A bad host
“15 minutes later, this charmer asked us to move to another table, as he “had six people coming in and wanted to incorporate our table”
Having booked a table at a new restaurant, Lucinda O’Sullivan was taken aback when, with plenty of free tables available, she was pointed to a ledge with high stools and was generally made to feel unwelcome ‘H ave you a reservation?” The meeter-greeter swaggered towards us, all business with iPad in hand, at the new Host restaurant in Ranelagh. “Yes,” I said, confidently looking at the stretch of free tables along the banquette beside us. I had, after all, booked through their reservation service, Open Table. Our selected time of 7pm had offered a choice of seating — standard table, bar, or counter, with the fourth option of ‘high-top’ not available at that time.
I’d selected a standard table, also adding in the ‘special requirements’ box that it be “a nice table to the side, please”. I received a confirmation email of the booking for a table for two. However, to our amazement, he pointed us to a small, narrow ledge in the front window with high stools facing out to the street, suitable only if one wanted a quick coffee or a glass of wine and the place was packed — it was not.
After some discussion as to our reservation, he eventually, very ungraciously, pointed us to a middle table for two on the banquette, adding, “You can sit there for this evening but, for the future, we don’t reserve tables. You can have it til 9pm”.
The arrogance was breathtaking, and, frankly, if I hadn’t been working, I’d have walked. Sitting down, the girl at the next table leaned over and said that they’d had much the same unwelcoming experience. As she departed some 15 minutes later, quite unbelievably, he returned and asked us to move, lock, stock and barrel to another table, as he “had six people coming in and wanted to incorporate our table”.
Expressing our upset, I told him quietly that he’d been very unwelcoming and he should think on what he had said to us. He replied, “It wasn’t a booking, it was merely a preference.” I asked him to desist, saying I’d heard it all now. Catching our breath Moved to another table, it was now 7.20pm, and we were under orders to be out by 9pm. We were quite shaken by the rudeness, and it wasn’t easy to recover the evening. The gig, food-wise, is “small plates and quality cuts”. I asked a different guy waiting on the table who the owner was. He said it was the chef and a girl working on the floor, whose names he didn’t know, but I later found out.
Small plates (€6-€11) included a half-dozen Mediteranean tapas-style dishes, such as fried mozzarella and tomato; garlic mushrooms on toast; or burrata with smoked aubergine and radicchio; plus four pasta dishes, which could also be had as large plates (€13€21). The ‘cuts’ numbered four (€18-€21)
— covering piri piri chicken, pork chop, sea trout and rump steak. Racing the clock We kicked off with the ubiquitous squid rings (€9) with a couple of chunks of green peppers, some mayo and lemon; and an overly charred chorizo sausage (€5.50) split lengthways and served with fried onion and another little dollop of the mayo, both pictured left. We followed up with two small pasta plates — thick ribbons of papardelle in a duck ragu (€11) and linguine amply tossed with mussels and crab (€11). Both were tasty.
Desserts (€6) were ginger bread with caramel and mascarpone; affogato ;or chocolate tart with pistachio yoghurt. We both had the affogato: two little scoops of hazelnut ice-cream, and a little jug of coffee to the side. We also had the chocolate tart, which was absolutely delicious. It was now 9pm and, although no one else had entered since the party of six, and the place was half empty, I asked if we had time to have a quick coffee (€5.50 for both) at our precious table
— we had! It seems the birds in the bush had not materialised. A bottle in a message With a delicious bottle of crisp, organic Saladini Pilastri Falerio 2016 (€31), a blend of Passerina and Pecorino grapes from the March region of mid-eastern Italy; bottled water (€4.50), and service for the waiter, the bill came to €97.
The next day, I received a message from one of the owners, through the booking service, saying: “Hi Mary, [my pseudonym], I want to apologise for the mix-up with your table last night. Your booking had been made with a seat request, but unfortunately we missed this. I’d like to offer you a bottle of wine as an apology and would endeavour to offer you a much better service if you choose to return. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your evening despite this issue.”