Well, for all the occasional glowing words about some of the great food to be had in Glasgow, occasionally we do have a duff experience. Normally I just let it slide, but I’m incensed enough to actually put finger to keyboard to actually let others know about it.
Last night Frances and I decided to go for a drink, during which I took a notion to going for Chilli. Whilst they don’t do a bowl of Chilli as such, there was enough else at “Gumbo” on Ingram Street in Glasgow to tempt me in, for the fourth or fifth time. Previously, we’ve had a great meal with reasonable service at a reasonable price, but this time around something seemed to conspire to ensure it was a miserable, over-priced and downright disappointing experience.
Service: Generally rubbish. I don’t mind waiting at the door when we come in, but if the (two) waitresses are talking at the bar, knowing we’re there, I do get a little annoyed after a minute or two. Combine that with lack-lustre service throughout (no checking things are ok, no checking our drinks are ok), and I start to detect a theme. Combine with the fact that it was quiet (Tuesday’s usually are - there were only four other active tables) and I struggle to see how it was so appalling.
Availability: The menu we were given included a “pre-theatre” menu which was, according to it, available. So we chose from that because the price was good. Only to be told by one of the waitresses that it was only available “if you’d booked”. That she wasn’t aware we hadn’t booked until we told her speaks volumes for her inability to take spontaneous decisions. We liked the offer, we just hadn’t picked up a phone before walking through the door. So we chose from the standard menu and ended up spending less than we would have if she’d taken our order. Oh, and what I did choose for starters wasn’t available.
Drinks: Almost all the draft beer was “off” to some strange condenser problem. Goodness knows quiet what, but the lack of knowledge the waitress presented about the other drink options meant I had a poor choice available.
Food: Over-heated, bland and generally not what we’d come to expect. The bread had been out in the air for too long. My “gumbo” was far too hot (and I have a reasonably heat-resistant mouth, both - as in this case - physically and spicy). Somehow the cook had just over cooked it to the extent there wasn’t anything to distinguish or set the food apart from anything I could cook in a few minutes. When I eat out, I like something special. The gumbo was not special.
All in all, it was a major disappointment, all the more so because we have had a good meal with good service there before. But this time, it just conspired against us. Not sure we’ll be hurrying back there in a hurry, and I’m certainly NOT recommending it.
Links (If you really want them):
- http://www.thefoodplace.co.uk/restaurants/32675/Gumbo+in+Glasgow/
- http://www.gumbo.5pm.co.uk/
- http://www.citikey.com/business/10089088/category/10008/city/Glasgow/current/1/total/215
Update 16/May/07
It seems Gumbo is no longer in existance, and has been refurbished as an altogether better restaurant. I don’t recall the details, but it’s certainly not Gumbo and has much better food and service in it’s new and fresh format. I’ll write more when I visit again. It was good enough that that’s certainly a possibility: Which is more than I could say for Gumbo!
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October 4th, 2005 at 9:10 am
Did you tip?
Read in the paper yesterday that folk in Scotland are most likely to leave a tip for service. Hope that you didn’t this time
October 4th, 2005 at 7:20 pm
I’m a bit ashamed to say that we did leave a little bit of a tip (only about a pound or so in total I think - from memory), but really not very much. I always think that the washer-upper deserves something for their trouble, mainly because I used to do that job and know how undervalued it is!
Still, there’s me assuming the waiters split the tip with the kitchen staff, which is often an assumption too far…
r.
January 6th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
[...] It’s very easy to criticise, much harder to compliment. Certainly when we’ve felt somewhat under siege at times with incompetent companies doing work in our house and leaving us high and dry (here), or going to restaurants and leaving nonplussed about the experience (here and here), letting off some steam on this website is a useful exercise. [...]