It’s been a month or so since the new food and beer place – Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern – opened in Limassol. I tried to get there over weekend evening a couple of times, but it was always packed and I forgot to book. However, today I had the pleasure of having lunch there.
And while the food there is pretty good (if you choose right), their customer service is outstanding – something many other places can learn from.
Here is the story for you. Four of us came for lunch. All of us were there for the first time. We were welcomed and offered a table. The beers arrived and we made our menu choices. I, for some reason, was expecting their steaks to be quite good, so I asked for the Fire-Grilled Fillet Steak. And I wanted it medium-rare. A few minutes passed and we got out food. It looked quite delicious, but when I tried my steak I was somewhat disappointed. It was rather dry and stiff. And it was smallish.
Being on a see food diet (“I see food, I eat it”), I could of course finish that steak easily. But one of the friends at the table suggested that I request to change it. It’s not something that I usually do. Or ever for that matter. But I thought why shouldn’t. After all it was a new place which seemed very decent and I wanted to fully enjoy it. So I called a waiter and politely explained that I am not enjoying my steak that much. The waiter asked to hold a moment for the manager.
The manager indeed appeared in a moment. He asked me what was the problem and I explained. Than something really good happened. The manager asked what would I prefer instead of the steak. I ran through my menu options again and selected The Big Irish Burger.
Just a few moments later, I got the burger and let me tell you this – it was fantastic. For those of you who think of burgers in terms of McDonalds, you don’t know what a burger is. The Big Irish Burger is huge. In fact, it’s so high that to keep it straight, they stick a steak knife into it vertically. And listen to this – the full blade of that knife is hidden inside the burger and it’s not going through the whole thing. Of particular interest are two chunks of meat inside that burger. Those are something – soft, juicy, and delicious!
After I’ve eaten the first half of that burger I already totally forgot about that whole steak thing. I was really enjoying myself. And I mean really enjoying. I guess it was so obvious from the outside that the manager noticed it and wanted to finish me, sending another Guiness pint on the house. Oh, boy!
Is that all, you wonder? Nope. I had to form my opinion about this place properly, so I asked for some dessert menu. I don’t remember exactly what I ordered, but it had “Xango”-something in the name. It turned out to be a huge scoop of good ice-cream, in the company of some bananas (cooked or marinated or something like that) and with a few spoons of delicious syrup.  It’s been a while since I had a dessert this good. In fact, I remember exactly when was the last time. It was when they used to serve home-made ice-cream with nuts in that Italian restaurant in Akrotiri. But they don’t do it any more.
Oh, well. After the food and beers and desserts we paid a reasonable bill and left.
So, what do I think about that place? It’s awesome! The insides are nice, the atmosphere is very friendly and welcoming, outstanding customer service, some of the food is really good, while some is not, reasonable prices. I’m pretty sure I’ll be coming back for more of that burger and dessert. And I want to try their barbeque ribs as well.
