Short story: food ok/good, service bad and arrogant, ambiente great, a place for instagram people…
Long story: We booked a table online, and due to the short notice, confirmation via WhatsApp was fast. We added in the field „dietary restrictions“ that one of us doesn‘t eat fish.
We got a great table with a beautiful view and were approached by a young waiter(1) handing us the menu and asking for allergies. We confirmed that one of the guests did not eat fish. It was not an allergy but personal preference. Other than expected, the „a la carte“ menu was different than the one in their website.
Instead of waiter 1 showing up again, it took ages and waiter 2 showed up and explained that the menu online was from last year. Anyway.
We ordered inter alia bread and butter.
Waiter 3 brought the starters, while waiter 4 collected the plates afterwards.
While finishing the bread I wondered what “Bottarga” was, googled it, and found out it is fish roe. It was the orange stuff on the butter. I confronted waiter 4 who started to argue a bit but also wanted to double check it with her colleagues.
Waiter 1 arrived again to ask again if it’s a personal preference or allergy and then told us they only remove things if it’s an allergy. We once again pointed out it was also written in the dietary restriciton with our reservation.
Waiter 1 then tried to explain that fish roe (Bottarga) is not fish, just a product from the fish and we are wrong. We’re still shocked that a waiter tries to explain to a lawyer that something that is cut out of the fish’s belly is not fish.
Bostani waiters should check how bottarga is made. It’s the roe string extracted from the fish’s belly.
For me, it still counts as fish if someone says he doesn’t like fish!
Mistakes happen, but the question is how you deal with it. The waiter 4 preferred to argue, telling us that “Bottarga” was written in the menu and did not give any sign of being sorry or that it was a mistake.
Since we wanted to enjoy the evening together, we did not google every word on the menu prior ordering and kept our phones in the pockets and relied on the waiter to guide and help. But the waiters at Bostani are rather a faceless dinner-plate-shuttle than professional and hospitable.
Waiter 5 served the main course, the pork was ok (overpriced), the fish was very good to be honest.
Many waiters walked by, no waiter asked how the food tasted in between, no waiter filled the glasses and when we finished no waiter felt responsible to take care of the finished plates.
Waiter 3 which we hadn’t really talked to so far, showed up and cleaned the table.
We also asked for the bill.
Waiter 2 showed up with the bill which had 2 drinks on it which we never ordered nor consumed and walked away.
After some minutes waiter 2 showed up again, took the bill and came back with a new bill, this time corrected.
In crowd control and conflict solving, the option “face change” is sometimes used to solve problems between two people or parties. Bostani uses the option “face change” to create problems and conflicts.
During the payment process I gave the advice that with only one face this problem would not have arisen, but once again, I was wrong and waiter 2 told me this is not the concept of the restaurant.
If waiter 1 would’ve served the food, she could’ve known that there is Fish on the butter which one doesn’t like.
If waiter 1 would’ve brought the bill, she would’ve known that these drinks did not belong to our bill.
If waiter 1 would’ve taken care of us this evening she would’ve deserved tip, if 5 waiters show up, I don’t tip since I don’t know who to tip.
What we expected?
- 1 friendly and professional waiter
- good food
- a manager that shows up to take responsibility for mistakes that happens
What we enjoyed the most?
- the way home to Stamna Hotel with the knowledge that we’re going to have a great breakfast the morning after.
Perhaps we were not „fancy“ enough to fit in this concept and also to know what “Bottarga” is by heart… but the attitude of the waiters is unacceptable.