Lately, I just haven't been inspired to blog. Part if it is that I think about stuff to write when I'm walking around, but I rarely get around to actually writing them. Part of it is that I just it doesn't seem like much is going on to talk about....I work, I come home, sometimes we eat at home, other times we go out. Sam built some speakers, so we've been listening to a lot of music to test them out.
Last weekend, though, we went out to dinner with some friends, R. and W., with the intention of grabbing dinner before seeing "There Will Be Blood". I suggested Restaurant New Orleans, a restaurant on Fulton not to far from BAM where were going to see the movie. I've passed by this place numerous times walking back from BAM and it always intrigues me. It is decorated like someone's parlor, but half the time its empty and sometimes we've passed by around 10pm and its been dark, with a woman sitting at a computer in the window.
Anyway, we decided to meet at 7, figuring it would leave us plenty of time to catch the 9pm movie. We sat down and browsed the menu while the man who sat us looked for a bottle opener and glasses for the bottle of wine we brought with us (byob). This took about 10 minutes, and the glasses we got were sherry glasses. When the waitress came to take our order, she nearly forgot to take W's order.
And then the fun started. R and W had ordered crab cakes and we had ordered shrimp cocktail as appetizers, but after about 20 minutes, only the crab cakes came out. After a few minutes, we tracked down our waitress (who was astonishingly hard to track down in a place that was also the size of a parlor), she said our appetizer was on its way. But then out came my catfish (which Sam and R had ordered as well), with a sweet potato on the side. I had ordered spinach and something else. The waitress said they were out of whatever sides I had ordered but they could make some nice garlic brussels sprouts. Sure, why not. About 5 minutes later, out came Sam and R's catfish as well. R's grilled catfish looked exactly the same as our blackened catfish. And they didn't have any sides. And there was no sign of W's gumbo. And it was about 8:30. The brussles sprouts never appeared.
We reminded our waitress about the appetizer, though we told her to just forget about it since we were already eating our main course. And then, about 5 minutes later, the reason for the missing shrimp cocktail became clear - they "were having a problem with the shrimp". And so they couldn't make the gumbo either. But they offered to make W a nice salmon fillet instead, on the house. She brought out a bowl of red beans and rice on the house too (we still never received any sides other than my sweet potato), so W ate those while waiting for the salmon, which came around 8:50. So we asked for the check too and paid that while W ate.
They felt so bad for all the trouble, so they comped us for two of the entrees and also offered us free brunch (though they didn't give us anything in writing indicating this). And they seemed so genuine that we weren't really upset about the service, mystified was the better word for our state. I mean, if they didn't have shrimp, they could have told us an hour earlier. Or the whole issue with the sides. W's dish came with collards, which both Sam and R had ordered but never came. How the place stays in business was the biggest question - its been there since we moved to the neighborhood I think. The food we did get was very good, but it just seemed like such a haphazard business that it was surprising that it was able to stay open.
Oh, and when we got to BAM right at 9pm, the movie was sold out. We saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly instead, which was very good, but of course, not what we had our hopes on seeing. Despite all the issues, it was still a fun evening.
Posted by dahl at February 10, 2008 2:34 PM
It sounds a lot like the awful dinner experience we had in St. Paul at Cafe Margeaux - now replaced by an old established Thai restaurant. The food was good and the owner there was very sweet too, and sent me a long email apologizing, but they couldn't get it under control - and it certainly wasn't lack of customers in that case. But the sharing any kind of dinner with freinds or family: priceless.