January 25, 2012
Beluga Restaurant Owner Can’t Seem To Take Constructive Criticism.
Shaun Oakes. Banned.
So a few weeks back, The Girlfriend and I decided to celebrate Thursday and head off to Beluga in Greenpoint, to smash our faces with cocktails and sushi (which they are famous for). Now, I’ve written about Beluga before, we’ve been there quite a few times, and we generally have a good time. On this occasion we didn’t though, so get a comfortable chair and read why.
Right, so upon being seated, we were greeted by our waiter, who greeted us warmly and everything seemed great.
Things quickly went downhill from there however. Kind of like a B-grade slasher horror movie where the opening scenes shows everyone happy and getting on and by the end of the film, everyone is dead except the dark-haired chick with the haunted past? Yeah, that’s kind of how things went.
Upon ordering food and drink, we started picking up a “bit of a vibe” from him, as he openly started questioning the round of drinks we ordered. “Oh, you can drink but you can’t eat,” he said at one point, which annoyed me, as I don’t appreciated my drinking habits being put in the spotlight. (we had had one drink at that point) Eventually we asked him what he thought we had ordered to eat, and it turns out, he had taken our order down as a “bean curd” instead of a “green plate”.
Ha ha okay, honest mistake. Let’s laugh it off and move on then. Instead though, he (perhaps in a failed attempt at humour) kept carrying on about the drinks, and at this point asked for the 3rd/4th time whether The Girlfriend was sure she wanted what she ordered (a Cosmo and a prawn hand roll). The Girlfriend, who by this time was getting annoyed, pointed out that to her knowledge, the waiter wasn’t her father (I was pretty sure of this as well), and requested that he stop questioning her. The waiter, who I can only assume was still clinging on to a humour card even as he must have sensed the train wreck this conversation was turning into, then asked if she “wanted a hug”.
Now, this was a pretty ballsy thing for a waiter to say to a patron, attempt at humour or not. The Girlfriend replied with (and pay attention, because this bit will be important further down the line “What the f**k, you’re our waiter, you need to jack up. I want to speak to the manager.”
He seemed taken aback that we weren’t playing along with him, but then regained his composure and replied with a snooty “with pleasure” and disappeared. Feeling uncomfortable, we then asked someone walking passed our table to grab the manager, and explained the whole thing to him. We requested a new waiter, as things had obviously deteriorated between us. The manager, having listened to the story, apologised and said that the waiter was one of the best at Beluga, and that it was likely an attempt at humour that didn’t work well. He then offered to comp our meal. Fine, we were happy with that explanation.
The Girlfriend still felt uncomfortable and wanted to leave – but I have a rule about accepting free food – so we accepted his offer, had our meal, and then left.
Here Is Where It Gets Interesting
The next day The Girlfriend – who knows the owner, Oscar Kotze – sent him an email explaining what went down, and wanting him to be aware of how certain behaviour from staff can be misconstrued and be turned into a bit of a drama. Here with the email below (I’ve blanked out names):
The Girlfriend Wrote:
From: The Girlfriend
To: Oscar Kotze
Subject: harassing waiter
Hello Oscar
I hope you, **** and **** are doing well.
I just wanted to bring to your attention an incident that happened to Shaun and I last night whilst dining at Beluga. Upon misunderstanding our order (prawn hand rolls, the Green plate, a cosmo and beer) our waiter started making snarky comments to us about what he had thought we ordered (a bean curd soup and prawn hand roll). He continued to harass us when ordering my second cocktail that “I can drink but I can’t eat”… We picked up the hostility and asked him what exactly he thought we had ordered, after we cleared up the ordering fiasco he enquired “Is that all you’re going to eat?”… When I asked why he feels the need to talk to me like my father and pointed out that he has no right speaking to patrons like that, he offered to give me a hug… flabbergasted I requested to speak to the manager, he arrogantly said he would be happy to get the manager for me. In a see-how-far-that-is-going-to-get-you tone.
****** was called and handled the situation by assuring us our waiter would be changed and our bill would be taken care of. He also mentioned that this guy is in fact a really good waiter and that it could be his humour. A lovely, efficient waitress named ** continued to serve us but by then unfortunately our ideas for a lovely night at Beluga were already diminished.
What I would like to point out, Oscar, is that both Shaun and I are bloggers/writers, having good friends who are the top bloggers in Cape Town. Shaun works at the biggest internet marketing company. My connection and the respect I have for you and the hard work and passion I know you put into the Caviar Group I reassure you I would never make a public stink out of your restaurants. I just would like you to be aware that something like this did happen and hopefully you could put a stop to something like this happening in the future. And if this is indeed the waiter’s sense of humour, maybe it will go down well at some pub in Brackenveld but educated young professionals in Seapoint go out to have a pleasant experience.
Regards,
The Girlfriend
Oscar Kotze Wrote:
From:Oscar Kotze
To: The Girlfriend
Subject: Re: harassing waiter
Hi
Ok, so here goes:
The fact that you swore at my waiter **** is completely unacceptable – I have convinced him to lay a criminal case against you, and the company will back him all the way – its the year 2011 and no one has the right to speak to people the way you did – even your mail below is degrading and condescending
>From my side, I am sorry that I was not here, I would have chased you out of my restaurant if I was
As to your personality, lack of manners and general attitude to life I will refrain from commenting – the fact that you even have the audacity to contact me and threaten me after what you did – seriously, wow, what a joke
This will be the last communication that you will receive from me – I have asked ***** to provide me with your ID number so that we can use that for the criminal case
Obviously I never want you to come close to any of my businesses ever again – and if your friends condone the way to deal with people, and you convince them not to come to my restaurants, well then that will also be ok
Thanks
The Girlfriend Wrote:
From: The Girlfriend
To: Oscar Kotze
Subject: Re: harassing waiter
Hi Oscar
I have waitressed since I was 14, I think waitressing/service industry is the most difficult industry to be in. I make it a point to always be aware of the stresses they go through and treat them with respect down to eye contact.
I did not swear at your waiter. Shaun and I will both vouch for it and seeing that there was no one else around from Beluga’s side you don’t have a case. Why then was I given an apology and my bill totally paid for, why didn’t ***** “chase” me out. It is unprofessional and you are using brute tactics to scare me.
You are not quite getting what I am trying to say, you are firing guns to a very decent mail pointing out an incident that happened at your establishment and from your response I can see where your waiter gets his rude, abusive conduct from… chased me out, why don’t you just threaten to punch me??? In 2011 you are damn right that people should treat people with respect… that is exactly what I was bringing to your attention, are we just saying that cause not feeling it by your response. I didn’t even want an apology, I wanted to be constructive because you have a good establishment. And no loss to me not being welcome at your restaurant with that service I might as well have lunch at Pallsmoor prison to be treated like that.
Oh and “this will be the last communication that you will receive from me” LOL :)
Were We Out Of Line Here, Or Oscar Kotze?
So that’s where we are then. The owner of Beluga and Sevruga, Oscar Kotze has banned us from his establishments, (in fact, he is sorry that he missed us, as he would have thrown us out himself). Now help me out here, I will gladly admit to being a dick and in the the wrong, but I feel like we were quite reasonable in this instance?
Not sure about you, but I want to be entertained at a restaurant I will go to Madame Zingara. I don’t really care for my waiters to joke around and be “buddy buddy” with me. I certainly don’t care for my waiters offering to give my girlfriend a hug. I want my waiters to help guide my culinary choices and bring me my food, that is all.
As for the swearing allegation, we never told the waiter to “f**k off”, we said “what the f**k”, a bit strong using the F-Bomb perhaps, but he needed to toe the line.
As the restaurant owner though, is this the way you deal with patrons who say things you don’t like? Ban them and threaten to chase them away? Maybe I’m being biased, but I thought The Girlfriend’s email was pretty reasonable. Granted, some of the things she said made her sound quite pretentious a bit of a tit, but she was emotional at the time, so I am willing to forgive her. Oscar Kotze’s response was completely over the top though. This doesn’t feel right to me, he has a massively popular little spot in Cape Town, but he seems to have a really shitty way of dealing with people.
So you’ve read all the facts, the question today, is Shaun Oakes a dick patron, or is Oscar Kotze being a massive bully here? (and yes, I am writing in the 3rd person for dramatic effect)
Discuss.
Oakes signing off.
UPDATE FROM THE GIRLFRIEND
So The Girlfriend offended a few people with her comments in her earlier email (which made her sound like a bit of a tit). She responds below:
In the first email I am sorry for the education comment and the shit spelling, I did explain myself really poorly, what I meant was I wasn’t at a place that doesn’t brand themselves as this “you’ve arrived, be beautiful” trendy image in a trendy part of Cape Town where those go to be seen. I could have said a pub in Newlands or Rondebosch but I am highlighting the word pub, not a restaurant which is branding is all about fine dining. The comment about writers/bloggers is that as a waiter you can’t assume what the young couple in front of you do and chance a situation where the waiter is ruining a potential review or pissing off some ego-centric writer. No threats, it was the truth.
The reason why I wrote an email to Oscar is that I don’t want free stuff, I don’t want an apology… Give me those two hours of unwinding and quality time instead of putting up with SA’s standard of shit service. And then to defend it and threaten more leads us to this blog post. Maybe my mails were a bit harsh, but if Oscar had the balls to threaten and to lay a criminal charge against me then surely he could have told me that my comments were unnecessary and I would have realised and apologised…
So again, sorry for the earlier comments.
THE FINAL WORD
Right, so I think it’s time to draw a line in the sand now. Thanks for all the comments, criticism, feedback and blatant insults, it’s all been quite exciting.
I think the general consensus is that there were no winners in this one.
We clearly came across as douche bags with our initial email, and Beluga response made them come across as douche bags as well (Douche behaviour all around then)
I’m happy to admit that we could have handled it better, and hopefully Oscar feels the same way.
Apologies if you were offended, and hopefully you won’t throw beer in my face if you see me.
If you were entertained, hopefully you will buy me a beer next time you see me.
If you were bored, well, hopefully you will STILL buy me a beer next time you see me.
Time for lunch?
No related posts.
Hi Shaun,
FYI, this Oscar guy seems to have a track record for banning people from his little restaurant. See – http://www.whalecottage.com/blog/cape-town/value-car-hire-sweet-and-beluga-sour-service-awards/
Sounds like a piece of work.
I’d say you were a bit of a dick for sure, but the owner seems to be an even bigger asshole (or bully)
His email was way out of line, and should have been more tactful and diplomatic for sure. It’s sad that there are people in the hospitality industry with this tyrant like attitude.
My 5c.
Who cares?
I never understood the attraction with Beluga anyway. The service has been shit for years, and the owner is quite obviously a massive douche bag.
Somehow, they have created this image that it’s a tre trendy place for pretty girls to hang out and for cool people to mingle. It’s like the story the Emporeres New Clothes. If enough people say that “Beluga is cool” all the sheep will follow. Open your eyes people, it’s an average spot with douchey service.
Willoughbys FTW.
You sound like you handed the situation pretty well. Your girlfriend, on the other hand, comes across as extremely condescending.
Her email is embarrassing and petulant.
There’s no doubt in my mind that the waiter sounds like a dick and I would have been bleak about the service as well (might have even complained too), but your girlfriends reaction in the restaurant and her emails unfortunately don’t do you cause any favours.
Howzit.
I’m not surprised by the attitude of the manager and/or owner. Like you say, it’s a very popular restaurant, what do they care if one or two customers are unhappy? I totally agree with you, it’s a kak attitude from them, and totally unacceptable for the hospitality/service industry. As for banning you? What are their grounds? Anyone keen for “Salushi”?
I can’t fathom why Beluga is still popular. Their service and food has been consistently bang average for the past 2 years. One time I went there and water dripped from the aircon on to our table throughout the meal, and the waitress wasn’t bothered in the least. I’m with Nick – Salushi is a far superior option.
@Shaun,
Beluga and bad service clearly seems to go hand in hand.
Check out the complaints from the last month alone, all about the shitty attitude there.
http://www.hellopeter.com/beluga/complaints/bad-service-696313
http://www.hellopeter.com/beluga/complaints/overcharged-incapable-waiter-etc-705008
I think I will go somewhere else next time, thank you.
It’s Brackenfell
Hold on… but aren’t you one of the faces of Beluga?
That is you in the billboard outside isn’t it?
Gosh, that must be awkward now… sounds like a messy divorce?
Hold on… but aren’t you one of the faces of Beluga?
That is you in the billboard outside isn’t it?
Gosh, that must be awkward now… sounds like a messy divorce?
Just a question for The Girlfriend (firstly, it’s Brackenfell, not Brackenveld), does she not think that there are young, educated professionals living in Brackenfell? A rather pretentious statement!
I always find Baluga a mucky cesspool at the bottom of an uninteresting well. How a Cape Town restaurant got so famous without a view is beyond me, but for the (w)hoards of beautiful women that swarm for the Breitling watch bearers. I’ve never worried about the food, and have been impressed in the past that they’ve managed to spew out platter upon platter of bland sushi at the speed that they do, but the service has often been dodgy at best. It is as though a waiter in a ‘fine’ restaurant believes that he is of finer stock. Weird considering tips are based on sales and Baluga waitrons NEVER seem to be around when you want to actually buy something. The ‘Doing you a favour’ attitude isn’t doing them any at all. Pity. The fine mist fans were a nice summer break.
Compared to the new world, customer service is next to non existent in SA (I say next to nothing because it just does not exist in the rest of Africa). Here the customer is always wrong :) So, know your place in the hierarchy and with your tail between your legs, accept the favor they do you and hope they don’t ban you in the middle of your meal that you already paid for. Of course I am grossly exaggerating but many will agree of the sad trend. In 2011, you stil have restaurants in SA proudly reserving admissions, so they can ban your ass if you assert your rights. Hmm, that reminds me of a history not so long ago, but I digress…
As for the girlfriend, she needs a spanking. She should know better and she shood have been satisfied with the apology and the bill. But, no. She simply must threaten the owner with public embarrassment (I am a blogger and I have blogger friends, grovel on your knees or I will expose you for the fraud you are). Where is the educated, i-am-a-working-professional-from-seapoin in that? Add to that the matching arrogance and contempt the owner is already endowed with and you get a blog entry…
IF the guy was being humerous…..then he would have stopped earlier. The waiter was being a clever douché. The interesting thing is the manager. If you guys were so wrong, would he have given you a free meal? No. With regards to the mail, the problem is the tone in the first mail from your GF buddy, and coupled with the fact that the owner dick, it just goes to show that the sushi isn’t half price, but normal price. Please note though, If someone threatened me with “oo i’m a blogger”, I’d have a laugh and probably tell them their fortune too.
Oh my , looks like it’s a cocky streak lashed into restaurant owners when they sign the offer to purchase!!! A had a very similar indecent, even tough it wasn’t at Beluga but i felt the same way! I live in a small town , and it was at a steers . The food was up to shit so I popped a mail to inform them being all concerned so that they won’t loose business.
Guess who pitched up at my home the next day – a Friday afternoon while we were getting ready for a braai…. The owner of the Steers!!
Insulting me and because i complained , he even said ” if you were a guy I would have punched you!!”
Look like its a bombastic trend of restaurant owners!
I think Oscar deserves an award for that performance.
I’ve had similar waitron issues at Beluga. http://wannabebond.com/2010/03/05/beluga-continuous-half-price-sushi-special-experience/
I got food poisoning from beluga a couple of days ago. Was considering never going back, but now, I definitely wont. thanx for making my decision so much easier. As for your situation, I think “the girlfriend’s” email was fine, except for the references to Brackenfell and Pollsmoor as well as mentioning the fact that you are bloggers/ writers. I thought that was a bit unnecessary. He probably saw the mention of your professions as some sort of a threat. I know I would have. I think it was probably just a misunderstanding that went way too far on the night, and was actually handled fine by the manager and yourselves, but the email from the owner is absolutely ridiculous. The guy probably did too many lines of coke before emailing you back. He sounds like someone who is just “looking for a fight” and not the kind of person I would want to support.
i am no fan of beluga or oscar, but swearing at waiters & then using your blog and connections in a ‘do you know who i am’ sort of ‘threat’ is douchey. watch this > http://trunc.it/jz5xf
On the whole I’m siding with you guys, but I do think the GF could’ve handled it better on the day. Also, her email was going well until the part about being a blogger/writer; did come across as a bit of a threat, like she was being a big deal.
Be glad he didn’t look up the Girlfriends address and drove there! :-P
It’s very interesting that he had that reaction. I have complained before about belugas food and service directly to them and they have always been very apologetic and polite in their email.
Shaun their service is kak and i would ban myself from eating at any one of their establishments. As for your girlfriend i think she should climb out of the hole that she is living in Sea Point = young professionals what a joke!! If i owned the restaurant and received the email i would have apologised for the waiters behaviour but I would have reacted to the way the email was structured and asked for the money for the meal.
My take on it
I agree with Andrew, to a point.
The situation was totally uncool but they did remedy it by comping your meal AND changing your waitron. I 100 agree that the GF should have let Oscar know, but she didn’t need to mention how she “wasn’t” going to use her writing or your blogging to badmouth his restaurant. Thats a bit of a veiled threat.
BUT! What Oscar replied is FUCKING (yes thats an F-Bomb at 9am) ridiculous. An assault charge? Shut the front door.
The whole problem with the service industry in this country is that we DONT complain enough. I don’t mean to each other, we tell our friends about the shit service, but we don’t tell the people who can actually change it.
So I work in Word of Mouth marketing and there are two things that I have learnt that are relevant here.
First, you can turn bad experiences into SUPER positive experiences. I eat at Royale about twice a month. I know the waitresses, and they get me my usual when I walk in (Sweet Petunia with no roll, basted patty, half sweet potato chips and half salad.) One night, I went in with my bestie and we ordered. The patties were dry, the food took forever, mine arrived way before hers, we asked to see the manager and the manager never arrived so we told the waitress how shit the burgers were. She still didn’t bring the manager over or offer as much as an apology – let alone a comped meal. Bleak, we tweeted “@RoyaleEatery, our first disappointing meal”. The owner immediately DMed us and asked for a phone number. He called, apologised, and asked when he could make it up to us. We booked a table for the following week and arrived to the most awesome evening. They had put a tablecloth and flowers on the table. the was a bottle of wine chilling in an ice bucket next to our table. We ate our usual meal but they insisted we don’t leave without more wine and dessert. Sweet. Will be going back and told EVERYONE we know.
On the other hand, Hudson’s in Claremont is so shit, that I wouldn’t even go back for the comped meal (not that they offered me one). We were a big table but we booked in advance. The food came out three burgers at a time, at a table of 11. The gap between the first and last person receing their food was AN HOUR AND A HALF. My Burger had a fly chilling in the sauce on top of it. They took it away and brought me a new one, but I had to wait an hour, in which time I would have rather eaten the fly.
The manager (who is maybe 14 years old) apologised to me for the fly and didnt charge me for my burger, but they did charge for my chips and R36 for a bottle of sparkling water. REALLY? There was also no apology or explanation about the late food (we ordered at 8pm and the last meal arrived at 10pm), no salad for the table or something to keep the hungry people from passing out, nothing.
I tired to tweet them but they don’t have a twitter account, and I wrote on their facebook page (last updated in June last year) and got no response. I will DEFINITELY not be going back there and I will tell everyone I know. And some people I don’t know, like you guys.
So that was a very long point, but the second thing is that banning two customers is not him losing two customers. Average stats are that 84% of the things we purchase are based directly on the recommendations of others. Most people (this is excluding bloggers and those who work in social media) will tell 10 people about an experience, those ten will each tell six, who will each tell three, who will each tell one. So conservatively, Banning you and the GF will lose them a minimum of 720 OTHER customers (if my maths is right). Add the blog database and the GF’s connections.Then add the people they tell.
Moral of story. Oscar = Reeeeeeet.
Looks like Oscar was having a bad day. I personally would have taken the food comp and moved on, the email was a bit petty in my opinion. I love beluga and will continue to go there, although Oscars response was silly. Would like to have heard his version of the story – but the email he sent was childish either way.
No doubt bad service can spoil an evening. Perhaps it was a case of bad communication, perhaps the waiter was just being overbearing. He should as a “great” waiter, be able to read his patrons and adjust his service accordingly.
That being said, you got your meal comp’d and I’d say that’s a pretty fair deal. The manager would have spoken to waiter in question as well.
The first part of your girlfriends email is fine, just pointing out the facts. The rest is uncalled for. Using vague threats of “we are popular” people with “influence” won’t sit very well with me either. It is border line bully tactics, which will garner a similar response from the owner. Although blogging is big, for the most part it is just considered as “opinion pieces”. Your girlfriend also comes across as very condescending.
I’m no fan of Beluga, but I do however enjoy Sevruga and have only had great experiences there.
I have no need to go to Beluga and I am also supporting you guys, but I would also not have sent the email. The situation was handled on the night. I wouldn’t have gone there again. There are way too many restaurants to support to worry about one. Oscar is a dick as proven by so many complaints on other sites. Being the face outside Beluga, now that is funny shit. :)
The service at Pollsmoor Prison is actually really, really good. Although the food is nothing fancy, it’s tasty and very cheap. The waiters are all inmates who are about to be released and are the epitome of politeness and friendliness. I can highly recommend a lunch a Pollsmoor over a dinner at Beluga. If nothing else, it’s a more uplifting and interesting experience by far.
‘And if this is indeed the waiter’s sense of humour, maybe it will go down well at some pub in Brackenveld but educated young professionals in Seapoint go out to have a pleasant experience.’This is the best part! Both parties are clearly out of order.
The service at Pollsmoor Prison is actually really good. Although the food is nothing fancy, it’s tasty and very cheap. The waiters are inmates who are about to be released and they’re the epitome of politeness and friendliness. I can highly recommend a lunch a Pollsmoor over a dinner at Beluga. If nothing else, it’s a more uplifting and interesting experience by far.
First of all, it’s Brackenfell. That bit is damn condescending to the educated and classy people of the northern suburbs. If you’re going to insult us, at least get your spelling right.
Beluga is an ok restaurant, the service is shit and I’m never in a hurry to go there. In fact, the one time I went, I ordered a daiquiri which, on closer inspection, had shards of glass in it. Yeah – and the waiter argued with me about it. LOL. They brought me a new one which they then CHARGED me for. Ridic.
Went there a while back for a night out with my wife after hearing all the rave reviews about the quality and value and I have to say that I was less than blown away, but that’s besdes the point.
In all fairness, it sounds like your girlfriend is a tad touchy, but that waiter should have had the savy to pick that up and stop trying to be the sassy cool dude. Sadly the whole restaurant industry is littered with broken people and this Oscar guys sounds like a total reactionary coke-head. I’m also curious as to at what point Mr Sarkypants waiter managed to get your ID numbers in between trying to be the next Trevor Noah. Anyway, this experience is getting lots of publicity (not the good kind). Blog the crap out of it!
Is no one else shocked by how poorly written Oscar’s reply is? Good God. I think it’s possibly the most embarrassing part of this whole exchange. “Ok so here goes;’ Seriously? A criminal case? On what grounds? Regardless of how one sees the GF’s email – petulant or no – she was the customer and the customer, in ‘fine dining establishments’ (I do assume that’s how Beluga position themselves?)is king. That rule never changed. On a personal note, I’m thrilled to have put a ‘voice’ to Beluga. Oscar, like his restaurant, seems vulgar and seedy. Moving swiftly along.
Hello everyone,
Yeah, I think that The Girlfriend’s initial email did make her seem slightly pretentious and “douchey”. Which is weird, because I am generally the dick in the relationship. (both from a figurative and literal sense)
She was quite emotional at the time though, so I’m willing to forgive her.
Look, I could have easily edited out the bad bits, but I decided to include everything, warts and all for the sake of transparency.
For the record, we’ve enjoyed boozy sessions at pubs in Brackenfell and have had lunch at Polsmoor Prison and can highly recommend both.
Also, whilst I AM young and somewhat literate, I am certainly not professional.
More of a diva, actually. That’s me.
I’m with the others that have said that the situation is not acceptable. When you’re in customer service, you service the customer (even if the customer is a douche, I’ve been there, I’ve done that). The waiter wasn’t cool. But the manager seemed to have sorted it out and maybe the chap was having an off day. No big deal. Plus, I don’t think he was THAT harmful to you, sure commenting on your drinks is out of order but it’s not as if he was coming onto your GF or being sexist, racist or anything all that harmful. He didn’t punch you in the face or spit in your food. Get over it.
BUT, and this is a big but, that the GF’s email is petulant and childish, especially the last paragraph. Threatening to expose because you’re high powered bloggers with high powered blogger friends (fame on the internet, really, really?!) is just as unacceptable and bullying, brutish tactics. Her first part was all well and good, but to go down the “we’re important and know important people” is ridiculously childish, I’d have told you off for that too.
Yes, Oscar came off as a raving loon. But I have to agree with the other commenters that your girlfriend’s email was rather condescending. If the service in general was poor and the food inedible, I could see a reason for emailing the owner; but why bother when the problem was simply one rude waiter and was handled so beautifully by the manager? Shoe-horning in the ‘by the way I’m an important blogger’ bit was in bad taste as well, and came off as an attempt to elicit more grovelling and freebies.
Oh ya – and Oscar lives in the N suburbs. Bad move on the “brackenveld” comment
“Educated professional from Seapoint” – bwahaha – all of your spelling is atrocious! You can’t even spell “Sea Point” properly. I would’ve banned you just for that. And, top bloggers? I’ve never even heard of any of you, besides this link I found on twitter.
The part that really gets me is you initially went there for cocktails and sushi and ended up drinking beer…
The Girlfriend is priceless. She get’s a free meal, and a new waiter and THEN writes the manifesto email of all pretentious, self involved, middle class morons who think of ‘Brackenveld’ as an example of a trashy, uneducated wasteland, threatens the owner with her food blogger knife (LOL) and expects more. Amazing! Sense of entitlement is a killer…
Anna January I could not agree with you more!
This story is giving me the weirdest boner right now.
I totally agree with above, also had shocking service at Sevruga and Beluga from “buddy buddy/ I’m doing you a massive favour” type waitrons.
Willoughbys owns Caviar group food wise but is also home to similar waitrons… What is up with the arrogance and condescension? Get me my damn food and smile. Not that hard. (Unlike my pant region.)
Bloggers in Cape Town should learn to spell places names in Cape Town correctly. Pollsmoor & Brackenfell.
Mediocre sushi in a car park (some exhaust fumes with your dim sum?) with way below average service. With half price everything, that’s what you get apparently. Lame.
I agree with Cath Scott and Mr Indifference, Beluga’s sushi and service has not been great for along time, and if they stopped their half price specials they would have no business. PS. Ive has lunch at Pollsmoor prison, and their food may be standand, but their service is excellent and its byob! :)
I back you up 100% Shaun & The Girlfriend.
Beluga is crap! End of story! Their service is disgusting, their plates are never clean and their food is neither here nor there.
I used to go there all the time with my girlfriends, but just because you have an establishment in the centre of Town and it is convenient for people to go there, doesn’t mean that you can treat people like crap. They suck and I wont go back.
No matter what the girlfriend said in her email, the crap the waiter pulled was before that. He should have gotten fired. Bad service is not acceptable, he is a waiter, if he cant do that properly, maybe he should find a job elsewhere, possibly sweeping the streets would be easier for him? Come on – do your job, get paid. Nasty comments can be kept for the skinner session after work, NOT to a paying customer.
I say boycott Beluga for life and move over to Salushi’s – they actually care how their customers are treated!
I’m an educated professional who lives in Brackenfell (notice the spelling) and frequent the pubs. I find your girlfriend’s comment very offensive. So although I don’t agree with Oscar’s reaction, I do agree with him that there is an attitude problem on your side.
Beluga has always had shit service. But I keep going back for some odd reason. GF’s response was a bit arrogant though.
Wow. Rich white people trying to outdick each other. Glad the internet lets us deal with what really matters.
So that’s your side of the story and yeah – maybe the whole criminal charge thing is a bit heavy, but why swear in the first place? Why lower yourself?
You had the opportunity to take the moral high ground, but you’ve lost that now.
50% say yay, 50% say nay.
Regardless, you will probably get better service from the likes of Dias Tavern.
They only pull out the ban hammer if you throw up on the floor.
I really think you should write a review on Eat Out and other foodie websites which people visit regularly. I came across this by accident, but think more people should read this!
I would say someone i.e. Oscar Kotze needs to seriously go to PR 101 course or perhaps let PR handle his queries as this is very unprofessional.
Perhaps he has not heard of word of mouth yet or just does not understand the impact word of mouth can have on your business
Now I am not a Director of any company yet, but I’d say his and the waiters behaviour was unacceptable!
Customer is always right even if you swore at or around the waiter. As an ex waitress, the waiter was wrong in this case and so was Oscar.
You were still polite and stayed I would have walked out
For what it’s worth, I think you were totally in the right – both of you. Your waiter sounded like a nutcase – a RUDE nutcase. I think the comment about having ‘friends who are top bloggers’ may have got the owner’s back up a bit – it does sound like a thinly veiled threat – but if he doesn’t know how to handle a dissatisfied customer, he’s a short-sighted idiot. (And his email makes him sound like an arrogant wanker, to boot.)
Robyn
If anyone EVER swore at my staff, I’d show them the door.
There are ‘young, professionals’ in Mitchell’s Plain too and chicca’s assertion that because she’s from Sea Point entitles her to better treatment then the rest of the population is ABSURD and laughable. Being educated doesn’t give you the right to be verbally abusive.
Never been to Beluga and I probably will never go there, because if that’s the douchbaggery they invite as clientele, I’ll stick to Mainland China or good ol’ Food Lover’s Market!
After reading this, I would have done the exact same thing you and your girlfriend did. I see nothing wrong in the way you approached it.
Generally, I find that all restaurants of the Caviar Group are supposed to be for lack of a better word -”classy”. I remember entering the restaurant for food and because I didn’t feel like dressing in heels or a tiny dress, the hostesses looked at me and turned away. That already shows how I feel about the place.
Your waiter, probably just had a weird sense of humour, though being a waiter, you should know where the line is. Unless invited for further conversation, waiters at “classy” restaurants should provide quality service. Though the issue now is more about the owner and his professionalism towards customers.
I think this situation could have been avoided completely with the restaraunt owner succumbing to some humble pie (the customer is always right). Perhaps they have been one of Cape Town’s hot spots for so long that they have in the process developed a god complex.
I went to Beluga on January 7th only to be greeted by a waiter embracing incompetence.
After providing the menus, he left us hanging for a significant amount of time – without even apologising when finally taking our order. I too understand the challenges of being a waiter, but there should be a standard or etiquette that all waiters should follow. My 2 cents.
I have not been to Beluga (and by all accounts will never go there now), but I have been to Sevruga – it was mediocre to say the least.
I think I’ll be boycotting that whole restaurant group, thanks.
I have at least 10 years experiences working in restaurants, eating in them, etc. One thing I cannot stand is arrogant managers and owners!
While the waiter’s attitude and behaviour was inexcusable, the subsequent email from The GF reveals some slight prejudices (and ignorance, I won’t note the spelling again). As for Kotze, he is way out of line and does not see the email as constructive criticism as it was intended. I’ve been to Beluga, I’ve had bad service, I’ve raised it with the manager and I’ve decided to not frequent it any longer. There’s no need for me to note that I have very popular friends who are bloggers or that there are other places I can visit. That’s unnecessary and the latter is a given. Thanks for the post though.
@RaeRae,
Agreed, silly comment and has been addressed above. We don’t even live in Seapoint.
I really have to give my “two cents”…
Shaun & “The Girlfriend”: I think I speak for most bloggers when I ask you please not to use us as your fighting mechanism. With all due respect, no matter how many bloggers you tell, or how many read this article; if we’ve been to Beluga it’s probably because our whole group of friends go and, well, we’re unlikely NOT to go back because YOU had a bad experience – however; there is still that high chance that we’d relay your story to others (fb & twitter followers) and actually ensure we all never go back; so it is a 50/50 – but don’t threaten owners/managers on behalf of other bloggers because that makes guys like MyCityByNight and MrCapeTown, even TwoOceansVibe, look a little silly if they ever do want to go to Beluga: especially when they get told at the door they’re banned because of another blogger speaking on their behalf.
Regarding the service, yes that is a bit ridiculous. They should pay more attention; but the way The Girlfriend handled it was just as ridiculous. Swearing? Come on. He didn’t try feel you up or anything. He was just trying to be funny. Of course you’re going to get the owner’s back up.
Think about it; you tell him about the crap service, he goes to sort it out, waitron tells him u swore – how does he then fix it? There comes a point as a business owner when you HAVE to put faith into your staff and hope that what they tell you is in fact the correct version.
The Girlfriend: If you know this guy personally why in Gods name are you threatening him? That’s Complaint 101 for you. Do NOT threaten someone if you wish to actually resolve the situation. You got his back up, pissed him off, and he got all defensive on your ass. Typical bullshit that happens all the time when Owners like this have no respect for patrons.
All in all, I think this guy should come in front of some for of disciplinary hearing for his actions. If only we had something like that set up which deals with idiots like him.
I won’t be going to Beluga in a hurry, that’s for sure.
Ja, so Beluga did act like dickheads.
But saying “we are influential bloggers and know the top bloggers in CT” is also a bit douche-bagish…..
We can’t say that Beluga handled it incorrectly, the manager did a great job I think and Oscar’s email was to a douchey pretentious, offensive person, I don’t blame him for that response. The criminal charge was bit much though.
I’ve actually been witness to Dominique’s experience with shards of glass in cocktails. At a friends dinner, 2 strawberry daiquiris were ordered and both had shards of glass in it. The ‘manager’ was extremely apologetic and offered a weak explanation as to why glass nearly cracked teeth or caused an internal injury.
“The barmen scoop up the ice using glass instead of a metal ice scoops”
Damn right for putting it up here. I your experience was shocking – And, we live in a world where everyone will let others know about your shitty service. Personally, I don’t care that the girlfriend may have said some stuff that she shouldn’t have, she knew the owner and was only telling him as an informative heads up. It certainly didn’t warrant is petulant response. I seriously hope Oscar feels this somehow and isn’t just laughing at his money while this gets him free advertising.
When you say SA standards of shit service what other country are u comparing us to? In my opinion , SA has higher service levels than most other countries that I’ve lived in and that is the most ignorant and naiive comment I’ve ever heard. Has this girl ever left SA?
Both sides are pretty pathetic if u ask me.
I’ve personally stopped going to beluga a LONG time ago as the service levels and qualtity of food went downhill Ages ago!
Yep. Hands up. Douche Baggery 101 right there.
Bloody marvelous engagement on this post. Bravo!
What is the International Whaling Commission thinking? How can they be on the verge of legitimizing rogue whaling, and how come the United States seems to be going along with this?
The global moratorium on commercial whaling that took effect almost 25 years ago has WORKED. The number of great whales being slaughtered each year has gone from about 38,000 down to between 1,000 and 2,000. That’s still too many, of course, under the guise of so-called “scientific whaling” by Japan, and flagrant violation of the moratorium by Iceland and Norway.
Every year, Japan has lobbied to include more species of whales in its quota, and they’ve succeeded in being allowed to take humpbacks and fin whales, sei whales and sperm whales. Every year Japan has continued to bribe small countries with big money grants, in exchange for their joining the IWC and voting with Japan.
Now the 88 member nations are likely going to vote in June on a so-called “compromise proposal” that, over the next decade, is supposed to reduce the total number of whales killed. That’s because right now those three rogue countries set their own limits, and under this plan they’d supposedly agree to IWC limits on their catches and do better monitoring and practice more humane whaling.
But let’s think about what allowing commercial whaling again really means. It legitimizes Iceland and Norway expanding their fleet in the North Atlantic. They would now be able to legally trade whale meat to Japan. It yields to Japan’s long-sought agenda – after years of opposition – to being able to do whaling along its own coastline. And commercial whaling would be allowed in a designated IWC sanctuary, the Southern Ocean.
This comes at a time when Iceland is strongly considering ENDING its whaling as part of an agreement to join the European Union. It comes at a time when Japan already didn’t meet its own allowed take in the Antarctic Southern Ocean, because the Sea Shepherds got out there and did an “intervention” that saved the lives of more than 500 whales.
Japan has already said this year that it’s not interested in cutting back the whaling in the Antarctic in return for being allowed to start commercial whaling in its own waters. Iceland has also said they’re not satisfied with the quotas being proposed. So what happens? Does the IWC cave in to their demands?
Now, if this proposal passes, South Korea is talking about starting its own coastal commercial whaling operation. We are looking at invigorated markets for whale meat, when most people – including the Japanese – have long since abandoned the practice. It’s this “scientific whaling” loophole that must be closed – instead of opening a whole new door that puts these incredible marine mammals in even greater jeopardy.
Think of what happened recently not far from here, when a high-end sushi restaurant called The Hump at the Santa Monica Airport got busted for illegally selling whale meat to its customers. Well, they ended up going out of business, but supposedly these same kinds of operations are going on in other American cities like San Francisco, Seattle, and New York. And people think allowing commercial sale of whales again is going to make that go AWAY?
We should be imposing trade sanctions on Japan, Iceland and Norway for already violating international laws. But this hasn’t happened since the Bush Administration. I still love Obama, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why his administration isn’t taking a stand like THAT – instead of supporting the reopening of commercial whaling, which Australia and New Zealand are adamantly against.
The simple fact is: Whaling has no place in the 21st century. It is inherently, unacceptably cruel. A barbaric and unnecessary practice.
Because of human activity, the whales are already in jeopardy in our time. There’s the deafening Navy sonar that drives them ashore, that the NRDC is fighting so hard to keep in check. Recently a gray whale – the same gray whales that migrate along this shoreline – was spotted on the wrong side of the world. Off the coast of Israel! There haven’t been gray whales anywhere but the Pacific Ocean since the 18th century, when they were hunted to extinction in the Atlantic. So it’s likely this lone whale came down through the ice-free Northwest Passage looking for food and became hopelessly lost. Already gray whales have to search for their food further north because the little amphipods they eat can’t live in the warmer Arctic waters. So a 5,000-mile migration turns into a 6,000 or 7,000 mile migration. And this year, like last year, the number of newborn calves is distressingly low.
A generation ago, gray whales started coming up to humans at their birthing grounds in Baja, in the same lagoon where these same humans almost hunted them to extinction a century earlier. The mothers started introducing their newborns to boatloads of tourists, allowing us to actually pet them, in an incredible act of forgiveness. And I’d like to close by reading a brief passage from the conclusion of my book about them, Eye of the Whale:
“As the oceans go, so go we. Can we survive global warming? Noise pollution? The wanton carelessness about our habitats? Can we pretend to endure anything that the whales cannot? Can we come to grips with the suicidal tendency to destroy what sustains us? Is this what the gray whales are reaching out to communicate?”
Write to President Obama and tell him the U.S. needs to change its position and keep the moratorium on commercial whaling in place at the IWC!
OK, so I have more to add. I regularly go to Beluga, and upon entering with a smile, I’ve only been treated like a king. I often pitch up in an old T-shirt, shorts and slip slops. No-one cares, because I don’t.
The fact that you mention the class of the establishment hints at the fact that you’re a complete poser. You go there in the hope that you’ll be seen.
The crux of this story is not what happened, nor what the owner’s reply was, but your uncouth nature and your attempt to justify being a “douche” by “blogging” about it. You’re not “Cape Town’s Favourite Son”, a popular blogger, nor are any of your girlfriend’s “top blogger” friends. It grates my cheese that people can set up a blog and rant, thinking that they’re a gift from heaven. When, in fact, in the grand scheme of things, they’re extremely insignificant.
Do yourself and follow some proper bloggers. Understand their reach and their influence and you’ll understand how insignificant you are (and, by proxy, your girlfriend).
The fact that she claims you’re writers is extremely distressing. You claim the service in SA is shocking, but I lament the poor quality of the writing in SA if this is who you claim to be. If in fact, I was a client of yours (if you have any), I’d make sure I wrote any copy/articles myself from now on.
The bottom line is that being a “blogger” is nothing special. You’re an insignificant speck on the map that is humanity. And, with an Alex PageRank of 891 685 (forgive me for quoting Alexa – no-one else measures sites so insignificant), you should appreciate this. Never, ever, claim to have influence because you installed some software on a $9 server.
Over. And. Out.
I used to eat at Beluga …then I took an arrow to the knee.
Your meal was complimentary & that should have been the end of it. On the up side tho, I could never understand what the fuss about Beluga is! It’s a pretty ave place..
The owner sounds like a cock… I’d go there just to be thrown out…
I worked for this Oscar Kotze, at the Cape Town Fish Market in V&A many years back and he is not a good man and obviously hasnt changed. These people are not welcome in the hospitality industry and suprises me that he is still in it. I fully hope that the people of CT never entertain this man and/or the establishments he works with. The facade of restaurant service often hides the monster beneath. Good riddance. Peace
@Joe,
You are rehashing what has already been discussed. I gladly accept the email was slightly misguided. (disclaimer: I’m not really a writer, but I am really good looking and so would, at a stretch, agree with your comment about me being a poser.) I would still maintain that Beluga’s response wasn’t appropriate though, so let’s agree to disagree.
Oh, and your comment about me not being “Cape Town’s Favourite Son” deeply offends me. I clearly am, I have certificates proving this.
WELL BUDDY I GUESS IT’S A GOOD THING YOU GUYS ARE PROMINENT BLOGGERS. THAT’LL SHOW THIS GUY!!!
I know, I’m just a badass that way.
shaun sounds like a dick, not to speak of the GF what a cunt.
if you a pro then act like it man ffs
just you trying to be white agan, ne.
I am a waiter, an educated one at that. After reading the whole article, The waiter’s unprofessional approach to the situation is certainly questionable and it seems the manager dealt with it in a professional manner but with regards to the email “the girlfriend” sent she comes across as extremely condescending and pretentious. I find it quite humorous that she speaks down on a place like Brakenfel and then still manages to spell it wrong. With the vibe “The girlfriend” gives off in the email I’m not surprised the owner no longer wants your business, they have to deal with dick head clients all the time. The fact that she seemed to make a threat of her own on behalf of other bloggers is far from being a “young professional”. At the end of the day you’re just a blogger not a Doctor or Economist trying to help our country that is ridden with terrible service but hey who am I to judge, I’m just a waiter…
@Joe – I could not agree with you more! I feel sorry for Shaun and his GF. The 2 of you make me sick, thinking you are the cream of the crop & threating Oscar with your “SO-CALLED” blogging background.
Get a FUCKING life, that is BOTH Of you! BTW, you hardly have any decent twitter followers, nor can you write!
This is the first time I have been exposed to your $9 Blog, and trust me, you are at the bottom of the pile when it comes to creativity! The comment on Brackenfell falls right into your calibre, as I can almost guarantee, your GF is from there!
You are pathetic – Sod off, get a copy-writing qualification! Please threaten your mother the next time you have bad service. I’m glad Oscar banned you from the restaurant, I would have chucked you out myself, you sour excuse for a blogger!
“the girlfriend” is abusing her position to negatively influence people. This is a sign of insecurity. If I was her, and your employer, I would be concerned about both of you for abusing and possibly causing damage to their company names. No-one is irreplaceable.
There are always 3 sides of a story. The story from the 2 parties involved and the truth.
If I was that unhappy, I would’ve just not go there. But guess – you left yourself no option in anycase.
I agree with Joe – we all can blog – Infact writing on your blog is blogging. Nothing special. So maybe lose the self-centered attitude, as the world is not revolving around you and the girl friend.
I worked for Beluga as a cocktail barman many years ago under the previous management. The establishment was class all the way and the then owners were seasoned professionals.
Having been oversees for the last 8 years and now living back in CT, I have visited Beluga on several occasions (only cos that’s where my friends like to meet up prior to going out on the town).
Although I haven’t had a poor experience under Kotze’s management, I can say that the service is RUBBISH at the bar. The barman have no training, no brains, no class. SORRY!
Order a glass of EXPENSIVE wine, the barman slugs it into a glass at the fridge and pretty much tosses the glass at you. In my day, you place the glass in front of the patron and delicately pore the wine into the glass (making it obvious that the wine they ordered is coming out of the right bottle).
Shooters, line up the shot glasses in front of the patron and pore. Nope not at Beluga (2011/2012)… Barman pores shooters at dispense bar and carries them across to patron… spilling all the way.
I can go on and on….
What’s worst is that in my day, we used to talk to the patrons. Many were tourists, looking to share their experience of CT or get some tips, or just have a conversation with someone new. At current Beluga, you’d be lucky to get anything meaningful out of those untrained, Shabeen barman.
It’s really sad to see that new management can wreck all the goodwill which the previous management (who were top class) had built up.
Please can we have the class back at Beluga? And new owners too!
Hey yo Shaun, call him the Sushi-Nazi. Do it now, do it quickly before you are villified more.
Say the owner of Beluga is a Sushi-Nazi. Go on, tweet about it. lol lol lol lmao
You should have called the manager much earlier but it looks to me as if you wanted to milk this one.
PS.
Things I hate about Cape Town:
1. Bloggers (with blogger “connections”)- as if it’s some sort of job/weapon/public service
2. People who think they are better than others because they don’t live in “Brakenveld”
I say F Belugas and their arrogance.
Service is well slack in our county,
mostly because not enough people complain
thus no errors are corrected.
The waiter was totally out of line, and
the owner is an arrogant ass that thinks
his name will keep his popularity up.
Say heeeeeeell no.
I’m with the bloggers on this one… if that “service” happened to me, the waiter would be fishing for his teeth and the owner would have gotten a very nasty mail from me. As to the threats of laying criminal charges, what a joke! The guy is clearly clueless.
This is the problem with Cape Town, everyone thinks they are a celebrity just cause you now write a blog. Everyone deserves to be treated appropriately not just because you might be well known or because you are loyal. And it really doesn’t help when you threaten them. I think the condescending part started when you asked if he thought he was your father. I agree that Oscar didn’t handle it correctly but I don’t think you did either.
This is the problem with Cape Town, everyone thinks they are a celebrity just cause you now write a blog. Everyone deserves to be treated appropriately not just because you might be well known or because you are loyal. And it really doesn’t help when you threaten them. I think the condescending part started when you asked if he thought he was your father. I agree that Oscar didn’t handle it correctly but I don’t think you did either.
P.S if you are going to blog I think you should learn how to spell.
Guess I’ll be giving Beluga a skip in future.
I am totally on beluga’s side with this.. You got a complimentary meal but still you threw your toys around..
I go to beluga and never have a problem with anyone… Little miss Diva must then rather go to her “upper class Seapoint” restaurants or learn to get a sense of humor.
Just thinking/judging aloud…
I believe the correct term for The Girlfriend is ‘Douchette’
Publishing her Seapoint mind fart was fair punishment.
The owner shows signs of a hormone imbalance, possibly due to too much sushi.
Issue should have been resolved when the meal was compted.
PS
Kudos to the BF who designed this scheme in order to get a free meal and save face in front of the GF
:p
I tend to prefer Gatsys.
Sorry couldn’t resist.
Signing off
Ricky
I banged a hostess from Beluga. Score!
This is funny! It certainly put you guys on the map, and gave Beluga some great publicity as they now get to trend on twitter! Wimpy had to give away free breakfasts countrywide to do that and Beluga only gave the free meal to you.
You are all out of line IMHO! a.) the girlfriend’s e-mail is really condescending (to people in The North, pub owners, the restaurant, Oscar to name but a few). That is only going to get a person’s back up reading the e-mail (put yourself in Oscar’s shoes for instance).
b.) Oscar rightfully interpreted a threat, albeit I think he is also overreacting based on your version of the story. Mention of being a Blogger and knowing other Bloggers kind of has the same effect as me saying I am Black and I know other Black people when I am expressing distaste at the service levels of someone in the hospitality industry. It is totally unnecessary information which can only be construed as being some form of veiled threat!
Clearly a learning for both of you, but the good thing is you as Bloggers got a story, Beluga got some publicity and the public, we got entertainment and something to get into some form of emotional hysteria about.
I hope that you all put it behind you as I can’t see the sense in criminal charges being laid by Beluga (the outcome will really not serve anyone).
Thabo
P.S. For some of my Blog content (Work, Life, Balance) you can go to http://fit4thabo.blogspot.com/
I personally think your girlfriend was “a tit” so to speak. Totally condescending and her attitude stinks. The owner, granted, was a douche himself, but i think this was a general “my ego is bigger than yours” spat and completely childish. And why not name and shame this girlfriend of yours??? You can tell us who the owner is but the not the said instigator of this fuckery??? cuuuummmooooon!
Oh dear, who would think I spelt Gatsbys wrong.. Been in France too long.
Out.
RJ
Another EXCELLENT example to think before you speak, blog, tweet or email. Words said in haste always come back to bite you.
@Shaun,
Isn’t this you in the picture?
http://www.shaunoakes.com/2010/09/random-picture-tuesday/
I was turned away from Beluga because I was black.
All I can say is that I almost died at beluga. I was drinking a cosmo type drink and the glass broke in my mouth. Thank god I heard the chip and stood still as my mom grabbed the glass out of my mouth. If I had swallowed it it would have conmpletely cut my throat open. I love their sushi but I have had some weird situations with waiters. Scary!!
Post 68 – on…
Clearly Beluga’s bully staff got wind of this and they are now in attack mode.
You can insult Shaun & The Girlfriend etc… but…seems to me… people are talking…
Jokes.
Oskar Kotze is a dick. Beluga, Sevruga and Blonde are all shit holes. I once had a incident where my guest’s food tasted disgusting. I sent Oskar an email, but he did not apologise and instead told me never to return to his restaurant again due to the tone of my email. He didn’t even address the problem… He just got defensive. I’ve also heard nightmare stories from WhaleCottage and a group of friends that once tried to celebrate a birthday at Beluga, but the 12 of us ended up heading to Hudsons on Kloof due to poor service from Oskar’s incompetent managers. As a resident of Green Point, I’m often invited to Beluga, but always decline due to my horrendous experience. Oskar, if you’re reading this, you are the rudest person I’ve ever come across. Shame on you, you pig. I hope customers vote with their feet and boycott your shit hole restaurant. Beluga sucks!
Thanks for the heads up about these places. We will be avoiding the entire group out of principle. If this childish bully can’t value his customers then maybe his business should rather go belly-up. We will spend our money where it is appreciated.
You and your girlfriend are disgusting people
#99 – hahahahahahahahaha! I loved that!
@Karly – I’m not staff and have nothing to do with Beluga. I’m just a guy who likes it there and hates the pretentiousness of this ridiculous Cape Town “blogging community”. And, those “online marketers” who’ve never actually started an online business, but think a cheap Panama hat, $9 website and a Vida wifi subscription make then important.
Hi Shuan, time to replace your girlfriend with one that didn’t study BA.
Note to Girlfriend & Shaun, you really are not that important. From the notes above you are in the wrong.
@JOE, we know you’re Oskar Kotze. Shut up and eat a dick!
Yes people, please avoid these restaurants.. Sooner or later we will filter out all you snobs…
Most of you just want to complain about something anyway..
Go blog something to useless..
@Peter Le Roux… You rock my world!
Break up with your Girlfriend.
If I had paid for someones bill after they swore at my staff and they then emailed me ‘threatening’ my business with online rants that no one reads anyway..
I probably would have had the same response.
I have never liked Beluga and wont go there again…but seriously, this is such a joke.
@JOE @Andy Capp – you’re clearly staff. Why would you stick up for a restaurant as though you’re so incredibly emotionally involved with it? We’re talking about 4 walls, ugly interior and kak food, but a human being. Go and eat sushi and get botulism.
Beluga was great. 5 years ago when their sushi special was a deal. It no longer is. It simply brings it down to more or less normal prices. The service has always ALWAYS been laughably atrocious. Making a booking only to arrive to no booking (often), wrong drinks delivered (often) etc etc.
#69- Whahahaha
Oskar’s a big dick face! Typical behavior from such an arrogant prick.
Seems like another example of a coked-up waiter with an over inflated ego. Same can be said for the managers response. I haven’t been back to beluga for some time also as a result of this “colombian marching powder” type service.
It seems that neither Oscar nor the waiter have ever come across the phrase “the customer is King”, which in my mind is one of THE most important mantras when working in the service industry. Unless your customer does something obscenely rude or illegal while at your establishment, you always apologise and make up for any inconvenience or lack in satisfaction, no matter whether you feel the customer is wrong or not. The aim of your establishment, afterall, is to please your patrons, and if they aren’t pleased, then clearly you or your staff are doing something wrong.
Irrespective of all of that – if you own a business, any kind of business, you should always remain professional, even if you have to tell one of your customers off, you still do it in a professional way.
Anyway, I still think Beluga is a great place & I personally haven’t had a bad experience there, but I don’t appreciate big egos and will definitely think twice next time before going there again – not because you or anyone else gave it a bad review (this is not the first negative feedback I’ve heard about the place), but because of the way that the owner has reacted – completely rude, irrational and childish.
Right, so I think it’s time to draw a line in the sand now. Thanks for all the comments, criticism, feedback and blatant insults, it’s all been quite exciting.
I think the general consensus is that there were no winners in this one.
We clearly came across as douche bags with our initial email, and Beluga response made them come across as douche bags as well (Douche behaviour all around then)
I’m happy to admit that we could have handled it better, and hopefully Oscar feels the same way.
Apologies if you were offended, and hopefully you won’t throw beer in my face if you see me. If you were entertained, hopefully you will buy me a beer next time you see me. If you were bored, well, hopefully you will STILL buy me a beer next time you see me.
Time for lunch?