I usually only blog about restaurants that I enjoy. If an establishment does not impress me I won't recommend them. So to leave all negativity in 2014 this is a post that I will write and leave in this year.
I was joined by a group of friends for a pre-NYE dinner. I have previously dined at Piazzo Paradiso and never had any problems with them. I've also previously endorsed them here as they make the best bouillabaisse. So it was a no brainer to book a table of 8 for last night.
An extra person decided to join the dinner party so because it was last minute I did not think to notify the restaurant as we could simply just have added an extra chair to the table.
We arrived in very jovial spirits at the restaurant.We were seated in a room where our table of 8 was as well as a table for 2. I immediately asked the waitress to check if the table of two was also reserved as we wanted to either add the table to ours or steal a chair. She then proceeded to check with the manager.
A woman dressed in black with dark hair then approached us. I don't know if she is the owner or a manager.
Her body language and tone of voice was condescending and unfriendly from the start. She started off by telling us how inconvenient we were and that she has to now rearrange her entire restaurant and that we should have notified her earlier. I understand that all restaurants are under major stress during the holiday season but our extra person joined us at the last minute. The way she approached us however was not professional at all. The situation could have been dealt with differently.
Feeling very embarrassed and insulted I then, without any sarcasm in my voice, told her that we will leave as she really made certain that we understand that this is a big inconvenience for them. We now were a party of 9 and we were definitely not going to dine without our extra person. She then proceeded to tell me that I should "not be funny with her" and continued to go off on us and make us feel like tiny little ants. I have never experienced this in a restaurant. Our whole party was gobsmacked.
The waiter then added a table to ours and we never saw the manager/owner again. She dampened our mood and made us feel extremely unwelcome and uncomfortable. We actually should have left but proceeded to order food.
My bouillabasie was great as always and everyone who had pizza and pasta enjoyed it. The one diner who had steak however was not impressed. The quality of the meat was questionable. It was stringy and not tender. It was as if the meat was precooked, frozen and then reheated.
The lady who served us was great.
I saddens me as I live in Hermanus that one of our local places would treat their paying customers like this. I do also feel that because we were a group between 24-26 year olds we were treated with a condescending and judging tone. If we were older I do not think this would have happened.
For Italian cuisine in Hermanus I would recommend Rossi's or Col Cacchio.
So leaving all negativity at the doorstep of 2014 I hope that you will have an awesome NYE and an even better 2015!
Piazzo Paradiso
Loacted in Marine Drive
Contact them at 028 313 1153
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