Restaurant Snobbery!

Over the past year I have posted a few restaurant reviews and tend to only post the ones that I felt were good. However, this post isn’t the case. I made reservations for four at Vino Di Zanotti (part of Zanotti restaurant which is down the street from Vino Di Zanotti) on Saturday night as it’s been a place I’ve wanted to try. My husband and I arrived before our friends only to be told that we could not eat inside as my husband was wearing shorts. This was not communicated to me when I made the reservation. The restaurant manager said we could eat outside. Eating outside wasn’t what we requested and my husband was wearing a shirt with his smart casual shorts. The manager then pointed out that his ‘regular’ customers know of the no shorts policy. One could see that we weren’t arriving from the beach in shorts and flip flops! The option to eat outside wasn’t what we wanted as the ambiance was inside………..and we didn’t fancy the idea of eating next to the parking lot. It needs to be stated that this place isn’t in the most salubrious of locations as it’s positioned behind a car park that doubles as a food court during the day.

The manager left a bad taste in our mouths as he wasn’t the least bit interested in trying to entice us to come back at a later time. Business must be, indeed, good. If he had said, “look I’m really sorry about our lack of communication when the reservation was made regarding our dress code, but give us another opportunity to dine with us and in doing so I would like to offer you and your guests a discount on your next meal, or enjoy a complimentary drink etc etc”. This simple sign of good faith was never offered. Restaurant snobbery is something that seems to be generally accepted as being ok and people are willing to sacrifice their morals just to be seen. Well, I’m sorry, but there are too many other Italian restaurants in Bangkok vying for our wallet share. When we were at the Moon Bar (open air rooftop lounge) on the 61st floor of The Banyan Tree hotel, we were informed of their dress code which we had no problem accommodating. Our experience at Vino Di Zanotti was, quite frankly, embarrassing for us and our guests.

We spent New Years Eve on the club floor which is located on the 37th floor of the Intercontinental hotel in Bangkok and no one told my husband he wasn’t welcomed because he was wearing smart casual shorts with a shirt.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: Not a place we’ll go back to as we didn’t feel welcomed and no effort shown by the restaurant manager to want us to come back. Must be nice to be in that position. The whole dining experience should be an all encompassing one in which the atmosphere is welcoming, the staff are accommodating and the food is good. If the food is reasonable but the service is excellent and you feel good being there, you’ll most likely to always go back. Also, to be a ‘regular’ you need to have a good first time experience! Ciao!