“BAD EXPERIENCE IN INDIAN RESTAURANT IN SHANGHAI”
One of the great experiences one can have during an overseas trip is tasting the cuisine of the Country you visit, and during my recent visit to Shanghai (China) for a week on business, I had the chance to taste fantastic authentic Chinese food which is so ‘different’ from the Chinese food we eat here in Kuwait that it is sometimes quite overwhelming, but still a great experience.
It was on the last day of our stay in China that my Kuwaiti colleague who traveled with me started missing his own kind of food and since we could not locate any Arabic restaurant nearby, we decided to try an Indian restaurant we managed to locate via goggle, close to where we were staying. Since we were also entertaining a Chinese business colleague, I felt it would be a good opportunity to let him try and appreciate good Indian food. What a mistake it was!!!
The name of the restaurant is ‘The Tandoor Shanghai’ and it is located in the Jinjiang Hotel in the busy part of Shanghai. As we (my colleague and the Chinese friend) entered, the first thing that struck us was the beautiful décor and the cozy seating arrangements, but alas that is just about all the good I can say about this restaurant.
The menu presented to us by the waiter who by the way took his own time to reach us made me realize that perhaps we had made a mistake with price of dishes varying from 95 RMB to 160 RMB. Still, after making a quick mental calculation I worked out that we would be spending something like 600 RMB for our meal (Approx. KD.27/-) and since we did not want to embarrass ourselves in front of our Chinese friend, we decided to go ahead and order.
Shortly after we were seated, a gentleman who introduced himself as Vipul came to take our order. Handsome character with a charming smile, the first thing he wanted to know was, where we were from. Without a thought, I proudly blurted out that we had come from Kuwait and introduced him to everyone on the table. Smart alec that I am, I also told him that it was our first time in Shanghai, big mistake # 1. Con artist that he was, he immediately tried speaking to my colleague in broken Arabic and explained that he hails from New Delhi and had been in China for the last 25 years. His friendly attitude caught us off guard and this led to our mistake # 2, allowing him to suggest what we should eat, including items off the menu.
Since my Kuwaiti friend was keen on avoiding chicken, Vipul suggested the Vegetable kebab platter (basically grilled vegetables) and a mix grilled platter of sea food and meat. My Kuwaiti friend immediately agreed, I am sure visualizing the type of grilled food he would normally eat at the the Freej Soweileh or Mughal Mahal in Kuwait, and although the combination was not mentioned in the menu we decided to go ahead assuming it would cost the average price of their expensive dish.
The food I must say was extremely disappointing and the butter chicken, the lamb biriyani, the rice and the mix platter were so ordinary that any small takeaway joint in Kuwait would have prepared better food. Our Chinese friend wanted to know if this was the type of rice we ate in India and when I told Vipul that the rice was undercooked and of low quality, he proudly told me that the rice came all the way from Peshawar (Pakistan). Believe me; it was worse than lowest grade ration rice we buy in India and surely not from Peshawar.
The disappointment of the food was nothing compared to the mild heart attack I was about to get when we finally asked for our bill. Now, I am not exaggerating, and I am enclosing a copy of the bill as valid proof, but this is exactly what we paid:-
Description Price in RMB
Masala tea 45
Kebab Platter (Veg) 160
Mix seafood and lamb platter 390
Green salad 38
Butter chicken 115
Lamb Biriyani 110
Rice plate 50
Plain Naan (3 pcs) 54
Johnnie Walker Black (60ml) 140
Soft drinks & Juice (3) 120
Service Charge (15 %) 183
Total 1405
We immediately realized we were duped and asked to see the manager. However, our con-artist friend said that he manages the restaurant and when we wanted to know how he decided on the charges for the Mix seafood and meat platter, he immediately pointed out that he took the average of each dish separately , added together and charged accordingly.
Flabbergasted, we wondered if we had ever eaten such ordinary food at such a cost ever in our life. We have dined in some pretty nice restaurants in Kuwait and other places and on a day like this I realized the value of living in Kuwait and eating good Indian food at reasonable rates. Our Chinese friend was upset too. He couldn’t believe that Indian food was so expensive and according to him, his family would spend in a month on food, on what we spend in one evening.
A guest sitting at a nearby table with his wife (they too are on a visit to China) came over and tried to reason out with Vipul that he cannot charge us rates not mentioned on the menu, but Vipul immediately tried to push him back to his table saying that it was none of his business and to mind his own business.
My Kuwaiti friend who by the way was footing the bill, told Vipul that we would write on the internet about the exorbitant prices and even take up the matter with the Indian Embassy in China and Chinese Consulate in Kuwait, but Vipul seemed to hardly care. A second restaurant supervisor (did not take his name) was much more sympathetic to our situation, and even offered us complementary ice-cream and dessert. However, from his behavior I realized that he was keener on us complaining about Vipul to better his position in the restaurant than to actually help us.
China is such a great country and I will be writing a separate blog about the wonderful people, the culture, the food and greatness of this country, but feel sad that far away from my own country I was cheated in an Indian restaurant by a con artist from New Delhi.
Along the way, I learned a few lessons which fellow travels must note when visiting restaurants at home or overseas : 1) Never mention you have come from the Middle East or a rich country, people assume that you come from a place where the streets are littered with gold and will charge you accordingly. 2) Always check for the price of items you may order and are not mentioned in the menu. 3) Look for hidden costs. We were not aware of the 15% service charge.
Julio Cardoso
Kuwait
It was on the last day of our stay in China that my Kuwaiti colleague who traveled with me started missing his own kind of food and since we could not locate any Arabic restaurant nearby, we decided to try an Indian restaurant we managed to locate via goggle, close to where we were staying. Since we were also entertaining a Chinese business colleague, I felt it would be a good opportunity to let him try and appreciate good Indian food. What a mistake it was!!!
The name of the restaurant is ‘The Tandoor Shanghai’ and it is located in the Jinjiang Hotel in the busy part of Shanghai. As we (my colleague and the Chinese friend) entered, the first thing that struck us was the beautiful décor and the cozy seating arrangements, but alas that is just about all the good I can say about this restaurant.
The menu presented to us by the waiter who by the way took his own time to reach us made me realize that perhaps we had made a mistake with price of dishes varying from 95 RMB to 160 RMB. Still, after making a quick mental calculation I worked out that we would be spending something like 600 RMB for our meal (Approx. KD.27/-) and since we did not want to embarrass ourselves in front of our Chinese friend, we decided to go ahead and order.
Shortly after we were seated, a gentleman who introduced himself as Vipul came to take our order. Handsome character with a charming smile, the first thing he wanted to know was, where we were from. Without a thought, I proudly blurted out that we had come from Kuwait and introduced him to everyone on the table. Smart alec that I am, I also told him that it was our first time in Shanghai, big mistake # 1. Con artist that he was, he immediately tried speaking to my colleague in broken Arabic and explained that he hails from New Delhi and had been in China for the last 25 years. His friendly attitude caught us off guard and this led to our mistake # 2, allowing him to suggest what we should eat, including items off the menu.
Since my Kuwaiti friend was keen on avoiding chicken, Vipul suggested the Vegetable kebab platter (basically grilled vegetables) and a mix grilled platter of sea food and meat. My Kuwaiti friend immediately agreed, I am sure visualizing the type of grilled food he would normally eat at the the Freej Soweileh or Mughal Mahal in Kuwait, and although the combination was not mentioned in the menu we decided to go ahead assuming it would cost the average price of their expensive dish.
The food I must say was extremely disappointing and the butter chicken, the lamb biriyani, the rice and the mix platter were so ordinary that any small takeaway joint in Kuwait would have prepared better food. Our Chinese friend wanted to know if this was the type of rice we ate in India and when I told Vipul that the rice was undercooked and of low quality, he proudly told me that the rice came all the way from Peshawar (Pakistan). Believe me; it was worse than lowest grade ration rice we buy in India and surely not from Peshawar.
The disappointment of the food was nothing compared to the mild heart attack I was about to get when we finally asked for our bill. Now, I am not exaggerating, and I am enclosing a copy of the bill as valid proof, but this is exactly what we paid:-
Description Price in RMB
Masala tea 45
Kebab Platter (Veg) 160
Mix seafood and lamb platter 390
Green salad 38
Butter chicken 115
Lamb Biriyani 110
Rice plate 50
Plain Naan (3 pcs) 54
Johnnie Walker Black (60ml) 140
Soft drinks & Juice (3) 120
Service Charge (15 %) 183
Total 1405
We immediately realized we were duped and asked to see the manager. However, our con-artist friend said that he manages the restaurant and when we wanted to know how he decided on the charges for the Mix seafood and meat platter, he immediately pointed out that he took the average of each dish separately , added together and charged accordingly.
Flabbergasted, we wondered if we had ever eaten such ordinary food at such a cost ever in our life. We have dined in some pretty nice restaurants in Kuwait and other places and on a day like this I realized the value of living in Kuwait and eating good Indian food at reasonable rates. Our Chinese friend was upset too. He couldn’t believe that Indian food was so expensive and according to him, his family would spend in a month on food, on what we spend in one evening.
A guest sitting at a nearby table with his wife (they too are on a visit to China) came over and tried to reason out with Vipul that he cannot charge us rates not mentioned on the menu, but Vipul immediately tried to push him back to his table saying that it was none of his business and to mind his own business.
My Kuwaiti friend who by the way was footing the bill, told Vipul that we would write on the internet about the exorbitant prices and even take up the matter with the Indian Embassy in China and Chinese Consulate in Kuwait, but Vipul seemed to hardly care. A second restaurant supervisor (did not take his name) was much more sympathetic to our situation, and even offered us complementary ice-cream and dessert. However, from his behavior I realized that he was keener on us complaining about Vipul to better his position in the restaurant than to actually help us.
China is such a great country and I will be writing a separate blog about the wonderful people, the culture, the food and greatness of this country, but feel sad that far away from my own country I was cheated in an Indian restaurant by a con artist from New Delhi.
Along the way, I learned a few lessons which fellow travels must note when visiting restaurants at home or overseas : 1) Never mention you have come from the Middle East or a rich country, people assume that you come from a place where the streets are littered with gold and will charge you accordingly. 2) Always check for the price of items you may order and are not mentioned in the menu. 3) Look for hidden costs. We were not aware of the 15% service charge.
Julio Cardoso
Kuwait
No comments:
Post a Comment