One to avoid
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john
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One to avoid
I don't normally like to post warning about avoidance of an eating establishment,but I think in this case I feel justified.
The culprit is the "Alizé" opposite the Hippopotamus grill near the Auchan complex in S Perpignan.
My wife and I were ignored when we first walked in (the restaurant was only a quarter full). Then our aperitif order was taken,and some menus dumped on the table. They took 40 mins just to take our order. The starters (moules gratinées) were just about OK,but took a further 20 mins to appear. The second course of fish was absolutely dreadful. They managed to do the seemingly impossible by overcooking my wife's sea bass,and undercooking my rouget fillets ! There were no carbohydrates of any description(no bread was even offered) ,just a few piddly veg. All of it was lukewarm at best. Sweets took another age to arrive;farcical, as I had fromage blanc,and my wife had a couple of scoops of ice-cream. We did not bother with coffee. In total we were there for almost 3 hours for a very poor meal.
I suppose prices (18€) were reasonable enough,on the face of it. A much more expensive "St Valentine" offering of 5 courses was available,but I suspect if we'd gone for that,we'd still be there waiting for the final course!
All in all,quite the worst eating experience I've had anywhere for a very long time. Judging by the attitude of our fellow diners,we were by no means the only dissatisfied ones. Avoid.
The culprit is the "Alizé" opposite the Hippopotamus grill near the Auchan complex in S Perpignan.
My wife and I were ignored when we first walked in (the restaurant was only a quarter full). Then our aperitif order was taken,and some menus dumped on the table. They took 40 mins just to take our order. The starters (moules gratinées) were just about OK,but took a further 20 mins to appear. The second course of fish was absolutely dreadful. They managed to do the seemingly impossible by overcooking my wife's sea bass,and undercooking my rouget fillets ! There were no carbohydrates of any description(no bread was even offered) ,just a few piddly veg. All of it was lukewarm at best. Sweets took another age to arrive;farcical, as I had fromage blanc,and my wife had a couple of scoops of ice-cream. We did not bother with coffee. In total we were there for almost 3 hours for a very poor meal.
I suppose prices (18€) were reasonable enough,on the face of it. A much more expensive "St Valentine" offering of 5 courses was available,but I suspect if we'd gone for that,we'd still be there waiting for the final course!
All in all,quite the worst eating experience I've had anywhere for a very long time. Judging by the attitude of our fellow diners,we were by no means the only dissatisfied ones. Avoid.
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opas
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john
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As you know opas,I am patience personified...though there may be some who dispute that !!
You are right. It's very difficult to judge at what point you lose patience and just get up and b*gger off . Suffice to say,there were circumstances that day that meant I did not want any hassle. Most other times, I would have gone elsewhere long before 40 mins had elapsed !!
Perhaps it's an interesting thing to expand this thread on... ie how long do others think it's reasonable to wait to be served in a restaurant ?
You are right. It's very difficult to judge at what point you lose patience and just get up and b*gger off . Suffice to say,there were circumstances that day that meant I did not want any hassle. Most other times, I would have gone elsewhere long before 40 mins had elapsed !!
Perhaps it's an interesting thing to expand this thread on... ie how long do others think it's reasonable to wait to be served in a restaurant ?
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Santiago
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It's a tough call John. Once you have waited long enough to get annoyed you feel you need to stay a bit longer, drumming fingers and trying to alert the waiter, because it's too late to go elsewhere, especially at lunchtime.
It's a similar thing when you sit down in a new restaurant and get handed the menu and realise that you don't like the look of it or the resto or the service. Do you struggle through, trying to get them to be something they are not, or do you get up and leave?
In my experience, if I don't make the decision to move on within the first 5 minutes. I'll be stuck there for the duration, getting more and more disgruntled.
I'm trying to think of a time when I we thought about leaving and it turned out to be great. I'm sure there has been one but it's the bad experiences that stick in my mind.
It's a similar thing when you sit down in a new restaurant and get handed the menu and realise that you don't like the look of it or the resto or the service. Do you struggle through, trying to get them to be something they are not, or do you get up and leave?
In my experience, if I don't make the decision to move on within the first 5 minutes. I'll be stuck there for the duration, getting more and more disgruntled.
I'm trying to think of a time when I we thought about leaving and it turned out to be great. I'm sure there has been one but it's the bad experiences that stick in my mind.
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