I went out for a meal last night to try and cheer everyone up and it helped. The restaurant was the normal one we go to as their food is outstanding. Surprisingly things have changed though.
The owner is always around checking u on things and normally pops by the table to give it the personal touch. Everyone knows him but that didn't happen last night or someone else covering him. That was the first thing I noticed and I am sure others who are fairly regular would as well.Everything that set it apart from other establishments had changed.
The food standards had dropped as well as the quality was not the same and corners had been cut so to speak. When you go for a particular meal that you know they specialize in and it tastes different you start to wander what is different. The meal I had was Portuguese chicken which is marinated and a basting applied whilst being grilled and served with a starch and salad. The chicken hadn't been basted and there was a sauce poured over the top. The salad was missing as well and when I counted my chicken pieces a leg was missing as well. I wasn't nit picking but what made them different was always the quality and you didn't mind paying a little extra for it.
This restaurant used to close for a month every year because the owner went away on holiday and didn't trust others to run it the way he wanted it to. He is a perfectionist and no one comes close to the standards that they used to uphold.
Someone has taken their eye off the ball here and it is sad as how many businesses do that. You get comfortable and you take a step back and it all unravels. Consistency is what got you to this point and now it has gone. the other meals that my family had were also not up to standard and I didn't comment at the time but they did.I know the owner well so I will be giving him a call and find out if he sold the place or not. This is one way of getting his attention and maybe me not having to find another restaurant in the future. Maybe they deserve one last chance as I used to really like their food.As they say you are as only as good as your last meal.
This is not the first time it has happened to me as it has happened in the past where things just start going downhill. Is it a human characteristic than when we have enough money we just don't care anymore. Once you lose your identity you become like everyone else and what is the point anymore.
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