Yesterday, there was the bikini, beach towel and jewelry sale of friends, and a percentage of the profit would be going to an association called “Act In Kind”. So I went to see them and check out the beautiful stuff.
After the sale, my friends and I went to have a drink at “Le Soleil Rouge”, do you remember the wine and tapas place? Well if in winter it is a good spot, in summer not that much. As the weather was warm, everybody was outside, but different crowd this time. It seemed people who saw the crowd on the side walk… stopped. The wine was still good though, and the tapas … as long as you stick to the basics, fine. I would not advise any fish related tapas there (personal experience talking).
So after a while we wanted to go to a place where we could sit and nibble, as these tapas weren’t exactly what we were looking for. So we decided to go to “the Cottage” café. It is a restaurant on rive droite, just across the Richmond Hotel (actually it used to be their restaurant). The menu is composed of Mediterranean tapas, and they have a great terrace. The only thing I reproach them is the service. The owner keeps hiring these students, they are lovely but every time I go, either they forget to bring something or disappear on me. The restaurant lost a lot of lunch clienteles, simply because people had enough of waiting, and had limited time.
So last night before going there, I told to my friends, the food is great but don’t expect much about the service. And I wasn’t wrong, beside the fact that they missed one order, our pulpo didn’t seem very fresh. I didn’t even try it but the smell of it was unbearable. And they literally forgot us, no one came to see us for at least half an hour, at a point that we were about to leave without paying… even then not sure they would have noticed. The service crew is lovely but has no idea about service, or even the product they are selling. They brought this “artisanal” drink that was supposed to be with berries… The color was beautiful, but the taste was all chemical, and when you read the label, beside chemical formulas you couldn’t read anything else. So you start to ask questions about their “artisanal” teas and ice creams as well.
Thanks god most of the food is yummy, and makes you forget a little about the quality of service 
Tag Archive: service
Last night a friend of mine organized a dinner a “Brasserie des Halles de L’Ile” in Geneva. We were all gonna meet up there; check out the photos exhibitions of New York than have dinner. I have been there last year the day they opened. We were a big group and it was a disaster; bad service and bad food… and they gave us the excuse of this is a test night. Well let me tell you I was happy to be there for that “test” night instead of the official opening night where a woman had been sexually abused in the restrooms. And apparently the aggressor, who was one of the guests, continued drinking at the bar after the attack. I guess I don’t need to add more, all these events didn’t really inspired me to go back there.
So when my friend proposed Les Halles de L’Ile, I was really hesitant at first, then decided to give another chance, and promised myself to not drink too much liquid so I won’t need to go to the restrooms 
It is located between Rive Droite and Rive Gauche, on the lake. The place is beautiful, it is owned by the city of Geneva, and the prices are not expensive at all. When I arrived, the outside court was full of people… the crowd??? hmm hard to explain, beside some homeless passing by, I saw few bankers, some artists and was particularly amazed seeing a bunch of young boys who were dressed to impress. One of them was wearing his bowler hat, and smoking his pipe… it looked like a low budget remake of “The Avengers” with the 12 year old boy as John Steed….
I finally sat at the table. The dining room is huge with lots of tables; it has a cafeteria feeling, with techno music on top. So no need to say very very noisy. Our waiter, who was a sweet man, was totally lost and definitely had hearing problems. He was running from one side of the room to the other side, like a headless chicken. We all knew that we had one chance to place our order, cause once he will leave our table; no one knew when he will be back. So we decided as a group to get really ready for our order before calling him. When he came everybody said what they wanted, and too bad for the ones not ready, who missed their chance to order appetizers. We right away ordered several bottle of wines, so we won’t be short on that side, and believe me to survive to that banging music you needed lots of liquids.
Food started to come, and they missed one appetizer, which was off course mine. When I finally got it, I was impressed by the quantity, my salmon petals were more like a salmon tree, and there were sooo many of them.
The main courses followed later and everybody seemed happy. So I must say the food got better, the service, giving the circumstances was ok. The price was cheap. Between cocktails, appetizers, main dish, desert and drinks, we pay per head, what you normally pay for a main dish in most of Geneva restaurants.
The restrooms? Well I kept my plan, and never went there, no need to take the risk. Would I return??? Not on my own initiative, but wouldn’t be totally against it if a plan comes along.
Apparently they have a great brunch, do I risk trying it…. Would let you know. In the meantime have a great week-end all