We live local to RC Kitchen and this has been yet another disappointing visit - this time we didn’t even get to enjoy coffee and cake! We had checked that the RC Kitchen was open, and headed out on our walk there (approx 3.5 miles)...looking forward to brunch. When we arrived there was a notice stuck to the front door stating that it was a meet and greet with Hugh himself this morning, (26th January 2024) offering free T&C and cake - lovely we thought…its a super sunny chilly day and we can sit outside and enjoy the view with a nice cappuccino and cake and even maybe say Hallo to Hugh. Unfortunately, yet again, upon arrival it was a chilly welcome with at least 5 members of staff standing at the coffee counter, Hugh chatting to some customers and no-one coming over to welcome us. Once someone did finally come over, the lack of welcome was a little frustrating but when we were told that there were no tables available yet there were at least 20 seats outside on the deck overlooking the beautiful Ax Views and in full winter sun, we were pretty taken aback. So asking if we could sit outside the answer was unfortunately not, I explained that we were happy to buy our coffee and cake so we could sit outside as we weren’t aware of the event (even though it clearly stated on the door anyone could “drop in” and no reservations were needed) but that was also met with a non committal statement that we could ‘mingle’ and have cake and coffee in the RC Kitchen even though there was no where to sit…..We decided to leave.
What is most frustrating is that there is no empowerment for the staff at all - this isn’t the first time we have visited and had extremely poor service - previously with my mother and her partner where it took forever to get our coffee and scones and sandwich, the waitress said “I am sorry, I really feel that we havent given you our attention - even though we were sitting at the table right in front of the kitchen!”. The fact that she actually voiced it to us was shocking in itself, and then to do nothing to apologise further was an insult in itself.
But again, due to the RC Kitchen being local we thought we would give it another go as we were hoping to try the new seasonal menu, as for the past two years its been pretty much the same menu so in the hope that this was being revamped and potentially that the service would be better - esp with Hugh being there today, we were greatly disappointed and this has confirmed that we wont be visiting again and will not recommend it again either.
Coming from 30 years of 5 Star hospitality background, my husband and I both know that taking care of the customer comes first every time, its not difficult to train staff and empower them to give great service and be able to think and solve problems themselves - its down to good management role modelling and a management team that take the time to teach, support and give feedback to the team to ensure that the establishment is not resting on its famous owners laurels.
Such a shame as its local and our ethos is to support local. But not at the sacrifice of continual poor service and poor customer service.More