My husband and I invited a group of 14 of our closest friends and relatives for Iftar ? the breaking of the fast during Ramadan, when Moslems fast from sun-up to sun-down. My husband called two days ahead, requesting the restaurant's private room and called again before arriving to request that everything be ready when the guests would arrive -- tables set, dates, water and fruit juice at each place and soup served immediately. He ordered the restaurant's most common menu item ? mixed grill, served with rice. The restaurant had a big sign in front announcing its "Ramadan Dinner," but the entire dinner was an embarrassment. Nothing he had requested came to pass. There was no service, to the point that I came close to getting up and clearing plates myself. The food dribbled in so slowly that a plate served to one part of the table would be totally gone before the next people received anything. It took about 15 minutes to get the juice. The dates arrived about an hour after we'd been there. We didn't even a attempt to get water glasses filled. We all had eaten so much bread that we were almost full when the first part of the main course arrived. Two guests had to leave before the rest of the mixed grill made it to the table. It was unanimously agreed by all to forgo dessert. I feel we owe our guests an apology for putting them through the ordeal of Iftar at Garson. They advertised a Ramadan Dinner. They know what a Ramadan Dinner is. They knew we were coming. The restaurant wasn't crowded. If they couldn't accommodate us, they should have taken down their sign and told us to make arrangements with another restaurant.
How was the food? I was so upset by the time it arrived that it could have been raw liver.
As we left, the "waitress" had the gall to suggest to my husband that he should have left a larger tip. He had left a little over 10 percent, which we know is low for a party our size. He was generous to leave anything at all.
Pros: Food was okay
Cons: Service was awful
more