Where NOT to eat in London: Reubens

Last night, I had perhaps one of the most disturbing customer-relations experiences in recent memory, of dining at a restaurant.

Having been whisked away to England (with less than 16 hours advance notice) for an urgent, work-related task -- a good friend and work colleague of mine and I decided to go to the center of London for dinner.

We went to Reubens restaurant to eat -- and I ordered a chopped liver sandwich for 4.95 pounds, a pickle and a coke zero. I gave the cashier guy a 20 pound note.

He was busy talking when he took my money and took a 10 pound bill out of the cash register, put it on the cash register, and then started giving me the small change.

He gave me the small change, and then put the 10 pound bill back in the register.

"Excuse me," I said, "I gave you a 20 pound note -- my change includes the 10 pound bill you just put back in the cash register."

He replied rather abruptly, "No, you gave me a 10, you got your change."

I was rather taken aback. I knew exactly how much British money I had brought with me from Israel, and it didn't include any 10 pound notes. Additionally, I knew what was in my wallet -- I was 100% sure I had given him a 20 pound note.

"I'm sorry, I believe you've made a mistake," I continued, I'm sure I gave you a 20 pound bill -- I don't have any 10 pound bills."

And that's when things got nasty.

"Are you calling me a liar," he raised his voice at my friend and I. "I got a 10 pound note from you, and that's it. "

My friend then commented as well, "He [pointing to me] gave you a 20 pound bill, I saw it as well."

The cashier then started yelling at me loudly -- that he was not a liar, and why am I calling him a thief, when its obviously my fault.

I replied that I'm not insinuating anything, and he simply made an honest mistake.

He continued his rantings at me to everyone behind the counter, how he was right, and I'm wrong.

With nothing left to do and no manager around to complain to, my friend and I ate dinner.

Needless to say, this entire experience provided a very bad taste as an "appetizer" and the cashier/waiter's behavior was rather disgusting to say the least.

You don't yell at customers, let alone over something as trivial as this. He didn't even bother opening the cash register to verify that maybe HE (and not I) had made a mistake.

I made a very clear decision then -- when I would return to my hotel, I would re-check the envelope that I received with cash in it, and see the exact remaining amount. If it would be 10 pounds more than I expected, I would call the restaurant and personally apologize.

If it was 10 pounds less than it should have been, meaning that I had given him a 20 pound bill as I was sure I had (and been short-changed), then I would write this post -- letting people beware eating at Reubens restaurant in Central London.

Hence this post.

The Muqata hereby gives the Reueben's restaurant in London a review of 4 stars out of 5 for its food, and zero stars for customer service.

The quality of the food and location don't make up for their abhorrent customer service.

Jerks.

Note: Above pictures taken last night with my cell-phone. Posts coming later on stuff going on around Israel.

Visiting Israel?
Learn to Shoot at Caliber-3 with top Israeli Anti-Terror Experts!

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Ghost Haunts Jewish House in London?

One of my daughters worries a lot.

You name it, she worries about it...

Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Tornadoes, the Plague, Monsters under the bed, etc. This past Shabbat, one of the kids pulled out the weekly "Ask the Cellphone Rabbi" (SMS question and answers) list from a parsha [weekly Torah portion] sheet, and there was a question to the effect of "Do I need to be scared of spirits". The rabbi answered that he had never seen any, and regardless, there is a tradition that spirits don't abound or harm people in the Land of Israel.

Much to my daughter's horror, our oldest son snarkily interjected with a Talmudic story that if you put flour on the floor around your bed when you go to sleep, you'll see chicken tracks/footprints in the flour in the morning, which prove that demons danced around your bed at night.

(Note: a guaranteed fate worse than death is to start putting flour on the floor round your bed a week before Pesach...after the room has been cleaned)

Trying to calm my daughter, I told her that was probably from the "Talmud Bavli" -- the Babylonian Talmud, which was written outside of Israel. And besides, we have no reason to assume there are ghosts or demons lurking around...don't bother them, they won't bother you.

She forgot about the ghosts and we got back to eating lunch.

And then, the following appears exclusively in today's (Monday) Hebrew-Language Israeli newspaper Yisrael HaYom (Israel Today): "Ghost Found in Rabbi's House"

In one of the Jewish communities in London, a ghost is apparently haunting the home of a rabbi.

Two weeks ago, the rabbi turned to the RCE [J@TM: Rabbinical Council of Europe] for help expunging the home from the spirit haunting it. In a letter to the RCE the rabbi wrote that his friend was recently appointed rabbi of a different community in London and when he arrived for Shabbat and Holidays with his family [J@TM: I assume, till they move in permanently] he was given the home above the community synagogue to stay in. This home is where the community's previous rabbi used to live.

Someone closely involved in this episode told "Yisrael Hayom": "In the past few months, the new rabbi noticed a "strange presence" in the house, closed windows would suddenly open and at nights there would be knocks on doors and other weird sounds."

At first, the Rabbi was concerned about asking his community about the phenomena worried they would assume he had gone mad. Yet when he carefully asked about the subject, other community members verified his suspicions and he was not the first to raise such complaints about the house. According to the rumors, it was the spirit of the first rabbi of the synagogue, who died 40 years ago."

The RCE went to Israel's Chief Rabbinate -- and the Sephardi Chief Rabbi, R' Shlomo Amar advised them to "read the "Chanukat Habayit prayer [J@TM: for entering a new home], and a "Tikun" [J@TM: Kabbalistic prayer for "corrections'"] on behalf of the dead, in memory of the Rabbi who used to live at the house.

An additional suggestion came from R' Yitzchak Batzri, one of Israel's noted Kabbalists of today, who asked to give him the name of the deceased rabbi so he could personally conduct a "Tikkun" prayer.

R' Batzri added that if the "Tikkun" did not work, it was a sign that the spirit haunting the house was that of someone else, and he would try again.

R' Morderchai Biton from the RCE told "Yisrael Hayom":

"Normally, our organization deals with communal issues, yet this issue is rather extraordinary. From our perspective, this issue was received with serious respect, and it is being dealt with by Rabbis who are experts in Kabbala. The answer has been given to the Rabbi who raised the issue"

Ynetnews just picked up this story as well (but I translated more of the article than they did).

Just don't tell my daughter about this. She worries more than enough.


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד