When Restaurants Just Don't Satisfy

Lucy - The other day Sawusband & I were invited to lunch @ a Latin Restaurant I thought that sounded fun, Latin food would be something new to try. We ended up going just the two of us, we booked accommodation because it was about the same as a taxi there & back. I was a little excited to be having a mini break.
We sat down & I perused the menu. Lesson one in keeping people happy would be keep the drinks up! (If in doubt, get the customers drunk)we had to ask the waiter for a drink. We were left to check the menu out for approx 30mins (more than enough time) while the staff diddled around resetting the couple of tables that were empty as well as talking on their mobile phones out the front of the restaurant....surely feeding & watering the paying customers would be a good start.

I was a little hungry

Still Waiting

I have always had a few rules in dining which apparently went out the door this particular lunch. I think it was because the Maitre D complemented my dress, I would have felt bad leaving before we ordered so I gave them the benefit of the doubt.
I now have a new rule : If unsure of the service do not dine, even if given complements!!!!

So as you can see I was a little hungry & thirsty.
Another rule I normally use is: If the restaurant says it's Italian, I expect Italian. This restaurant said it is Latin, I was expecting food such as Ceviche, Chimichurri, Corn salads & more, but I had to pick pasta...Is pasta Latin I thought to myself. Our options were limited, we had a choice of Chicken schnitzel (deep fried), Fish & Chips, beer battered of course (another deep fried dish), Eye Fillet with Peppercorn or mushroom sauce. Now correct me if I'm wrong does any of this sound Latin? So yes the alarm bells were sounding but it was too late, we were stuck!!!

So we had officially broken all of our rules but worst of all at the end of the meal when I had to ask for the account so we could leave, the waiters were asking where my dress was from & other questions so now I was thinking I can't just leave, I have to offer a tip! All I had was a $20 note..... So what do you think I did, I gave them $20 for our bad meal with bad service all because I didn't want to look rude.

Remember Campers, they will probably never see you again. For God's sakes don't procrastinate, leave, I wish I had remembered our few basic rules... 


Andrew - Considering our history of tipping I was very surprised to hear you even bothered. Especially considering your dinner on the same night. What was it that Sawusband said when asked how the meal was? I do believe "average" wasn't what the waitress was expecting.

The problem could be that we've eaten at some fabulous places over the years but I don't know if this means we've set our standards too high. There's a certain vegetarian restaurant we all love and you have to admit the service isn't bad... it's non-existent. Yet we love it.

Perhaps if Gusband, you and Sawusband weren't such great cooks, every time we dined out the bench may not be set so high. Possibly we all whinge too much...... nah that's not it.

Can I suggest that since you have almost named and shamed every restaurant on the GC, you and Sawusband move back to the OC. There are numerous places we can go that are fabulous down here! .....Worth a try.

I'm making dinner tonight so can I just name and shame Castello Edwardo right now to get it over and done with.

Happy dining out campers or better yet Lucy and Sawusband have invited us all for dinner so let's go. xx