The Sweet Service Award goes to Liberty’s Restaurant at DoubleTree by Hilton Cape Town Upper Eastside in Woodstock, for their invitation via their PR company to taste elements of their new summer menu as canapés, prepared by Chef Simon Kemp and his team, and paired with wines supplied by Siris Vintners. Dishes we tasted included Tuna Tataki (photograph); hot smoked duck breast; pulled Moroccan spiced lamb pita pockets; pan-fried gnocchi with sage, pine kernels, wild mushrooms, Parmesan and wild truffle cream; warm fig salad; and death by brownie with Caffe Latte ice cream. The hotel has a herb garden growing in boxes on the terraces, which Chef Simon and the kitchen staff take responsibility for, and pick fresh herbs from daily for their dishes.
The Sour Service Award goes to MWeb, and its Sales department for not implementing an upgrade to a capped subscription on two Whale Cottage internet accounts. The sales lady sounded very efficient and friendly, and it was discussed that both accounts should be upgraded immediately last Friday. The same lady had promised to send a Confirmation ‘template’ for our records, which we did not receive. We received a 100% cap limit reached sms notification last Friday evening, after having arranged the upgrade earlier in the day. The end result was that no international e-mails were received nor websites were operational. We called the Billings department of the company the following day, and I was assured that the upgrade had been done. The Technical department had confirmed the problem with the cap, and the Billings lady said that she would have to ask an engineer why it was not working, and that the engineer might not reply the same day! We had to call the company again, and with a different operator the upgrade was quickly done, costing an hour in time and call cost, as well as lots of frustration, as I was unable to blog!
The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog. Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at whalecot@iafrica.com. Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage
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