"It's Just The Way It Is" & Swine Flu Hooper

Someone once said to me that when it comes to restaurants, British people tend to not complain if something isn't right and merely accept things because "it's just the way it is". Bad food? Oh well. Bad service? No matter. Skank off cheque? Eh, so what. It's just the way it is.

Luckily for moi, I’m not like most Brits. If anything, if my whole munching out experience isn't what it should be, they and everyone around me usually gets to know about it. I don't like confrontations but if money and my belly are involved, I'm usually more inclined.

don't mess with munch. Self portrait by Albie Espinola

My lawyer friend once explained that if your restaurant experience is crap, like bad service, bad food or you think the food was nowhere near the price they asked for...LEGALLY you don't have to cough up. You can drop a few pounds and say "this is how much I think it is worth".

However, it is illegal if you go out with the purpose to not pay for the food.

I only complain when necessary and not for the hell of it like some of my friends think I do. I love my food and eating out is expensive so I should get what I pay for.

Georgia Goodrick and I went to this sushi restaurant on Frith Street called, Hi Sushi. It was a beautiful day so we sat outside. We decided to have the "all you can eat" offer for £14.80. So we ordered loads of sushi, which was "unlimited” and 8 different hot dishes (which was the maximum amount we can order). Each hot dish we ordered, the waitress said they would bring out "2 portions". We thought this is going to be a huge amount of food.

When the hot dishes came, they came all at once on one of them school dinner plates.

Georgia Goodrick et Albie Espinola

I asked if there was more of the hot food on the way, the waitress replied "this is the 2 portions for both of you". WHAT?! Literally it was 1 squid hoop each, one chicken skewer each, a couple of prawns each, a touch of swine, a few chicken pieces and a little bit of tofu. Georgia said to not say anything as "that is just the way it is". I let that one go as I ate most of the food on the plate anyways.

Nice and stuffed, there was a little sushi left over so we asked if we can get a doggy bag for the last few pieces of sushi. Out of nowhere, they started getting all prick-ish saying in a rude manner, "no take-away, only eat in".

I explained, "I'm not getting take-away, we were eating outside and want the rest as a doggy bag". They tried to be smart, "but there are no dogs here". Stupid sushi place.

Then the bill arrived.

The bill came up to £44! I said "WHAT THE HELL?" Georgia again said, "Let's just pay, it's just the way it is". This time I wasn't having any of it saying it should be £30 and change, if that. They pointed to the menu on the window saying it cost £16.30 each and I said "no, the menu you gave me says 14.80". They said the menu was out-of-date. What knobs. We argued for ages over the prices. Even if the meal was £16.30 each, it doesn't equate nowhere near to £44.

We literally went back and forth for 10 minutes about how much the bill was and why we couldn't take a doggy bag, especially for the ridiculous price they were charging. I didn't wanna mess too much as we were in Soho so we came to a compromise. In the end we paid £30 and didn't pay service charge. AND we got our doggy bag. If you ask me, we should've paid nada after all that arguing.

For your information, legally you don't have to pay service charge. So if service is crap or cannot afford it, don't pay it.

Swine Flu Hooper. Teresa Elizabeth Hooper. Photograph courtesy from Jonathan Griggs

Speaking of food, Teresa Elizabeth Hooper caught Swine Flu! Gutted to her cos no one could visit her even if they wanted. She's getting better though and will be 100% in no time.

Anyways, I love this song at the moment. It's my friends band called Vagabond, it rocks! Alex Vargas (main singer) lives in Notting Hill but haven't seen him around in ages. Now I know why, he's been a busy bee getting his debut album ready and it shall be out on the 17th August.

xx

Albie!!