It was 39 very hot degrees in Sydney today, the last day of universities' mid semester break and the last public holiday before Christmas. I was uninspired about cooking and hubby was at a wedding so in a questionable leap of logic I decided that if he was out then those of us who were left home should treat ourselves to Lebanese food.
We have a favourite local-ish restaurant which is renowned for great service and better food so off we went to get a take-away. I don't know what happened in their kitchen but it was the slowest service we have ever seen there. A number of people cancelled their orders and left as we waited but I knew that I didnt have any better ideas and I'd already invested quite a bit of time into the wait so I hung in there.
Our order was ready a half hour after we made it and the owner apologised profusely for the delay. I smiled and said it was okay, something had to be wrong in the kitchen? He never answered my idle chatter but he picked up a large plate of hommus with minced lamb and pine nuts, an uncollected order, and added it to our bag without charge.
It was a lovely gesture and it turned our modest order into a feast. We took it home, piled everything into the middle of the cluttered table and relaxed into the chaos. Perfection!
Lucky you.
ReplyDeleteYummo.
ReplyDeleteI suspect your pleasant behaviour was responsible for the addition to your meal. The poor man was undoubtedly doing the best he could...
EC
ReplyDeleteMy thought exactly
In restaurants and there are times when someone doesn't show up for work and the rest of the kitchen gets slammed. I try to be accommodating when it happens, unless it happens repeatedly, then it is more of a kitchen management issue.
ReplyDeleteThat's nice that you got an extra dish to make up for the long wait. Some restaurants would just take the attitude, if you don't like the long wait, then you're free to leave. Unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteWas that the restaurant we went to with Helen that time? I seem to remember it was Lebanese.
Nick,
ReplyDeletethe one we went to with Helen was Turkish and much fancier.
I actually thought the wait was still just within the range of acceptable, I have waited a LOT longer in other places
Patience is more than its own reward is your moral then eh Kylie?
ReplyDeleteActually Mark, I rarely view patience as any kind of reward but i can do maths and figure out the fastest way to get myself fed :)
ReplyDeleteA half hour is hardly speedy, but it seems odd that many people would cancel their order in that amount of time, and I'm glad that yours was worth waiting for. I guess this proves that "good things come to those who wait."
ReplyDeletesnow,
ReplyDeletepeople just get impatient and dont take any time to empathise or to figure out how long their next option will take.
"good things come to those who wait" well, maybe. Or maybe it's just a case of all annoyances passing in time