Category: Customer Service

  • 777: Delicious group meal, shame about the small print

    We’ve reviewed 777 Mexican restaurant here before, so I didn’t have a review in mind when I went for  a group meal there on Saturday last. One of my dearest and oldest friends Clare had her hen party there, and the food turned out to be so tremendous I wanted to quickly post about it…

  • Tick tock, tick tock

    After hearing lots of talk about a relatively new restaurant in Dublin we thought it was high time to check it out. I also thought it might be review-worthy! It was, but I’m not going to review it, instead I am going to take this opportunity to have a little rant about Dublin restaurants and…

  • Allergy advice

    One of my favourite hobbies is winding up my coeliac friend Simon, by asking him if he is also allergic to the tooth fairy, homoeopathic potions, and levitation.There are many coeliacs out there, but I suspect – and I refuse to offer any evidence whatsoever for this – that some people with a self-declared gluten…

  • Mad praise, rewarded

    Back in 2011, I wrote about the old childhood trick of trying to wangle a freebie from a company because there was something wrong with the food: a deformed Twix with no caramel; a bag of crisps with only one giant, mangled, burnt mess of maize; or a cake with a nail in it. Seldom…

  • Supermarket query: What happens when it’s your fault?

    I think it was my fault. After I bought the groceries in Lidl, I dutifully moved to the counter to pack it all away. Then, I noticed I’d spilt most of the blueberries on the ground. I started to pick them up, and the security guard came to help. I apologised, and he told me…

  • Review: Breakfast in Cafe Sofia, Wexford Street, Dublin 2

    Saturday afternoon. Courtesy of my demon friend Simon, I was very hungover. I’d also had around 10,000 miles between me and an Irish breakfast for four months. I wanted a real greasy spoon operation – no fancy herbed sausages or pestos or relishes on sourdough or the like. No. I wanted the type of breakfast…

  • The obligatory service charge

    Last year, my sister and I decided not to endure the bad service at Harvey Nichol’s cafe, Dundrum, and walked out before ordering. But we were back again recently, partly because Cafe Mimo is closed for renovations, partly because we liked the look of its menu, and partly because we wanted to give it another…

  • The rudest customers in the world

    A terrible person did a terrible thing in a lovely restaurant, and I want to know what our lovely readers think about it. We’re in Runiccini, a gem of an Italian restaurant in Kilkenny (full review to follow). The service is impeccable and professional: white tablecloths, waiting staff in black and white uniforms. The restaurant…

  • Any chance of a freebie?

    Smell this, he said, shoving a rancid dessert at my face. No doubt about it: the cake was gone off. The best before date, however, told a different story: it should be good for at least another week. Euro signs flashed in his eyes as he imagined a haul of desserts and treats being delivered…

  • Diep, redeemed

    Just a quick note to say that, following a spectacularly poor performance from Diep’s Blackrock branch, they have redeemed themselves. Last week, Jean and I had a very enjoyable meal from the Ranelagh branch. The manager was genuinely apologetic about the poor customer service I’d previously received, and generously provided two mains and two starters.…