Just had lunch in a little Italian place near work and a colleague was offered instant coffee after the meal as the rest of us sipped espressos and cappucinos.
Admittedly, the offer was for "black coffee" rather than specifically "filter" or "Americano" but surely this is cost cutting too far.
I don't think he will be going back there any time soon...
No self-respecting restaurant, especially an Italian, should be serving instant coffee in my opinion.
I'd be surprised if anyone thought that was acceptable... except perhaps the penny-pinching, tea-drinking, undoubtedly non-Italian owner of said restaurant.
Must be desperate - for sure. Or completely unknowledgeable. Even cutting cost could not warrant this, especially since a decent coffee maker (espresso machine) seems to be available. May the owner choke on his/her own greed!
Surely a no-no indeed. Specialy in an intalian restaurant. They have the fame of making good coffee
Oh dear, incredible, nice to see the some restaurants taking cost cutting to the extreme during these rough economic times.
I dont think some restaurants realise (or I am sure they must do but do not care about the customer) that by penny pinching in the short term they stand to lose more money in the long term with you not going back again any time soon and the negative PR that this will create especially as it is near your workplace, no referrals from you then.
If they were not able to make a filter coffee for some strange reason, could they have not been more creative by watering down an expresso...
Good to to see there are still some professionals offering superb service and money to keep operating restaurants, NOT.
Thanks for your responses guys. Safe to say that said establishment will not be seeing our custom again any time soon.
Some (strange) people acually like instant coffee; espresso is too strong for them. The answer of course is to serve espressso in a normal cup and add hot water. Maybe at this place they just make instant. I don't believe it's penny pinching, just a bit thoughtless. Why not have a quiet word with the manager? Shame to lose your business over a cup of coffee if everything else - including your coffees - was OK.
I don´t think many restaurants realise that coffee is the last thing that guests will experience before leaving a restaurant, thus will leave the most lasting impression if it is especially good or bad.
I am a big believer that good coffee is an art, and the simple investment of a good quality espresso machine can make all the difference.
I agree. If your end-of-meal quite literally leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, it's not a great memory to take away from a restaurant. That said, I must confess to liking a mug of Kenco Really Smooth.