Monday, September 25, 2006

This week: Hell's Kitchen

A couple of weeks ago our daughter was invited to a sleep-over-party at a class mates house. Peter and I decided to have a "date" that very Friday. Very well...We both started to re-search some options on restaurants around here. We felt like we would like to go to a new, good place. A place where we had never been before. Both of us checked out web-sites like The Washingtonian and Washington Post to get some good ideas. Peter then found a place that sounded extremely good. The place is called "Geranio Ristorante" and it is located on Kings Street in Old Town Alexandria.
So, off we went into the Friday night rush-hour traffic. Old Town here we come! We found the restaurant, but decided to have a drink at another restaurant before dinner. We had our drink and then we headed for "Geranio Ristorante" where we had our reservations. All right, so there we were. We got a table upstairs. After about ten minutes we ordered our wine, and then after about 20 minutes we had the bottle at our table and we could finally order our food. Needless to say it took a long time for us to get our appetizers. I had ordered the lobster bisque, and usually I love that soup. SO not this time around. It looked, and tasted like gravy. So brown, so salty. Peter's food was OK. Tada! Done with the appetizer we were expecting the main course. The waitor placed our orders on the table, only it wasn't our food. Peter had ordered lobster risotto, and I had ordered scallops and potato pancake. We told the waitors that it was the wrong food, but no, THEY claimed it was indeed our food. Peter was asking if they thought his food looked like lobster risotto? "Well, it is, Sir" they replied. Peter cut a piece of his meat, a fish, just to show them what it really was. It just then happened that one of the chef's came through the dining-room, so we grabbed him and asked again. Of course we had got the wrong food. The chef took our plates down to the kitchen again with his apologies to us. Meanwhile the couple next to us had been waiting forever for their food to arrive. About ten minutes after the chef had removed the wrong food from our table it came back up again. This time to our neighbors table. It was exactly the food we had been served. Complete with Peter's cut into the fish. The couple looked at the food, and then at us..."Was this the food you guys just sent back?"...Yes, indeed...It was now cold, and not to mention already cut. The couple just stood up, put a 20 dollar bill, for their drinks and appetizers, on the table and left the place.
Then our food finally arrived. It was almost un-edible, mine was so incredibly salty...AND I am a person that crave and LOVE salt, but this was way too much of a good thing. We left shortly afterwards, without any desert, not leaving a tip. Please people, stay as far away you can from "Geranio ristorante" in Old Town Alexandria. It is the real Hell's Kitchen!

Peter is now in London, as I write this post. He is going to try one of Gordon Ramsey' high class restaurants while there. We can only hope it is a heck of a lot better than Hell's Kitchen in Alexandria, Virginia...

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nu komenterar jag på svenska.
Hej igen Annika!
Ni hade nog ingen trevlig kväll ni, allt blev fel. Och det var inte alls konstigt att paret bredvid er gick därifrån. Så där ska det ju inte få gå till. Ni får göra om det nån annan gång på ett bättre ställe.

Keith said...

Too bad with Hell's Kitchen in Alexandria! While it is fun to watch the TV show, it's Hell to experience it in real life. The restaurant should be ashamed of itself for delivering the food that Peter cut in to to the other table that actually ordered it. I can imagine what the REAL Chef Ramsay would have said to the wait and chef staffs had that happened in one of his restaurants. You and the other couple were right in leaving no tip and not much else either. You can count on me as one person who will never go to Genanio Ristorante. However, should I ever get to London I'll be certain to go to one of Chef Ramsey's restaurants.

Annika said...

stina: Oh I know...Hate that you have to pay money and be treated like crap...

Keith: No, don't ever go to that place. It stunk...We'll see how it goes for Peter in London.

Anonymous said...

What a terrible dinner! Try Kinkead's in the George Washington University area if you want good seafood. It is a shame that a restaurant in Old Town Alexandria was so bad. It used to be a good place to go for an evening!

Annika said...

Margo: we should have picked "the chart house" instead, or something along those lines. Just a wrong pick... YES!!! We will so try Kinkead's! Sounds great!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a nightmare! I am glad that you warned us about that place (not that I ever get to go out to dinner to an adult place!).

Hope your next date night is better!

Annika said...

Melinda: No! Now you know! Awful!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's the worst I've ever heard of I think! Completely amazing - with the couple next to you getting the food you sent back WITH Peter's cut as the "icing on the cake"...MY GOD! I was just thinking as I was reading that Mr Gordon Ramsey (Patrik and love the show) should really pay this place a visit. Maybe you should let him know about it :-) Anyway, it's horrible to go out, expecting a nice evening, paying probably a lot of money, and then get treated like this. Better luck next time! And do let us know about the restaurant in London!!

Annika said...

Monika: I know!!! I've never think I experienced anything like it. But wait, once Malin and I were out eating in Reston TC, at Uno's. We had the worst and crappiest waitor ever seen...We gave zero tips, of course. But this place was an upscale place, you expect more then, of course. I know, Gordon Ramsey is great!!! Love him!

Suzanne said...

The one thing I love about the "internet" these days is that businesses - all kinds - can be called on the carpet when they under perform. That is a horrible experience and if the opportunity arises you should rate them poorly. I personally live by reading average customer ratings on everything. Maybe there is one out there for Washington DC restaurants we should find so you can blast them!

Annika said...

Suz: The internet is wonderful! What the heck did we do before it came? I wish there was a web-site where one could rate restaurants. Who knows? Maybe it already exists. Gotta re-search!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi honey, Yes, the service at the restaurant was terrible. It just became a joke as the night went on. Hopefully, I can take you on a better date soon to a place where they care about the service and not just the profit. Love, Pebo

Annika said...

PCB: You always take me to the best places. And you know it. This was just bad luck. A joke, as you said.
LOVE!!!