Airstream Cafe, you disappoint me. I've been a long time customer because of the close proximity to home and I never thought it was such a bad place to enjoy a good catchup or a quick meal. That is, until Christmas day.
It was a boiling hot day and I was running late to meet my mum and brother for lunch. As I sat down, I ordered myself a Miami Spice mocktail which was meant to include mixed berries, plain yoghurt, apricot nectar and ice cream for $7.50. What I got was a pineapple juice.
As I was very thirsty, I didn't notice it was the wrong drink until I took a sip. I initially didn't want to change the drink out of courtesy, but our waitress insisted she could change it so I agreed.
Even before the waitress finished writing it down, she turned around and said to me 'let me just check with my manager first, since you did take a sip already.' That was after she convinced me to change it.
'Ok, I said', with a very confused look on my face. Would it matter if I took a sip already? They shouldn't be serving my drink to someone else anyway. Unsurprisingly, she came back and said 'sorry but I can't change the drink for you since you've taken a sip already. Would you like to order a Miami Spice on top of the pineapple juice?'
My eyebrow twitched, my face turned red and my frustration boiled over. I felt like it was MY fault because I took a sip by mistake so I should just deal with it. I complained. After a while, the waitress came back and said 'my manager said ok, I can change it for you' but it was too late. I was going to drink that pineapple juice, feel bitter and then blog about it.
It's a wonder how once I was in a bad mood, I start seeing all the flaws of the restaurant. The chicken calzone ($16.90) we ordered came out with undercooked pastry. When I bit into it, the pastry was stuck to my teeth. The filling was nice though but it wasn't enough to make me like the dish.
The Airstream Deluxe pizza ($16.40) was too salty and the base became soggy very quickly. The salami was dry and overall just wasn't a nice pizza.
The duck risotto ($21.50) was quite tasty, but had way too much pepper. I love pepper so that's saying something. Despite the pepper, I still liked this dish the most out of all the ones we ordered.
Jeff, my brother, also ordered a pint of lemon lime & bitters for $6.40. It was a reasonably large drink but $6.40 for such something so ordinary is a bit much. I didn't taste it however so not sure how good it was. Mum ordered a blue spider for $5.50 which was quite nice, but as she drank half of it before I even got there, I didn't take a photo.
Before we finished our meal, another waiter came up and put an iced coffee on the table. 'We didn't order that' I said and he looked confused. The next table also shook their heads. The same waitress who took our order took the blame and from what it looked like, she was made to pay and drank the iced coffee herself. It was messed up.
As you can see, the dishes weren't even cheap. For the bad service I received and the very average food, there are plenty more cafes around that I'd rather go to such as Mocha Jo's just across the road.
I will NOT be returning here again, even with the Entertainment Book voucher. You've just lost a regular customer Airstream, although you probably don't care.
I had wanted to post this up as soon as I ate there for lunch on Christmas Eve, but Yuye was right. It was Christmas and I didn't want to ruin anyone's day by reading such an unhappy post.
Question time: Have you ever had bad service at a restaurant? Would you normally complain or would you just ignore it?
Airstream Cafe
Phone: (03) 9545 1800
287 Springvale Rd, Glen Waverley VIC 3150
http://www.airstreamcafe.com.au
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woh... that totally sucked D :
ReplyDeleteand it's stupid that they didnt change the drink for u! what~~ i mean is that how u treat customers for ur mistakes? i hate managers like that. i had an argument over the size of a parfait i had in the restaurant before. anyways. will tell u that another time.
it's amusing to see one of ur photos with someone crossing their arms in the background haha u guys must be pretty unhappy :P
It sounds like she might have been new, but that really isn't an excuse when the management is bad. As a server, I have always hated the entertainment books, in the States no one knows how to tip when they use them. I find its best to not show the entertainment coupon until the end of the meal.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain!! I had the same 'BAD' experience last time I was at Airstream Cafe!!! I only went because of the Entertainment book voucher but it was horrible, bad service and horrible food!!!
ReplyDeleteI usually complain and never return but I do that after I've had the food, because I've heard of scary stories before where the chefs will put all kinds of things in your dish if you complain and return the food to the kitchen :(
Thanks for your post though! Others should be warned not to visit!
Happy New Years in advance!
Oh I hate it when the service at a restaurant lets you down and ruins your meal :(
ReplyDeleteI had a really bad experience at this newly opened restaurant near my house. When we went there, we were seated outside. It was cold, there was minimal light and the smell of manure in the garden was obvious. They waiters took ages to give us a menu, then ages to take our order. I ordered some grilled calamari with aioli. The calamari was gross and there was no aioli.
I wanted to write a bad review on their urbanspoon page but felt bad about it so I just clicked "didn't like" instead.
@bunnyy, lol that's my brother in the background with his arms crossed...I don't think he did it because he was angry, it just happened. :P But yes, I wasn't happy. :(
ReplyDelete@Deanna, I think she was new but it wasn't really all her fault, it was the management's choice to not change my drink. :( I didn't even use an Entertainment Book voucher...
@Daisy, oh no! I have seen bad reviews on Urbanspoon about Airstream before and never really thought much about it but there's always a reason for the bad reviews. :( Now I'm one of the 'dislike' people.
@Choux-Fleur, I know right? It was Christmas Eve as well and great weather outside. :( Ruined my mood completely. Your experience sounds really bad, even worse than mine! You should just write about it on your blog and Urbanspoon, no need to feel bad since I'm sure they didn't feel anything for making your experience bad!
Wow, that's terrible. And there are so many other places that people can go so you'd think they'd lift their game to stay competitive.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame because it looks so delicious...
ReplyDeleteUgh, what a disappointment! Wishing you a happy new year full of delicious food and wonderful service :)
ReplyDeleteHaha I like how your brother crossed his arms.
ReplyDeleteThe drink issue is pathetic. You took a sip of JUICE which does not cost very much at all. I do not think some places pay attention to these little details of customer service and it ends badly.
I used to work in a bar and a lemon lime bitters was only $3! Crazy!
@Scott, I know..:( The food was never fantastic, but it wasn't too bad either. I wouldn't return just for the bad service though.
ReplyDelete@Lizzy, I was quite disappointed! :P But it's ok, I'm not upset anymore. Happy New Year to you too!
@Miss Kimbers, I thought it was pathetic too, it wasn't like I took a sip and then just felt like changing to a different drink because I didn't like it...it was actually their mistake :( Either way, I won't be returning...
excellent shots. may i know what brand (DSLR) are you using now?
ReplyDelete@Loveforfood, I use the Canon 550D, it's a small DSLR but does fine for what I need it for. :)
ReplyDeletewayy too far for me
ReplyDelete