First I want to say that the food we had at this lovely restaurant was very good. The location and atmosphere was lovely - an oasis of calm in a city packed with tourists
BUT - and it’s a big but - we want to...mention a couple of things which made us drop the star rating.
We visited first in the late morning, just for drinks and a break from the hustle & bustle. Our waiter found us a table in the shade and served our drinks quickly and with style. Very friendly and helpful.
While we were enjoying the drinks and the atmosphere a party of five arrived and asked for a table. They were kept standing, in the full sun, for at least ten minutes while a waiter set the table up. He worked so slowly we couldn’t believe it. Every item he put on the table was placed, adjusted and adjusted again. All the while the customers, who were clearly very hot and tired were kept waiting. They were on the pointing when they were finally seated
However we liked the place so much we decided to come back later for something to eat and so booked a table for 4pm
When we arrived we were seated in a lovely spot under a shady plum tree. It looked like we arrived in the middle of a shift change and while they were setting up for the evening
So we sat waiting for someone to take our order or at least offer us a drink for over quarter of an hour. All the while there were three or four waiters noisily setting up tables around us, only two other tables out of 40 or more were occupied
In the end we had to go and ask for our order to be taken
There was no apology for keeping us waiting and the noise from the setting up increased because they were dragging tables and chairs rather than lifting them
When the waiter asked us at the end of our meal if everything had been alright I mentioned the long wait and he just shrugged and said “We were busy”
As I said above, our food was delightful but it seems like they are more focussed on getting every table, chair, knife and fork into a precise position than looking after their customers
It may have been our timing was poor with the shift change but they need to focus on serving the customers rather than lining up tables perfectlyMore