizing that my room key did not work, I went downstairs to talk with the receptionist. After fixing the key, I went upstairs and was followed by the bellman. He helped me with my bags into the tiny elevator and when I tried my room key again, I was unsuccessful of getting it to work. The bellman tried himself and after the 3rd attempt, he told me to stay put and he would talk to the receptionist. I waited 5 minutes before the bellman returned to usher me to a different room on another floor (not because I went to the wrong room, but because the receptionist moved me).
The room was breath taking. The playful purple colors with the modern furniture was very classy. The room was spacious and ridiculously clean. There was not a stench or funny smell, which tends to happen in hotels. The bathroom contained the right commodities of shampoo, lotion, shower cap, etc. The room was truly impressive.
Once I was relatively settled, I rushed downstairs to grab a cab for my meeting. The bellman helped me quickly flag down a cab. After my meeting and back at the hotel, I was having issues connecting to the wi-fi Internet. After calling down to the front desk, they tried to troubleshoot it over the phone but was unsuccessful. He told me that he would come up to my room to help. Within minutes he showed up and messed with my computer settings. When that didn’t work, he phoned someone for support and we managed to figure it out.
The next morning I asked to leave my bags at the front since I knew I would be in meetings all day. It was a different receptionist, a sincere gentleman who made it his priority to take care of my bags. I asked if he could help me get a cab and he said the bellman was already working on it.
Later that evening after a long day of meetings I returned to Mercure Hotel to pick up my luggage before leaving to the airport. I was greeted by another beautiful receptionist who quickly retrieved my bags from the back room and asked if she could help me get a cab to my next destination. She called the cab company on my behalf and did it all with a smile.
This place is amazing. The customer service is top notch and sincerely accommodating. The exterior of the hotel is a bit misleading, but everything on the inside was pristine. I guess you can consider it a “hidden gem”. I highly recommend this hotel and look forward to staying again.
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