"Don't forget to pick up your tray and trash the stuff", said my dear husband when we had gone to a nearby small Indian restaurant. I retorted saying, "Even after coming to a restaurant, I need to do this work and end up tipping them as well!"
This sentence made my "Indian-mentality" to kick in and realize how much a customer is pampered in India. Right from serving, getting the bill or clearing the plates after you are done, there is always someone to do all this stuff for you (be it small restaurants or fast food joints). I wonder if we have all these extra labours because of our population or because they want the customers to feel like a king/queen or, plainly put across, we feel it's demeaning to clear our plates?
And tip? I don't remember tipping any waiter in India with more than Rs. 10! But here in US, one needs to clear or sometimes clean their table and still pay 10-15% of your bill as a tip. SIGH!
However, what I really like about the restaurants/fast food joints here is that you are always greeted with a warm smile and a good old greeting: "Hello, how are you doing today? And what can I get you?". They go out-of-their-way to be friendly and warm towards you, as your tip is their income. And the best part is that you get to exchange any drink or food if you are not satisfied with it!
The same cannot be said in an Indian restaurant here. You walk in expecting to experience the "Indianess" and it kind of matches the expectations. The same old poker straight face and the unfriendly communication. The food barely matches the taste of authentic Indian food but you should be happy that you are seeing them in this country.
Well, one thing I learnt today is that you can take an Indian out of India, but not India out of the Indian ;)
This sentence made my "Indian-mentality" to kick in and realize how much a customer is pampered in India. Right from serving, getting the bill or clearing the plates after you are done, there is always someone to do all this stuff for you (be it small restaurants or fast food joints). I wonder if we have all these extra labours because of our population or because they want the customers to feel like a king/queen or, plainly put across, we feel it's demeaning to clear our plates?
And tip? I don't remember tipping any waiter in India with more than Rs. 10! But here in US, one needs to clear or sometimes clean their table and still pay 10-15% of your bill as a tip. SIGH!
However, what I really like about the restaurants/fast food joints here is that you are always greeted with a warm smile and a good old greeting: "Hello, how are you doing today? And what can I get you?". They go out-of-their-way to be friendly and warm towards you, as your tip is their income. And the best part is that you get to exchange any drink or food if you are not satisfied with it!
The same cannot be said in an Indian restaurant here. You walk in expecting to experience the "Indianess" and it kind of matches the expectations. The same old poker straight face and the unfriendly communication. The food barely matches the taste of authentic Indian food but you should be happy that you are seeing them in this country.
Well, one thing I learnt today is that you can take an Indian out of India, but not India out of the Indian ;)
