My food
adventures at Manali were yummay, it was a pity that I couldn’t explore more
though. On our way back from Manali, we stayed overnight at Chandigarh. As we caught up with a few
friends, we decided to go out for a quick dinner.
First off, Chandigarh is a beautiful
city! It’s quiet, not exploding with people and very clean, We stayed near the
Panchkula side and had a wide variety of restaurants to choose from at 10:30 pm
(I thought of Bangalore
when waiters would nudge me at 10:30 asking for our last order :/)
Anyway, we
decided to go to Flamme Bois Bistro, which was a very popular hangout for the
people of Chandigarh
(or so I’ve been told). The restaurant looked very nice, like your typical café
given a classy makeover. It was well-lit, there was good music being played and
the aromas from the kitchen filled the air.
Despite
being a late Saturday night, the place was only half-full. We didn’t mind
though. We managed to get a table and looked through the menus. When we were
ready to place our order, we were frantically waving to every server around,
but everybody ignored us. By ignore, I don’t mean that they didn’t see/missed
us. but they saw us and never came upto us. Finally, one of the servers lazily
came up to us and took our order. (I’m very glad that we placed our entire
order at one go, I can’t imagine multiple scenarios like this)
First up,
came my Chicken Hawaiian Salad. The chicken was tender, tossed in mayo with
other veggies and chunks of pineapple and served in a pineapple boat. This was
one of the best salads that I’ve ever tried. The salad was very refreshing and
delicious, and it was also a decently large option. It earned brownie points
for the unique presentation as well.
Next, my
friend, a regular here, ordered the Chicken Wings, which were supposed to be a
specialty here. The wings were de-lish-ious. Really. The meat was soft and warm
and coated in this wonderful honey soy sauce with a slight hint of chilli that
made these wings delectable. My only grouse was all that honey made our hands
very sticky and made for a not-so-pretty sight.
My sister
then ordered the Pan Seared Fish with Lemon Butter Sauce for the mains and I
ordered a veggie pizza. The fish was
lightly browned on the outside and cooked to perfection on the inside. It was
seasoned just right and the lemon butter sauce wasn’t too overly lemon-y either
(I’ve tasted horribly sour lemon butter sauces at some fine restaurants). The
accompanying mash and veggies paired well with the fish.
The pizza I
ordered was a simple Tomato and Mushroom pizza. The pizza tasted great and the
thin crust was nice and yum. I generally prefer pizzas with fewer toppings so
that I can enjoy their taste more rather than overfilling them with every
possible topping, and this pizza was perfect in every sense. And extremely
filling as well.
My friend
finally finished with ordering the Blueberry Pie, another signature
dish. I wasn't the biggest fan of the pie's texture as it was VERY crumbly and dissolved the moment my spoon touched it. The
blueberry preserve was sickeningly sweet and neither of us could
finish it (despite having ordered only one portion for four people). My friend concluded that it was one of their worst desserts so far,
and ruined an otherwise great meal. We concurred.
During the
course of us devouring dishes, we were
trying desperately to reach out to the waiters for water, seasonings, sauces,
etc. Every request was simply ignored and while the water finally came 15
minutes later, I had taken the cutlery, seasonings and sauces from an empty
table next to mine. Let me add that the waiter standing by the side saw me do
this and didn’t come forward to help.
Also, the
place was only half-full, and many of the waiters were just standing by doing
nothing and ignoring a lot of customer requests. I failed to understand this
complete nonchalance, and thought it was outright rude and insulting. When the
bill came, I noticed that there was a 10% service charge (in addition to the
VAT and service tax). I told the waiter that I didn’t want to pay the service
charge as I didn’t like it and asked him if he could cancel it. He said that it
was compulsory and that I had to pay. I told him that it was compulsory for him
to have given me good service.
A minute
later, the owner came over to my table and said in his most indifferent tone
“Service charge is compulsory, but if you didn’t like the service, don’t pay
it”. So I didn’t. I was also surprised with the fact that the owner didn’t
bother finding out what went wrong or had even the slightest hint of apology
while telling me that I didn’t need to pay it. Anyway, what’s done is done. I
would request all of you to carefully check the service charge, NOT the tax
while dining out. Speak to the management if you didn’t receive good service. I
think customers should be allowed to pay what they deem fit depending upon the
service they received. This kind of ‘forced tipping’ is not something I enjoy.
Food – 8/10
Ambience –
9/10
Service –
0/10
Overall
verdict – Go for the food, and maybe a takeaway might be a good option :)
Have you
had a similar experience at a restaurant? I would love to hear about
it! Do leave a comment!
