Let me start by saying that if everyone treated their customers’ complaints the way Mr.Mario Haddad did, then the quality of restaurants in the country as well as customer loyalty will rise significantly. As some of you might have recalled, i had a relatively bad experience on my first visit to the Jasmine room and was asked to give it a second visit by its owner, Mr. Haddad.
The dinner was scheduled on Friday night at 9 pm and i attended it along with Chahe and Cohiba from the blog. I was greeted by Mario who invited us over to the round table, also known as a Lazy Susan. I thought it was gonna be the 3 or 4 of us, but then we were joined by 3 staff members from BrainStorm, a company that manages The Jasmine Room along with other restaurants, as well as the Commercial Director of TimeOut magazine in Beirut, and the executive chef Thomas Reger.
We started off with lots of cold and hot starters and a really good “Vin Rose”. There were lots of items i haven’t noticed on the menu on my first visit, among which a plate which i absolutely loved, consisting of a mix of chicken and carrots with a delicious side sauce which you can roll into small pancakes, and then came the “Crispy aromatic duck with pancake” plate which was exceptional. Afterwards, we were served two crab dishes and even though it was a hassle trying to get something out of them, they were succulent.
At this point, i thought dinner was over before another load of hot dishes landed on the table (Home-made noodles, beef and chicken dipped in various sauces etc. ) I was full already and very satisfied with what i’ve had and hoping there won’t be any desserts afterwards.
In all, i must admit my second visit to the place felt like going to a whole different place, and the bad experience i had during my first visit was a mere accident that i have already forgotten about. I believe this is one of the very few times, if not the first time, i change my mind on a restaurant that drastically.
On a last note, i wish to thank Mr. Mario Haddad and his team for this delicious dinner and agreeable company and assure them that the Jasmine Room will be my #1 choice when it comes to Chinese food.
PS: The Jasmine Room delivers and has a menu online for those who wish to check it out.
Najib, did you pay for the dinner?
In any case, regardless of whether you did or not, reviewing a dinner experience when the restaurant has designed a menu especially for you is not a representation of what the experience would be for an anonymous diner. How do you justify that your latest experience was so drastically different to the first one?
I enjoy reading your blog, but make sure you consider these things before making judgement and recommendations, because you may be seen as providing paid marketing to the restaurant. This will endanger your credibility.
Please don’t consider this as critisicm but rather friendly advice from a Lebanse blogger who has been doing this for 4 years. Have a look at this article I put together a while back. http://thefoodblog.com.au/2010/05/the-ten-commandments-of-food-blogging.html
Will “Mr.” Mario Haddad invite me out too?
nice bribe
Najib I have to echo Fouad’s remarks. A night out with your buddies where you were treated royally does not make a restaurant. If you had visited it again incognito and wrote another assessment; then it would have been believable. However, you chose to take the Vegas gambler and the Cuban Cigar with you to a set “trap” and a free advertising ambush.
I am happy you had a great time. Unfortunately that does not change anything.
Fouad,
No i did not pay for the dinner as it was an invitation and it would be rude for me to pay.
Nevertheless, i did not label the food as being a bad one in my first review but was more critical of the service i got and the mere fact that the owner himself double-checked what happened and asked us to come back for a second visit shows that they do care about their customers. As for justifying what happened before, he did say that accidents happen and that those involved were reprimanded for that matter. Of course i could not really have judged the service this time as the owner was dining with us, but i don’t see any interest in them caring that much then redoing the same mistakes. Accidents do happen in restaurants.
Food-wise, he did not design a special menu but rather made us taste almost everything on his menu, among which many things i would probably not even try, either because they are spicy or for some other reason, but what matters is that the food was good and i made sure i bring along two of my friends and fellow bloggers just so i have 2 additional opinions on this.
I thank you for your much appreciated feedback and trust me i am always glad to hearing from you as i follow your blog and enjoy it very much.
PS: i did not break the seventh commandment as i clearly specified i do not do this to get free meals.
Gianni,
I made my re-evaluation based on solid ground and after reviewing the owner’s background and getting second opinions. He could have easily ignored us and moved on and his place would still be running, but he chose otherwise.
First of all, I think that it is great that Mario Haddad took Najib’s post so seriously, other restaurant owners would have just ignored it. Second, the whole point of the dinner was for us to provide the restaurant owner feedback on the things that Najib mentioned in his article.
He could have easily asked Najib to just send him the feedback by email, instead of inviting him to have dinner and discuss it in person.
Well anyone who watched Ramsay’s Best Restaurant competition would know that part of the test involved sending in anonymous reviewers and the other part of the test was Ramsay himself eating at the restaurant and being taken care of by the owners.
The reason he took Najib out is because Najib is a blogger and his posts are out in public. If, let’s say an average restaurant goer went, had complaints, filled out a complaint card, there is no way they would have received the same treatment. This has nothing to do with “good customer care”, it has to do with getting good publicity out there.
And Najib in your first review you made it seem like the food was pretty bad. Here are some quotes:
“Few minutes later, the spring rolls came and they were not good at all and small as well.”
“The noodles platter my gf ordered was disgusting.”
and
“That was pretty much my experience at the Jasmine Room and i am quite sure will be my last one. I thought for a while that ChopSticks is no longer that good, but it is great compared to this one.”
Sure made it look like the Jasmine Room was a horrible experience.
Patrick,
The pad thai was filled with onions even though we had asked earlier if it had any and were told no, which made it disgusting. Spring rolls were average indeed but turns out most of the other appetizers were great, so i might not have picked the best they had.
You cannot judge them on the simple fact that they invited me because i blog. I could have easily written a complaint and then said they just ignored it and post about it ( if they had not called me of course).
I got many times calls from ZWZ based on my complaint cards and they had not heard of the blog.
Come on, a Chinese place that has average spring rolls? Spring rolls are the staple of Chinese appetizers, they should be getting it right, not “average”.
The usual response for writing complaint cards is a call, not an invite for a free meal. Obviously the food and service is going to be great since you’re sitting with the owner. Just saying, this guy is a business man and he knows how to get good publicity.
well said Pat lol
Patrick,
There were two types of spring rolls, as well as other appetizers that are also typically Chinese. You have dumblings, wontons etc .. and they even had Honey glazed chicken wings that were really good.
As for the owner, who doesn’t want good publicity for his restaurant? But trust me, knowing how many other restaurants and cmopanies he has and the PR he has, he could have easily ignored me and still kept his clientele.
The thing is that i could have easily disliked the food like i did the first time if it was bad and the average spring rolls are not really indicative to rate all the food.
Najib, Spring Rolls is to Chinese restaurants what Cheese Burgers are to Burger places. Everything else is secondary. You go to a burger place, you expect them to have good Cheese Burgers, not mediocre, or slightly below average Cheese Burgers. I’m not judging their entire menu, but come on. Spring Rolls.
Again, he’s a good business man. The commercial director of Time Out was there and employees from Brainstorm (upon visiting their unfinished site, seem like a company that comes up with ideas). Is that a coincidence?
As much as he can be “busy”, I’m sure he needs to eat, and what better way to have dinner than to invite a disgruntled blogger and make him happy with a ton of dishes.
I just think that next time something like this happens, you should have less excitement in your blog entry and be more objective.
Patrick,
Spring Rolls in Chinese restaurants are not what cheese burgers are to a burger place. Your comparison is not valid. Chinese food is about rice and noodles more than anything else.
I tried to be as objective as possible and was very specific on all aspects of the dinner, i don’t know why you insist on seeing this as a “marketing trap” i fell in instead of a nice gesture to make up for a mistake that occured previously.
If this were any other country, i would have taken into consideration your arguments, but in Lebanon, most restaurant owners don’t give a damn about who posts about them.
You’re taking my comparison too literally. It’s just a basic fact that a good Chinese restaurant should have good spring rolls, among other things (good rice, good sweet & sour chicken, good noodles), because these things are basic Chinese food (or what we know as the basics). Cheese Burger = basic food that a Burger joint should get right.
Your last part is spot on. Not all owners care who posts about them. This guy does, he invited you and voila! Your whole opinion on his restaurant changed based on ONE last visit. So who fell in whose trap?
Patrick whats with you and spring rolls?
It wasn’t supposed to be such a major point 😛 lol
On the previous post while replying to the owner you said:
“Nevertheless, i will politely refuse your invitation and instead promise to go visit you again with some friends without further notice and see if my bad experience was pure coincidence or not. ”
Why did you change your mind?
Eliedh,
It was back in October and we never had the chance to go visit, and we exchanged few emails a week ago and decided to go on with the visit specially that both Chahe & Cohiba were available as well as the restaurant’s executive chef.
Patrick,
I cannot keep on visiting the place to change my mind. I had two people with me and we got to try everything on the menu so it was good enough. And really what’s with you and spring rolls?
Patrick, who died and made u the expert in Chinese food?
Spring rolls, seriously?
With all due respect to Nagib, his taste for food can be very subjective; he might have not liked the spring rolls whereas someone else would have loved them.
I myself had a bad experience at the Jasmine, but I was recently compelled to accompany a group of friends there for dinner and I was pleasantly surprised.
See contrary to u, I don’t rate a Chinese restaurant based on their spring rolls but based on their duck and the Jasmine duck is simply delicious. Since it became MY Chinese restaurant to go to.
U always need to give a second chance and kudos for Mario for following up so closely on his business.
MIchelle and najib,
You both are missing some of the points that fouad and others made.
If someone lays out the best and most meticulous service to you; to impress you; then mission accomplished! The point is that when you assess the quality of service or food it has to be done incognito. Simple as that. No ifs or buts. Otherwise the evaluation is tainted.
Kudos to Mario for following up and being a smart PR man. He knows the value of advertising through blogs and the cyberspace. It’s worth its value in gold.
Ciao
And this is why ya Gianni I mentioned my own experience that has nothing to do with Nagib!
Gianni,
You are complicating this issue more than it deserves.
Can we please drop the spring rolls? It was an analogy that Najib took too seriously.
Michele and Najib:
My whole point was that Najib changed his opinion instantaneously right after this extravagant meal with the owner. Najib, you don’t visit the restaurant every day, but to change from “I would never visit it again” to “Wow, most amazing place ever” is kind of extreme and unprofessional of a blogger.
This isn’t complicated to understand. When a restaurant is reviewed, the owner doesn’t sit with the critic and sends out the best food, the critic visits on his own, not scheduled. Is that easier to comprehend what we’re all trying to get at?
Patrick,
Apparently you are the only one trying to get to that point that still does not stand. Again i was not annoyed by the food at first but the service and it was rectified since day1 and then corrected during the invitation.
That’s about it and i never said its the most amazing place ever. I said its the best chinese place ive been to and if u count the number of chinese restaurants we have in Lebanon, you will realize there is not much to compare.
I guess you just don’t get sarcasm or exaggeration.
You weren’t annoyed by the food? I would check your first blog entry about the Jasmine Room, you might need to re-write it then. Anyways, I’ve tried to get my point across and you don’t seem to see what the issue is. We’re Lebanese, we’re all stubborn.
Also there are plenty of great Chinese places in Lebanon, they’re just not huge like Chopsticks. There’s Little China in Monot and Panda House in Jal El Dib to name two.
Panda House in Jal el Dib? lool
Najib i read your block everyday and i fully agree that this review was very unprofessional from your side.
If you had the executive chef and the owner on your table the food and the service can not be judged fairly.
I am sorry to say it was a bribe and you fell for it.
Elie,
I did not judge the service as i said it could not be judged with the owner on the table. However, caring about their customers is a service itself and makes up for the mistakes done before.
As for the food, i was not critical of it before as much as i was to the service. I shared the opinion of three people before writing this, and i don’t understand why you are still looking at it as a bribe.
I did want to go into this ya Najib but please read below,
On your previous “bad review” you wrote:
{Few minutes later, the spring rolls came and [they were not good at all and small as well]. The hot dishes then followed and with them came major dissapointment.
– [Steamed rice came without corn. They were unable to drop few pieces of corn into the bowl. It is very demanding indeed.]
– Sweet and Sour chicken came with the green pepper and onions. The waitress realized the matter as soon as she got to the table, so she apologized, went back to the kitchen, took out the onions and green pepper and came back with it. How did i know that? Simply because the chicken and the sauce smelled like onions and peppers still, but i did not tell her anything.
– [The noodles platter my gf ordered was disgusting. Noodles were not well done] and they had onions all over them. We asked them to take it back and we ended up not paying for it.}
Man correct me if i am wrong and if i do not understand your English but you wrote is about the food mainly and not the service (check between […]!! I really respect your blog but you will have to admit that you and your friends made a mistake by accepting this “free dinner” you should have refused this invitation and as you first replied to Mario’s email
Elie,
I will gladly correct you:
– I stated the steamed rice did not come with corn, which i had ordered from the waitress. This is service not food.
– Sweet and Sour chicken came with onions and green pepper even though i had requested them otherwise. Also service.
– Noodles were filled with onions even though we had asked the waitress in advance if there were any onions in it and she said no. So also service.
The only comments on food were on the spring rolls which were not that good and noodles not well done, but again my opinion on the spring rolls could differ from one person to the other.
So in all, there’s one comment on the pad thai which i disliked mainly because of the onions and second because it looked like it wasn’t well done, but the major complaints were service-related.
I did refuse at first the invitation on the basis that i promised to visit again, but then time passed and i hadn’t gone yet and agreed to go have dinner with the owner and my friends in the presence of his staff and chef. Why is that so hard to swallow?
If you feel my review was subjective, why dont we go the two of us to the Jasmine Room and you be the judge if my first encounter was a mistake or not? What do u think?
The problem is that i went to Jasmin this week and this is what pushed me to write to you today.
The food is average and the service is slow so basically i tend to agree with your first review.
Thanks for the invitation anyways
Well what i’ve noticed is that there are many items that might not seem appealing at first on the menu but turned out to be quite delicious. It is not really the best place if you want to grab a quick chinese dinner, but rather is more suitable for a full dinner.
ya3tikoun l 3afye chabeb, it really is a tough life, that of a blogger..
Schmiergeld!! 😀
Arschgesicht!
Decorum boys.
Dear all,
I would like (once again) to comment on certain points made pertaining to Najib’s last post.
Let me start by saying that when you make a misstep that affects your customers, apologizing is more than an obligation, it’s an opportunity, be it in the food industry or any other for that matter.
In the case of Najib, and following his first visit to The Jasmine Room, the idea of inviting him to dinner was to get a second chance to showcase the quality of our food which we believe is far superior to anything in the Chinese restaurant market in Lebanon.
Having said that, I find that some reactions to Najib’s article were a bit too harsh (“Nice bribe”, ” the evaluation is tainted”, “you fell for it”, etc).
After all Najib writes his experiences and reviews from a customer’s perspective and has (to my knowledge) not attempted at any point to pretend he is the ultimate food critic you have made him out to be.
so in all fairness it doesn’t really matter if the owner of the restaurant was present. We were not vying for a Michelin star but rather attempting to put things right with a customer that had a bad experience in one of our outlets.
As for the claim that Najib was invited solely because he has a blog, is not entirely correct. This customer care procedure is applicable to any guest that has walked through our doors and not just the ones that blog about us. That is why i am personally extending an invitation to you all to discuss over dinner the quality of food and service at The Jasmine Room and benefit from your priceless experiences.
You can call it marketing, but we rather call it common decency!
Mario Jr Haddad (a blogbaladi reader)
yes I heard this place serves bad food
well a random visit to the place would show how the food really is, i dont care if the 2nd one was a bribe and all the “bla bla” u guys had here. the whole point is that the 2nd visit was made ” a la perfection” which is not the real case apparently in the resto. so when u get a decent service without everyone being cautious that u like the food and service, then it’s a good place to go, other than that ill stick to the 1st visit u had!2nd visits yale be kouno madrousin ma elon ta3me cz it would be once in a million years