Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Eating out is a 360 degrees experience
The pleasure of eating out is not only made up of the food that one ingests - the surroundings and the service you receive will either enhance your experience or greatly diminish it. Funnily enough, even the journey of getting to the eatery can have an impact. When you're ratty and exhausted from trying to navigate the impossibly narrow streets (probably facing off a big f**k-off 4WD) or the equally draining experience of trying to find a car park, sometimes, the service and the meal needs to be just that extra bit more special to help soothe that furrowed brow (if you've stayed away from the botox, that is).
And sometimes, when you've arrived at your eating destination with no cares in the world, your dining experience can be rather depressing. My recent dining experience, unfortunately, has triggered this particular diatribe. So bad was this place (for what they were charging) that I'm even going to split this review into food, then into service. Yep, this is a bit of a rant - sorry! Blame the eatery!
Eat Food
Cats Tango, Onetangi Beach, Waiheke Island
Westie Boy and I happened to be having a relaxing overnighter at the gorgeous Onetangi Beach, Waiheke Island. This place is stunning. Funnily enough, I can clearly remember reading a restaurant review, think it might have been by Peter Calder, where they said that many places that have priceless views often suffer from being too lax about their food - as though they could get by with so-so food, because their views are brilliant.
Cats Tango suffers from exactly this lethargy. Not only that, Cats Tango is the only restaurant within walking distance of Onetangi Beach, so they have a bit of a monopoly on the diners in the immediate vicinity.
So, having checked out the small but perfectly acceptable menu, we trooped inside. Our cheerful waiter led us to a table for two, and we three all stood there for perhaps half a minute until the waiter realised that while there were indeed two settings on the table, there was only one chair. Brushing that aside, we sat down (with two chairs) and perused the wine list. Another young waiter came over for our beverage order and I asked for a glass of the local riesling (Waiheke produces some pretty good wine). "Ohh, that one's not available I'm sorry". Humph. Surely you should let people know immediately what, if anything, isn't available?
Before anyone tells me that I'm being harsh, I need to walk a mile in their shoes etc - I have. I've been a waiter and I know how hard it can be, still smiling and efficient after six hours straight of rushing around on your feet, plates that weigh a ton stacking eight high on one arm and wine knife threatening to topple from your apron pocket into the eating tray of the toddler at a table. But I also know that it's not hard to get the basics pat, and all the more worth it to polish these basics until good service becomes second nature.
The pleasure of eating out is not only made up of the food that one ingests - the surroundings and the service you receive will either enhance your experience or greatly diminish it. Funnily enough, even the journey of getting to the eatery can have an impact. When you're ratty and exhausted from trying to navigate the impossibly narrow streets (probably facing off a big f**k-off 4WD) or the equally draining experience of trying to find a car park, sometimes, the service and the meal needs to be just that extra bit more special to help soothe that furrowed brow (if you've stayed away from the botox, that is).
And sometimes, when you've arrived at your eating destination with no cares in the world, your dining experience can be rather depressing. My recent dining experience, unfortunately, has triggered this particular diatribe. So bad was this place (for what they were charging) that I'm even going to split this review into food, then into service. Yep, this is a bit of a rant - sorry! Blame the eatery!
Eat Food
Cats Tango, Onetangi Beach, Waiheke Island
Westie Boy and I happened to be having a relaxing overnighter at the gorgeous Onetangi Beach, Waiheke Island. This place is stunning. Funnily enough, I can clearly remember reading a restaurant review, think it might have been by Peter Calder, where they said that many places that have priceless views often suffer from being too lax about their food - as though they could get by with so-so food, because their views are brilliant.
Cats Tango suffers from exactly this lethargy. Not only that, Cats Tango is the only restaurant within walking distance of Onetangi Beach, so they have a bit of a monopoly on the diners in the immediate vicinity.
So, having checked out the small but perfectly acceptable menu, we trooped inside. Our cheerful waiter led us to a table for two, and we three all stood there for perhaps half a minute until the waiter realised that while there were indeed two settings on the table, there was only one chair. Brushing that aside, we sat down (with two chairs) and perused the wine list. Another young waiter came over for our beverage order and I asked for a glass of the local riesling (Waiheke produces some pretty good wine). "Ohh, that one's not available I'm sorry". Humph. Surely you should let people know immediately what, if anything, isn't available?
Anyway, moving on. As mentioned, food menu was small but had some promising-sounding choices. Given that it's the period right after the Christmas indulgence, I was keen not to let my eyes be bigger than my stomach and decided to skip over entrees, even though I liked the sound of the scallops. I settled for the garlic prawns on penne pasta with alfredo sauce, while Westie Boy plumped for the chargrilled tuna on jasmine rice. Meanwhile, our drinks hadn't arrived - and another table who placed their order after us seemed to have their drinks already. Hmm.
A third waiter came to take our food orders, and my order was greeted with "Didn't tell you what wasn't available?" No, they didn't. This is getting worse by the minute. In fact, it transpired that two of the six mains weren't available, my prawns being one of them, and also, there was just one serving of the gnocchi left. Right then. I picked the roast chicken with garden vegetables instead, then "what about drinks?" Well, we've already ordered and they haven't arrived yet.
Drinks arrived after that reminder, and then our food. As I write this blog, what really drags a derisive laugh from me is that I see Cats Tango has a website and describes themselves as 'fine dining'. Tell me, does fine dining mean overcooked chicken? My half roast chicken was dry as a bone, the carrots were undercooked and the pastry basket was simply a piece of puff pastry that lay under the chicken. Poor Westie Boy, a huge fan of tuna, found his tuna to be cooked through and covered with burnt sesame seeds. His comment sums the dish up perfectly - "I've had better from a can." Are the chefs away on holiday?
Sadly, we mourned the state of what could have been a perfectly good piece of tuna. I'd finished with my dry chicken, knife and fork in the 'finished' position, but Westie Boy was still eating. Up pops the waiter who takes away my plate, while Westie Boy was still eating. Fine dining? Cats Tango, if you aspire to be fine dining - take some food and service lessons from Sails Restaurant. You need it.
Oh - we couldn't face dessert. Not after the mains.
Food Service
Before anyone tells me that I'm being harsh, I need to walk a mile in their shoes etc - I have. I've been a waiter and I know how hard it can be, still smiling and efficient after six hours straight of rushing around on your feet, plates that weigh a ton stacking eight high on one arm and wine knife threatening to topple from your apron pocket into the eating tray of the toddler at a table. But I also know that it's not hard to get the basics pat, and all the more worth it to polish these basics until good service becomes second nature.
When I reflect on it, the service at Cats Tango wasn't downright terrible - it's not like anyone was rude, in fact, quite the opposite. But coupled with the food disasters, the whole dining experience just went down like a lead balloon. So here goes a few notes:
- If you don't have items on your menu (food or drink) available for that sitting, then let your patrons know as soon as they are seated, not after they've made their choices and are just waiting for you to take their orders.
- Don't carry drinks without using a drinks tray. Maybe that's fine when you're just the local cafe, but seeing that you are self proclaiming 'fine dining' - then use the tray. Oh yeah - it's easier to carry a drinks tray if you balance it in the middle on your palm, not holding onto the edge for dear life.
- Don't clear the table before the entire table has finished eating. This applies to everyone unless you're a buffet restaurant.
So that's my wee rant. Somehow I think perhaps that no-one was even teaching the waiters service - as though all waitering is simply the mechanism of getting of food/drink orders and then the safe delivery of said items. One last thing - just a bit of an odd one - why were there linen tablecloths on all the tables, but paper serviettes on top? If you're going to the trouble of linen tablecloths, surely you'e add in the linen napkins too?
Still interested? Cats Tango have a website http://www.catstango.co.nz/
# posted by City Girl @ 5:38 pm 
