Mezethes

A belated dinner at Mezethes last night bought this years birthday celebrations to an end for Rita. My son dropped in to take the old girl out for an airing, so off we went.

He has continued the family tradition of passion about the hospitality industry, with his focus being on exceptional customer service, and the provision of same. He prides himself on being able to deliver a quality service experience to the customers at his (hospitality) workplace and is quite critical of waitstaff who don't maintain this.

So - now you understand a bit of the background of my comments about Mezethes.

Wintry Hobart Monday night. First customers there. We order: for an entree, the main course Prawn Saganaki to share, followed by the Meat Platter for 2 as our main (average prices $24 each).

Once again, the experience was very average. The food average. Not startlingly good or bad. Merely OK. If that's the way you want to play it, go ahead.

The Prawn Saganaki was boring. It was just a tomato concasse with red capsis & fetta added, plus 6 prawns. I thought saganaki was that delightful greek cheese that you panfry and have accompanied by any number of things, the tomato concasse being one of them, but there was absolutely no sign of anything resembling that in our shared dish.

The service by our particular waiter was bad. Having taken our order for the shared main as an entree, then delivered same, you'd have thought that along with the bowl of tomato/prawn concasse mix, plus separate bowl of accompanying rice, he'd have had the forethought to add a spoon to each serving bowl SO THAT WE COULD SERVE OURSELVES! Oh no. We waited, trying to attract his attention, but in the end, impatient son got up and went to the cutlery container on the counter and helped himself!

No comments or apologies by staff. I find that attitude so pathetic. It is one of those many times in my life in Hobart restaurants that I mentally throw up my hands in horror, and think WTF!!!

No wonder the visitor numbers are going down. If I live interstate, why would I pay so much money to get here to receive the indifferent service that seems to be the norm in many local businesses?

On the plus side, there are many really aware operators who give us our great tourism name, and for whom we can thank for any repeat business we get from tourists, but you only need a few of those negative experiences to sour a whole trip, and send you back to the mainland whinging about those bloody Tassie people yet again.

Anyway - the upside of the night was that dealings with the other waiter were really great. When he bought the wine (which Mr I-don't-give-a-toss had omitted to ask about when he delivered the mains) he was friendly, conversational and all you'd expect your waiter to be.

Which just goes to prove to me that a lot of the dining out experience has to do with your wait person, and the fact that their attitude can make or break your enjoyment of the meal.

Smurf - if you're out there - now's your chance to respond!