Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Sweet Brazil.. not as sweet as I wished

So, I decided to order from Sweet Brazil in JLT and was quite excited to try a few things on the menu.
I called and requested the pot pie with shrimp filling. The menu said it comes with green salad. So, for someone who doesn't like green salad, I requested the person on the phone to substitute it with anything else and said I was happy to pay any difference in price. I thought that was a common practice everywhere I went and it was just a fair ask from customers since it is not necessarily what they would like to compliment a plate with. To my surprise, the person who was on the phone said to me that they only recommend salad with this plate and do not recommend anything else. Fair enough, I said. Thank you for the recommendation but if you guys send me the green salad it will end up in the trash bin because I simply don't eat green salad and hence would like to exchange it for something I can eat.
I think the debate about what they "recommend and not recommend" lasted for a few minutes and there was zero flexibility to what customers want and in the end I thanked her and said I won't be ordering.
I think many companies rise and fall because of consumer needs attention and no matter how good the products are, or the food is in this case, what really matters is customer service and how consumers feel they are 'heard'. It is unfortunate that I did not try the shrimp pot pie, but instead I ended up ordering from Pizza Amore and got a wonderful smile and whatever i wanted to "add" or "remove" was done with no questions asked!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

The best Pizza Napolitana in town... Amore Pizza JLT

If you are one of the people who value pizza and think it is one of the best foods ever created, don't miss out Pizza Amore in JLT.
Pizza Amore is a new Italian restaurant that opened a few months ago in JLT Cluster T (right next to Dubai Marina metro station).

If you like to dine in, the place has a few inside tables as well as some tables outside (which is a horrible idea for the time being). The place is rather cute and small from the inside but you get to see the cook actually making and baking your pizza. The staff is very friendly and helpful - the manager, Julie, is a sweetheart and she will make sure everything you ask for is done perfectly well.

I have tried several pizzas from them and they all tasted very well. I am, however, hooked on the Napoletana pizza. It is just awesome - has the right amount of anchovies, the right amount of cheese and I usually add onions and it makes it the perfect pizza.

I tried their spaghetti bolognese but did not think much of it. I can think of a few places that do it better (like Carluccio's and Vapiano for instance). So, I'd stick to the pizza!

Their home-made icecream is really outstanding. The first time we went, Julie invited all of us to small cup tasters for the ice cream and we all ended up ordering our proper cups. My favourite is the coffe with caramel sauce ice cream. It is really as good as the ones I had in Florence last year!

Pizza Amore delivers to JLT and I am sure to other places, so give them a try, they are worth it. This is their phone number: 04-452-9900

If you have tried the place, share with us your comments here!