Most annoying and irritating situations for restaurants owners and staff members

I always see blogs and reviews about restaurants, whether being about service, or ambiance, or food... But all critiques are always given about the restaurants... have you ever thought of the restaurants owners themselves?!!!

In fact, all bloggers are food critiques, are only talking and reviewing ONE SIDE of the "table"... restaurant owners are always in the defensive mode or waiting for judgement from the food writer about the food..

What about the owners or the staff working in restaurants??? what are their frustrations? what is their daily hard work consist of?? what they are facing from guests???

This is why I decided to write this post!!

The most annoying situations for restaurants owners are staff members. And recommended etiquette of restaurants:

• No Show No Call... some people make reservations for the restaurant, book a table of 4 or 6, and then NO SHOW, NO CALL. Is it difficult to make a small 1 minute phone call to cancel your reservation?!!!! Remember, a booked table means it cannot be re-assigned to others who want to reserve, which is a loss of business.
• Lateness: A client coming 45min or 1 hour after his reservation time, without calling back to give heads up, will lead to a canceling reservation... and when the client comes late without notification, then there is no space for him/her. Avoiding this situation is solved again by a small 1 minute phone call
• A group is booking for a restaurant, and people joining them without ordering: Restaurants are for eating. If you occupy a space in a restaurant, this means you want to order food. If you want to just join your friends or chill out with them, you can invite them to your home, or go to their homes. Be prepared that when you go to a restaurant, you are ordering food, restaurants are not NGOs.
• Gratuities are not included: In North America, gratuities are between 15 - 20% of the bill value. Be prepared to have this on top of your bill. In some restaurants, they automatically put 15% or 18% on the bill to be paid as gratuities. You can ask if gratuities are included or not.
• Staff members are at your service, they are not your slaves: Talking to the server or the waitress in a rude and superior way, as if she/he is your slave is not acceptable. Those people are here to serve you; being nice and friendly to them will make your and their life easy. They work a hard physical job to better serve clients, and they deserve to be treated well.
• Separate checks, when you order one plate: Expect a plate is recorded on the cash machine as one plate. It cannot be divided into pieces to make you separate checks. You can always pay in two different cards or two different ways, but separate checks for one plate?!!!
• Clients over the phone asking everything about the restaurant for a 30 min phone call: When you call a restaurant, you need to know information about the restaurant, or at least check their website for the menu and style ...etc. Waiters or the person receiving your phone call are serving guests in the room, they cannot just talk for 30 min over the phone to explain the restaurant concept and menu and decor and options ...etc. Please have a look at the restaurant's website, or if they do not have a website, search on the net to check more information. Another way is to go check it yourself.
  
• Asking the staff or the chef's nationality and judge based on the answer: This is simply racist. If you will treat the waiters/waitresses based on where they come from, or judge the food based on the chef's nationality, not his/her capability or food taste, then next time order your meal as a "passport". It is so offensive and rude.

So next time you reserve a table in a restaurant, remember those annoying situations and avoid them... Life is much easier than giving people a hard time, it will neither make your nor the staff life easy to act like that.

The 10 best food in Montreal - my view

You know... In my point of view, NO restaurant does everything good. Each restaurant has ONE or TWO specialities in their food that no other can do. This Is the talent I see in restaurants.

I am listing here some of the food items I see best in Montreal, it can vary between main dish or side dish, or simply an appetizer. Just a list to remember and try:

• 1- Best rice to eat in downtown Montreal. Amazingly it is not Chinese. It is at Khayrat http://www.khayratmtl.com . They make 26 different kinds of rice with 26 different flavours. Located on 1228 bishop H3G2E3
• 2- Best crispy breaded spicy chicken "the spicy Big Crunch burger" is from chef on call http://www.chefoncalldelivery.com . They have a variety of items, and burgers, but really the winner is the breaded chicken. Located on 2055 bishop H3G2E8 or 362 Sherbrooke O H3A1B2
• 3- Best Poutine in Montreal with different flavours is Planete Poutine http://www.planetepoutine.com . You can order for delivery too. Located on 5020 Ch de la Cote Des Neiges H3V1G6. 
• 4- Best couscous in Montreal is at Menthe et Couscous. Their couscous is not white, it is rather red with the spiced sauce. http://mentheetcouscous.ca located on 361 Emery H2X1J2
• 5- Best retro style donuts in Montreal (I believe they are even the only ones) is Leche Desserts. http://lechedesserts.ca . Located on 640 de Courcelle H4C3C5. Their lime cream donut is the winner. Try all their flavours you will be amazed. 
• 6- Best commercial cheese pizza in Montreal is Altaib. http://www.altaib.com . I tried their cheese pizza, the dough along with the cheese they use give the right combination. Also it is value for money. Their offer for jumbo pizza with 3 free drinks is a good deal. Located on 2125 Guy, H3A2L9. 
• 7- Best steak to eat in Montreal is at Reuben's http://reubensdeli.com . You must try the Sulivan or the filet mignon. Located on 1116 Sainte-Catherine W, H3B 1H4. 
• 8- Best cheesecake in Montreal is at Pekarna http://pekarna.ca . By far the BEST cheesecake. Located on 2313 Saint Catherine O. 
• 9- Best Tarama in Montreal the one sold in Adonis downtown. Very fresh and tasty. http://www.adonisproducts.com located on corner of Lambert Closse and Saint Catherine O.
• 10- Best shawarma in Montreal is at Shawarmaz http://shawarmaz.ca . Located on 1206 Peel H3B2T6. They also have a popular plate: poutine tawouk. 

Bon Appetit...!!!!

At Last.... Real food not microwaved... natural fresh ingredients

At last I had the chance to have real food in Montreal, no microwave, not pre-packed... all cooked from the beginning, with authentic flavors.

An "apportez votre vin" Bring your own wine restaurant in the heart of downtown Montreal, service Couscous and Tajines, with flavors of the orient, with the spices perfuming all the place, that makes you dream of visiting this part of the world.

The Lamb couscous is a winner. The lamb shanks slowly cooked to its maximum, very tender and juicy, blended with its couscous sauce, and surrounded with fresh vegetables, again cooked in the sauce.

The plate is signed with the final touch of chickpeas and raisin, to give the taste contrast.

The decor is oriental and warm, complemented with enchanting music from the orient, mixed with French and international music to eliminate boredom, and give the variety.

Hostesses are very friendly and smiling, and very hospitable.
The restaurant deserves the cheer and the thanks for making our evening an amazing one.
Restaurant: Menthe et Couscous in the Quartier Latin, Montreal. 361 Rue Emery.

The Beauty of Handmade

I would like to share this blog with you:

The beauty of Handmade
http://www.tornadogifts.ca/blogs/news/11086309-the-beauty-of-handmade

Have you ever had a handmade piece of anything?!! A handmade bag, a handmade dress or shoes (although it might be expensive), a handmade hat or scarf or even wallet????

The beauty behind the handmade, is that you can feel the effort exerted to make the product, you can see the character of the artist showing in the item itself; be it a scarf, a wallet, accessories, handbag, shoulder bag, or jewelry.

Sami Amin designs offer 100% handmade products, made out of natural products (nothing is synthetic), everything is natural; including: wood, brass, leather (cow and calf leather), glass beads, aluminum, Egyptian cotton, Egyptian Linen and more.

Sami Amin designs use the ethnic style to implement it on all products produced, and use old printing, stamping and embossing techniques, such as: Batik printing technique on fabric, burning technique on leather for stamping, hand engraving technique on brass and aluminum; which makes the products unique, and not identical... this is the character of the products. 

So be sure, when you have one of Sami Amin items, that you will not find someone else wearing the same, NOTHING IS IDENTICAL. This is especially made for people who love to be unique and differentiated from others.

 

I invite you to check his line by clicking on the following Sami Amin Designs

 

Reuben's a really enjoyable sumptuous experience

Just to let you know the coincidence. I was just walking in the street today 8th of June 2013 in Saint Catherine Street along with my 3.5 years old son... having a nice walk and watching the cars show taking place in the area of Crescent street till Peel street.

We kept on walking and watching the shows, and visiting the booths everywhere... and we were thinking of having a meal.. We did not have our lunch, and my son was in his Gymnastic show... so very tired and very hungry.

I kept on asking my son about what he wants to eat, and pointed at several restaurants... and finally, we passed in front of Reuben's and this is where my son FINALLY agreed to go.

The moment we entered, we were received quickly, and we were seated immediately, without having to wait for a long time "although it was extremely busy".

I ordered cheese pizza for my son (his favorite) and I ordered the Filet Mignon 8oz for me with rice as a side dish and house salad.

I can tell you really, it's been a very long time since I ate such a tender delicious and sumptuous piece of filet mignon like that. the rice was good but normal... The pizza was normal as well. But they really excelled in the filet mignon...

I highly recommend it for this dish... Not only that.... they accommodated my son who was very active and who did not want to stay in one place.... the waitress brought his order very fast, and got him colors and drawings to color... 

She is really a good waitress.. smiling and accommodating... her name is Laramie D.... I recommend her to serve you if you go to this place....

Thank you Reuben's, you really made my day with such a good meal.

Cheers et a la prochaine.

THE EGG OR THE CHICKEN

Have you ever faced this in Canada? I was just reading one of the tweets that said:
"Went job hunting today: can't find a job because I need experience, can't gain experience because I don't have a job. #frustration #Montreal"

May be this person was very conservative to say it, but it was always "The Canadian Experience".
A new comer to the country, or a newly graduate, cannot have the Canadian experience. This person should first get a job to have the experience.

But suddenly, all the recruiters or the HR responsible who posts the job, ask you in the interview about your experience in Canada.. where they are sure and positive about the answer.. which is "of course no Canadian experience, I am new to the country, or I am new to the job market, and this is an entry level job"

This Canadian Experience Myth "the unwritten sentence in job offers" but the usual answer in all jobs interviews, is a big bubble, and this soon will blow up in the face of its creator.

For sure most of immigrants are frustrated... they come to Canada with hopes, and they find out that there are unseen and unwritten barriers to everything... And by the way, just for the record and for the history: Canada was built by immigrants who came over centuries to build it.... so lets show respect and appreciation to cultural differences and the people who built, build and will continue to build this country.

Another example of the egg or the chicken: You need to have credit to take credit... i.e. if you want to get a car loan  for example, you should have a good credit history before you get the loan, this means that you have to have history of paying a loan.... How on earth will you have a good history of paying back a loan, if you cannot get a loan... !!!!!

So if you want a loan, you should have a loan history... and if you are new to this, you have no chance to get any loan until you make the loan history first.... Please give me your feedback... CAN WE BUY HISTORY? because this seems to me the only solution!!.

I would welcome comments and may be stories about the "Egg or the Chicken" from my readers...you are welcome to send me your comments and stories.

Have a lovely weekend.

My first blog post from Montreal

Hello,

This is my first blog post from Montreal since I stayed here. I found out it is important to talk about what is happening around me in here, not only in Montreal, but in Canada in general.

I will be talking about all aspects of life, people I meet (I will give my full honest opinion about them). Places I visit, experiences I have, business environment here, political issues, moral and situations I face in here with different stakeholders: friends, family, business people, daily dealings and interactions in Montreal.

I hope you enjoy it and give me your frank and honest opinion about it. I am open to critiques and criticism.

I thank you in advance for your honest feedback.