Carnegie's - Food & Service

[jambobwana]

The great food at Carnegie's puts many full-time restaurants in this city to shame. However, they could definitely use more staff at lunch time, both on week days and weekends.

[TpeBob]

The great food at Carnegie's puts many full-time restaurants in this city to shame. However, they could definitely use more staff at lunch time, both on week days and weekends.

Thanks. Point on staffing levels noted.

Bob

[Moto-Monkey]

Right, where to begin... How about on the day and time in question, May 1st at around 3:00 p.m. However, before I begin my mini-rant, let me preface by saying that my husband and I have eaten at Carnegies more than once and food is not really the issue. It is service. More to the point, table wait staff. I have always found the "bouncers" to be an excellent lot and professional, but the wait staff are quite another issue.
This is the second time we have entered Carnegies only to be grunted at begrudgingly (this time the guy was carrying beer cases so I could understand his plight) to go get our table. It took him about 10 minutes to get over to us for the drink order. Now my only complaint on "food". The Bloody Mary's were what we call "Shadow Bloody Mary's". What gives? The tomato juice was watered down, no spice, awful. I have enough experience in hospitality and bartending, specifically to know a good "Mary"-this wasn't.
The service didn't improve through the 1.5 hours. So, I don't want to overstep boundaries, but why is the service so mediocre? I have had worse, but why should poor service be tolerated because Carnegies has a niche market? I reckon that if it isn't management trouble then it is the numbers-night time is the right time to make money?
Now, regarding a name for the bloke, before it is asked, he wouldn't say clearly, just mumbled it....
Sign me,
A faithful devotee to bar dancing @ Carnegies, but not the service.
P.S. Hooters , Jukes and The Patio followed-see another post!

[TpeBob]

Moto-Monkey. Please accept my apologies. The two staff in question will have their respective responsibilities reviewed. I am a big fan of Bloody Mary's myself and am also quite picky about them. You should have been asked how spicy you wanted it and the drink should have been made accordingly.

The waiter should have been MUCH quicker in attending to your needs and I don't need the name of the person to know who the 'mumbler' is Nonetheless. customers first, cases of beer second.

It is not true that the night time business takes precedent over day time business; they are two different animals. It has been my aim and remains my aim to provide excellent service during the day as well as night. Daytime should be an opportunity for us to provide prompt, courteous service as the work load on the individual staff at that time should not inhibit them from doing this. Night time service, I am sure you will agree is very good under the circumstances when the pressure on staff is such that lesser able people would buckle under the strain.

My aim is to provide quality of service at all times with no area of business taking precedence over another.

Please PM me so that we can arrange a mutually convenient time for me to provide recompense and apologise in person.

Lastly, I regard your post not as a rant but constructive criticism as you have provided me with information which can be acted upon and pin-pointed areas where failings can be rectified. Thank you.

Cheers,

Bob Marshall
General Manager
Carnegie's Taipei

[amos]

Went here for lunch today and had the shephards pie . I haven't been there before so l'm not sure whether or not the manager took up Hexuan's comment on bigger portions of pie, but with the crunchy vegetable it filled me up an more. Pretty damn good pie although l missed the pastry. Nice meal. Amos.

[Lord Lucan]

Went here for lunch today and had the shephards pie . I haven't been there before so l'm not sure whether or not the manager took up Hexuan's comment on bigger portions of pie, but with the crunchy vegetable it filled me up an more. Pretty damn good pie although l missed the pastry. Nice meal. Amos.

It was He Who Posts as "dog" who commented on the stature of the shepherd.

I was there when Bob went through three pies and kept sending them back to the kitchen because there wasn't enough meat.

I had lunch there yesterday and the lamb shank was mighty. Especially with the Guinness.

I'm shocked about the Bloody Marys. I too am very fussy about that and ideally it should be made at your table, the waiter bringing all the stuff with him. It sounds a bit OTT but really I have to say Saints & Sinners have you on that one. (Shock Horror!) I'll be down today straight after work to get thish shorted out.

Mustard Powder

[jambobwana]

I had some fantastic lamb at Carnegie's the other night. For anyone who is disappointed in the new rack of lamb recipe at Dan Ryan's, Carnegie's is the place to go. Price is about the same too.

[Lord Lucan]

I did go down and check out the bloody mary, but it led to a weekend of mad drinking which only finished yesterday. The bloody mary is fine - but I think NT180 is a bit much so I'll stick to the wine and beer.

Had a chicken kebab - not bad at all, very good packing for a late night snack and spicy enough.

Great lamb chops.... had a few of them, tender, sweet, and tasty. And so are the lamb chops.

[Tomas]

Ate at Carnegie's recently. Haven't been there to eat in over a year. The "Big One," that Maoman describes has really improved. Very tasty. I couldn't finish it, so couples may want to dig into it together.

The selection of beers is quite good.

Bob is quite attentive to service needs. Hard to get some local folks to react quickly and properly, but he does a good job of riding herd over the waitstaff.

Highly recommend the place for a nice Saturday or Sunday afternoon chat with food.

[Alleycat]

Don't forget that on Sundays the balcony stays open all night.

The wife and I had a wonderful pub meal there last Sunday night, outside on the terrace. I had the monstrous Steak and kidney pie, which was all that it should be. The wife had the liver and onions, also a portion suitable for a British Columbian logger, but equally delicious.

After closing last night, the wife and I went and spent a few hours in the company of Bob, whom I might add is the consumate host. A friendly, generous and fair man.

I must also point out that nowadays there seems to be fewer and fewer pot-bellied old men chasing after nubile xiao jies and vise versa.

Carnegies, through Bob's excellent work, is now a place where one can brunch, lunch, dine, drink, and carouse.

Hats off to Bob.