The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Of course, what I’m talking about here is Tacoma’s newest Indian Cuisine, Bombay Bistro. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen such an anticipated restaurant opening in The North End. When I quickly searched Google for their website the first 20 items that came up were ecstatic bloggers, newspaper articles and forum posts about the excitement surrounding this grand opening. I’ll admit I was among these masses to be looking forward to another delicious place to dine, but excitement quickly turned to anguish when the opening kept being delayed.

I’d almost given up hope but then magically the doors flew open. I considered it a good sign that the parking lot was full every time I drove by, but when you consider the size of it, I guess that wasn’t saying much at all.

Knowing it was a Saturday night at 8:30 we were pleased to be seated relatively quickly. If I would have known what was to come I would have reveled in that a little more. We waited for about 10 minutes before anyone even acknowledged us, and another handful of minutes to get menus. After the first 20 minutes we had been asked if we’d been helped by three different people, yet no one seemed to want to do anything about it.

Finally, FINALLY we ordered our food. At this point it was a little after 9pm and my hunger (and cranky) levels were rising. As we sat and tried to enjoy the pleasant décor of the restaurant we watched as people started to dissipate. A large party came in ordered, ate and left, and soon enough we were the only ones left in the restaurant.

And still without food.

Our waitress breezed by once to offer up an unapologetic “food should be out soon” as I attempted to eat my own arm. We talked about leaving, but decided that we’d be waiting another 20 minutes for food anywhere else we went.

At 10:30pm our food was brought out to us– one plate at a time. By this point the restaurant had been closed for an hour and we had been waiting for our food for two.

Needless to say we ate our meals faster than greased lightning. I honestly couldn’t describe how the meal tasted because I inhaled it. When we received our check there were few apologies for the lack in timeliness. After all of the waiting there were no offers to comp any of our meals, drinks or the like. It wasn’t until the next day while eating the leftovers that I realized how good the food actually was.

I find few things more upsetting than getting crappy service when the food is up to par. So you’ll imagine my disdain when I know where I can get a good meal, but have to wait hours for it to arrive. I doubt that I’ll be making it back to Bombay Bistro anytime soon, or at least until they can get a waitstaff who knows what they’re doing and a cook who understands the concept of time. But as always, I encourage you to make your own decisions. I hear the buffet is great.

All in all: Bad service can ruin even the best restaurants.