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Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Things I hate about certain Romanian restaurants
The order is not important in this particular case:
They always have to get something mixed up with your order, no matter how simple or complicated it is.
They always bring the order after an enormous time, regardless of the number of customers.
If they get something wrong and have to change a dish, they forget to apologize.
They sometimes bring more than you have ordered to produce a larger bill.
No respect for the customers – some waitresses end up throwing the plates on the table and screaming…
Most people in this business are stupid enough not to see what’s best for them.
You can always feel the “I’m doing you a favor” attitude.
They do judge you by your appearance. And they do tend to prefer foreigners, as they think they will pay more with less questions.
Note to the Italian gentlemen sitting next to us in Herastrau, at the restaurant we had lunch on Sunday: 2000 years ago, if you spoke Latin in the Bucharest area, you would not have had a guaranteed mutual understanding…The territory was conquered a little later by the Roman Empire. However, my respect for messing up only with about a hundred years.
Second note to same gentlemen: the Chinese and American guys having lunch with you didn’t get it! More details as to why you said it where required.
Note to readers: if you wonder how I know where they were from, well, they have been speaking quite loud.
i wonder what has happened, alina... in the 1980's i was always sure of excellent service by staff who admittedly were not particularly used to foreign tourists...
its a shame, because i suspect that a lot of the friendliness and easy-goingness of the romania i knew and enjoyed has disappeared in the meantime
You're forgeting that you are still in Romania... Some things will never change, while others take tens of years before they do!
Until people realize that things can be done in a more pleasent and productive (for both the cleint and the owner of the dinner) way, they will remain the same.
Perhaps it is a society issue and a mentality problem, but if people would abandon the "herd" instinct and act as entities and as common sense teaches them, a better world/country would be in sight.
I also hate that when they bring the check, they wait there for it. So they stare at you while you're trying to check whether it's correct, while you're looking for money in you wallet, figure out the tip, etc. ugh... makes me not want to leave a tip at all.
How do you know the Italian gentlemen sitting next to you in Herastrau (on the grass?!...or maybe on a bench?!...) have an Internet connection to be able to read your blog? Did they tell you that? Did they ask you for your blog address? Maybe they cann't understand your language!... Oh, my God!... Mediterranean hot blooded gorgeous men!..and the same old habits of the Italian travelers... crossing my wonderful country and its... people! Since EVER! * Nihil novum sub sole!
Bart, these are just some cases. But they need to be brought to light as people have this habit of saying nothing and taking the bullshit. If you ever come visiting, I will only take you to the nicest places, promise :)
Alex, true, we do have a kind of sheep mentality still. Oh, and yeah, we are not customer oriented enough! :D
Ionuka, luckily for me that has not happened in a long while...I did happen in bars and other places where they did not bring bills, they just said what you owed them.
The hotels are doing just fine, apparently. But I did hear from people travelling from abroad that the Marriott in Bucharest is more expensive than its Western Europe siblings.
Mens Sana, it was in a restaurant, as I was speaking of restaurants, that I heard them talking...I do not expect him to read this, it was a form of humor but apparently you did not get it :) He was not a hot blooded gorgeous man. He was a business man with a very carefully trained English accent, actually.
Do concentrate on the " in corpore sano" though :D
Sometimes (only sometimes) such a restaurant experience with hostile waitresses would be quite funny, But not all the time. We have some of those over here.. as in everywhere. the more I read your blog, the more I feel that there are similarities found there and here. Hope you had a good meal at the end.
Well, most of the times it is simply great! Other times is just good. The food and drinks quality is not really the issue, only the service quality is.
Alina, you've just reminded me of one of my worst but most entertaining habits. I love to go to restaurants and eavesdrop on other people's conversations! Especially here in Maputo where there is a huge and diverse expat community. I like to guess the country where each person is from, what they are doing here in Mozambique, what they are chatting about over lunch or dinner. I've become so nosy, but it's so interesting!
Many of the problems you cite about Romanian restaurants are the exact same here...
Well, they should not exist here, not anymore at least!
As for your habit, I am sure you find out a lot of interesting things in such a comunity. In my case, though, I did not have to put any effort into it: they were quite close and quite loud :D
Name: Alina Home: Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania About Me: "This is my church. This is where I heal my hurts". It's also where I feel free and my preferred means of expression. See my complete profile
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i wonder what has happened, alina... in the 1980's i was always sure of excellent service by staff who admittedly were not particularly used to foreign tourists...
its a shame, because i suspect that a lot of the friendliness and easy-goingness of the romania i knew and enjoyed has disappeared in the meantime