The Sweet Service Award goes to Alexander Forbes insurance company and its staff member Prosper Nkabinde, for his patient assistance over a six week period in getting a car written off by his company.   The car broke down four months after a major radiator repair paid for by the insurance company, and the cost of the new repair exceeded the value of it. The insurance company paid out the residual value, to go towards the purchase of a replacement car.

The Sour Service Award  goes to Hillcrest Berry Farm, and was nominated by Jacoba Budden:  “My sister invited me for our first (ever) sister’s lunch and since it was one of those perfect warm spring days that exist only in the South African Cape, we decided to go to the Hillcrest Berry Farm. We were both starving and were thrilled when the menu arrived briskly but I thought it looked pretty ambitious for such a small place. We ordered filter coffee and two silver pots arrived immediately – I was impressed at the generosity but the coffee itself could have been fresher and it would have been pleasant  if they’d filtered the coffee since it was, after all, filter coffee; the flavour wasn’t too terrible, though. Luckily we had a lot of catching up to do so we didn’t mind that it took the waitress a full 20 minutes to take our order; Both of us ordered the duo of mini quiches @ R60.00 that, with a side salad and bread, was adequate. The bread arrived quickly. Again we waited almost half an hour and by the time the food arrived, we were ravenous. The waitress was friendly enough and gaily put the food on our table, serving from the right and almost decapitating me in the process but we were so happy to have something to eat that we really couldn’t care about her mistakes. We ate in silence for 5 minutes and then I noticed my sister’s face. Despite the fact that we don’t see one another often, it is in our blood to know and understand one another and I didn’t need telling to see that the pastry was bothering her as well. Look, we were starving and I would have eaten a shoe at that stage so we ate it but by the time we got halfway, we could discuss the pastry. We did agree on one thing, it was burnt. The filling was edible if you take into account there was no blue cheese in the pear quiche and that it consisted mainly of egg custard with grilled pears. Nelle said that her‘s were okay and we both agreed that the salad was delicious and generous as was the bread.  My sister was adamant that she’d never go back again, her food was downright terrible and she found the service horrific. The person at the till couldn’t even speak English” (edited).

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 info@whalecottage.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.