So, today I had arranged to have coffee/late breakfast with my pregnant friend Ozzi and as a treat she decided to take me to Zamalek.. We agreed to try Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf since we both never tried it.. So, we meet in Korba, go to Zamalek in 20 mins and start looking for abul fida (we both totally forgot how to get there and kept randomly choosing streets!) then, upon finding it, looking for a parking spot.. this process took double the time we took on the way from Helio! aaanyway, we go in, check the place and menu out and decide to give it a go.. We stand to order. No other customers are at the counter so we take our sweet time thinking out loud.. meanwhile, the cashier gets bored and decides to go get Ozzi's coffee ready while the 2 spoiled brats (us) make up their minds while giving us the "whats taking you so much time" look!! We order and take our coffees upstairs to be followed by our sandwiches.. And here is what happens:
* My sadnwich comes without a knife and fork even tho there is a side salad with it
* Both plates + coffees come with NO napkins whatsoever.. Nothing, Zero, Null! Not even paper coasters to put the plates on.. Yalla ma3lish, I go look for napkins.. I look @ the sugar stand, but there is nothing.. So i go downstairs to the lady and ask for some.. She looks at the ground where there is one of these biiiiiiiiiiiig bags that cotain like packs of 5 thousand napkins, looks back at me and say "la2 ma3andeesh!!!!!!!!" COME ON WOMAN, I can see the BAG! I think am hallucinating and go back upstairs.. We see another waitress upstairs, I ask _her_ for napkins and she says ok.. 10 mins later, nothing.. I ask again, she says ok.. 10 mins later, still nothing... we are having a good time so we dont mind the sloppy service.. We notice that everyone around us is having coffee/drinks only.. no one eating.. we think "so they're not used to ppl ordering food here!" Oz finishes her sandwich and ask for napkins from the same woman.. 5 mins later she comes back. They must've finally opened that magic napkins bag because she comes back with one.. YES, o.n.e. napkin!!!! we look at it, at her, at each other then burst laughing.. She doesnt get it.. We split the napkin after she leaves..
* 5 mins later she is cleaning our cups, my sandwich is in my hand, she looks and it, and takes away my plate!! Wallahi I am not kidding! As if "you're holding the sandwich khalas, you dont need the plate". I stare after her in disbelief...
Anyway, the rest of the adventure is uneventful, as we run into Fancy by chance (a friend from work) who joins us for the remaining hour, then run into MB (another guy from work) & his wife..
Go there for take out stuff... Service is sloppy.. not the kind that you can actually fight about, but just the kind that makes your mouth drop in disbelief :D
8 comments:
Every time I pass by Borg Om Kalthoum, I find this CB&TL place full to its brim, I actually considered giving it a go.But not anymore, not after what u said. Why waste my time there, when I can hop in next door and enjoy my coffee the Cilantro way?! The only drawback with the lovely Nile view there is the '3awamat' :S
I think you should still ignore what I said and give it a go.. Almost everyone else who went there liked it.. ya3ni i would consider this a blunder from their side and go there again honestly :D
yeah the 3awamat suck.. remind me of an older era keda..
Seems they had a napkin "GARD" on that day that's why they weren't letting any out...lol
If you'd have gone to SHABRAWY, u'd end up with better service :)
Well people in Egypt generally hate their jobs, and to make it even worse, serving people even as part of their job is considered very self degrading.
I guess the only service we get is either by someone who hates our guts and thinks we should be grateful to be in his/her presence no matter what, or someone who tries to provide mediocre service provided by an overfriendly-weak but trying hard English talking-not giving me enough space to eat kind of person.
lol.. remember the cilantro over-friendly guy that made you go like "I think he'll ask me about my msn next"
Always keda watching you, waiting for u to look their way, etc...
Another thing is my theory that waiters in Egypt have a motto "Avoid eye contact at all costs!"
You need to come to algeria to really appreciate the value of complaining and actually having an alternative
Still I do not get how you missed Abu El Feda Fel Zamalek
Lovely story :) I'm so looking forward to coming back now! This story stands in 100% contrast to life here in the U.S. Here they have such a culture of "abundance"! It's like "want a napkin? have 50! oh, and here's an extra sandwich too...and fries...and here's a gift card so you can eat for free next time" :) But here the way they deal with food makes me feel sick sometimes. Europeans. Those are people who know how to enjoy a meal. Just the right amount of food to enjoy and remain just on the verge of wanting more :D I ate the best creme brule in the world in Montmartre. Amelie...Amelie...wherefore art thou Amelie??
El Manadeel ghelyet ya Nag, com'on, give them a break :)
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