Café Trot-war
Well, here's another incident to add to case studies for any future hospitality school that a true saviour of this country would someday deign to open...
This was yesterday, at one of the fancy opera cafés, which will remain unnamed. A friend and I arrived around lunchtime, sat down and had a look at what we'd like to order. The waiter patiently explained the contents of those items whose names didn't really give much of an idea as to what they were... We asked for this and that, and then had a look at the desserts, asked for a couple of slices of pastries, a water and a fanta, and waited...
The wait was a bit longer than it should have been, but our patience was rewarded with the arrival of the cakes.
"Neroghoutiun, karogh ek srank hedo perel, jashits hedo ?" (Could you please bring these after the food ?)
"Che, chem karogh, arten tvats a." (No, sorry, I've already entered it into our ordering system, or whatever they have with their computer back there...)
!
I felt like spelling out to him that he could take them back, and then bring them again later, but, anyway...
The water I asked for arrived soon after, with no sign of the fanta. When our food finally comes, my friend asks for his fanta again, to which the waiter replies, "Sorry, we don't have any fanta, just pepsi and mirinda". All right, mirinda then, for Heaven's sake, but you could have told us that you don't have any fanta when we actually asked for the fanta...
Soon afterwards, the guy comes with a green can, but before he opens it, I extend a hand and say, "Wait! Don't you have orange mirinda ?". No, of course not, why would they ? I mean, everyone who says "mirinda" automatically thinks of the "green apple" kind. Made in Georgia-next-door, by the way...
My friend comments that he never knew that there was such a drink. Neither did I. He pours it out; it's this shocking fluorescent green colour ("Something one sees in a wizard's laboratory", my friend says), but I expect it went down well enough with the meal.
Now, later on, when it came to being paid, the guy immediately brought over the bill, and hung around us like vultures, snatching the thing with the money in it away as soon as it was set down on the table. The money in there wasn't exact - it was a few hundred drams extra - but the waiter never brought it back with the change! He decided to just tip himself...! Sigh...
Well, the food was satisfying enough, I suppose, and the company was pleasant. In fact, these little incidents made for good entertainment, too. I'm glad, however, that I decided to order just a simple coffee later (it would have been difficult to get that wrong) a little bit before I actually intended to drink it (so as to make sure it arrives on time).
See, it's these sorts of life-training experiences that toughen you up and make you a more resilient member of the bourgeoisie. Which other would-be-touristy place can you say that about ?
This was yesterday, at one of the fancy opera cafés, which will remain unnamed. A friend and I arrived around lunchtime, sat down and had a look at what we'd like to order. The waiter patiently explained the contents of those items whose names didn't really give much of an idea as to what they were... We asked for this and that, and then had a look at the desserts, asked for a couple of slices of pastries, a water and a fanta, and waited...
The wait was a bit longer than it should have been, but our patience was rewarded with the arrival of the cakes.
"Neroghoutiun, karogh ek srank hedo perel, jashits hedo ?" (Could you please bring these after the food ?)
"Che, chem karogh, arten tvats a." (No, sorry, I've already entered it into our ordering system, or whatever they have with their computer back there...)
!
I felt like spelling out to him that he could take them back, and then bring them again later, but, anyway...
The water I asked for arrived soon after, with no sign of the fanta. When our food finally comes, my friend asks for his fanta again, to which the waiter replies, "Sorry, we don't have any fanta, just pepsi and mirinda". All right, mirinda then, for Heaven's sake, but you could have told us that you don't have any fanta when we actually asked for the fanta...
Soon afterwards, the guy comes with a green can, but before he opens it, I extend a hand and say, "Wait! Don't you have orange mirinda ?". No, of course not, why would they ? I mean, everyone who says "mirinda" automatically thinks of the "green apple" kind. Made in Georgia-next-door, by the way...
My friend comments that he never knew that there was such a drink. Neither did I. He pours it out; it's this shocking fluorescent green colour ("Something one sees in a wizard's laboratory", my friend says), but I expect it went down well enough with the meal.
Now, later on, when it came to being paid, the guy immediately brought over the bill, and hung around us like vultures, snatching the thing with the money in it away as soon as it was set down on the table. The money in there wasn't exact - it was a few hundred drams extra - but the waiter never brought it back with the change! He decided to just tip himself...! Sigh...
Well, the food was satisfying enough, I suppose, and the company was pleasant. In fact, these little incidents made for good entertainment, too. I'm glad, however, that I decided to order just a simple coffee later (it would have been difficult to get that wrong) a little bit before I actually intended to drink it (so as to make sure it arrives on time).
See, it's these sorts of life-training experiences that toughen you up and make you a more resilient member of the bourgeoisie. Which other would-be-touristy place can you say that about ?
posted by Nareg at 8:06 AM
7 Comments:
I'm picturing a particular place as to where this might have been heh.
Your story is such a familliar one. It seemed like everywhere we went, my one friend always got screwed over at each cafe/restaurant. As you mentioned, a common misconception of Armenian waiters is that if someone orders something you are out of, you don't tell them, you just don't bring anything. After you've been left wondering for a good hour whether the problem is the typically slow service or something deeper, you hunt down your waiter probably hanging out in the back somewhere and ask where the food is. Only then does the waiter have to explain to you that they are out of that food and that you'll have to order something else (though at Harsnakar, a food we were told they were out of was found on the plate of everyone around us, and after my friend pointed that out to them they brought it!! I guess they just didn't feel like making that particular food anymore?)
Sometimes, if they are out of food though they won't tell you and will just bring you some other random thing. Not until you point out to them that they brought something you did not order will they tell you it's because they're out of what you wanted so they took the liberty of picking something else out for you.
wow, I could go on like this forever. I'm glad to see the idea I suggested here for a hospitality school is getting traction! Can you name it after me, I've always wanted something in Armenia with my name on it ;-)
ohh yes, the worst feeling is when you're damn hungry and after about an hour everyone around you gets their food except you, and when you ask where "my food is" their answer is "we don't have that item".. it happened to me once at Hin Yerevan and you don’t want to know what happened next with my temper going past its limit! in any case i walked while out cussing out the entire establishment and went downstairs to the shawrma place instead...
Sounds like Jazzve to me, though most of the Opera cafes have the worst service in the entire country.
Nareg, you just described about 99% of the cafe/restaurant experiences I've had in the past few years...the best one though I have to say was in Old Erivan, when after 2 hours of not getting any food and only vodka, we ask, where is the food? to which they answer..."we have no food at all (amen inche prchela)!" So of course, the guests are all mostly drunk because all they've had is vodka...and obviously taking advantage of the situation, they charge us for all the meals we never had!
Could I sway the mood here with a positive note per chance? :) My wife and I actually had an exceptional time at one of the cafe's right next to Jezzve called Astral. It was late at night and one of my first nights after arriving in Yerevan. We were exhausted and a little cranky and stopped off at this cafe for some drinks and mezze. Well, this animated guy came out and purely entertained us with his antics. We couldnt stop laughing all night and when we were done with our drinks and mezze he brought out some coffe. When we told him we hadnt ordered any, he said it was on the house. We made sure to tip him well before leaving.
The experience we had was phenomenal and I have to say the best I've had anywhere in the world. Eating out is always an expensive alternative but if you're entertained and the food is good, it's definitely worth while. We've been saying ever since we wished other establishments would learn from this one individual we met that night.
Baykar
Why would you go to Jezzve or some of these other places and expect good service? There are places with overall consistently great service. L'Orange, Lagonid, Artbridge...
Jazzve and most of the cafes around the Opera are FAMOUS for really bad service. So, why go there?
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