AL Sultan - Menu

"I’ve been coming to Al Sultan almost every week and was always happy with the food and service. However it was absolutely awful this time, the food was good but the service was terrible. I couldn’t believe I was sitting in a restaurant, my family and I were treated horribly by this ‘manager’ Amanda. She had awful hospitality skills and I genuinely don’t understand how she can even work in this industry. Didn’t even give us cutlery or napkins! When ordering our food she kept moaning about how much the prices have went up and usually we are able to get chips instead of extra naan with our meals, it’s never been a problem however she just kept on complaining about the prices of things which at first was understandable, but she continued doing so throughout our whole experience and that the oil they used to make chips in had gotten too expensive so had to charge us for it along with telling us other ways they have been cutting costs as a restaurant. It was quite off putting, it made the whole experience feel cheap and her negativity was ruining our experience. She insisted we had to pay extra for chips (never been the case before but we agreed to anyways. Not once did we get asked if our food was alright or anything, she was just like ‘let me see if you got the right order’ (while we were halfway eating! She kept complaining how she believes the lunch menu is ‘too cheap’ and that they aren’t making money out of it and made us feel like that was our fault. I’m sorry but if you can’t keep up with the prices of your menus then change them! stop making customers feel bad for paying the prices advertised on your menu. She made the whole experience quite stressful and showed no warmth or hospitality, everything was just about ‘cutting costs’ and every request we made just seemed to be a hassle. The final straw was dessert, every time we have been given 2 portions, however we had just been given 1 this time. The waitress (a dark haired, slim girl said she will bring the second portion and that I can choose to either have 1 piece of baklava with ice cream or 2 pieces of baklava. I was waiting ages for my dessert, my mum had already finished hers and then Amanda comes and tells us that the one portion was BETWEEN us. This was shocking, we had been told I would get my baklava, the waitress went to get it and Amanda said the waitress got it wrong and that it shouldn’t have been this way. She kept complaining once again about prices and how it’s costing the restaurant too much. I was appalled, I got Arabic tea just to be able to eat baklava with it which I couldn’t even have because of her. Amanda absolutely refused to get me a bit of baklava, even though she blamed it on the waitress. This was ridiculous, totally gives the customers false hopes. You cant tell your customers to wait on something and then just tell them after they have waited that you can’t fulfil what you agreed you would give them with absolutely no compensation or remorse. All she said was ‘there is nothing I can do about it’ (would it really kill your business to give at least ONE small piece of baklava just to not upset a customer as you already agreed you were bringing it! Amanda kept going on about how ‘the boss is here’ (who is her HUSBAND and won’t be happy. We were so upset, we asked to speak to the ‘boss’ and told him this time had not met the expectations of our previous experiences at all, he said that in the past (every single week we have visited this restaurant for months the workers were just being ‘too nice’ and that the service they gave us wasn’t what they shouldn’t have given us and that they need to be disciplined better and how that’s their own problem. Excuse me but why project your internal ‘problems’ on customers? He said from next week he will be doubling the price of the lunch menu (fair enough but at least don’t mislead customers and treat them horribly . He finally agreed to give me that one piece of baklava to have with my tea but said this will be ‘the last time.’ We explained how this was never the case and all he said was ‘life changes things aren’t always the same!’ He said these were ‘old menus’ (we were literally given them! like I said change your menus instead of misleading customers and arguing with them! Absolutely shocking hospitality, I came here to have a good time but was constantly made to feel like a burden on the restaurant and had the manager and boss arguing with me. I will never be returning here and do not recommend it. Horrible and stingy manager and boss. Show no respect towards customers or any means of providing basic customer satisfaction. Customers don’t remember the prices of things as much as they remember the experience and service provided. This was one of the worst ways I’ve been treated in a restaurant and I was desperate to just get out of there. Will tell my family and friends to steer away too, no one deserves to be treated that way. On a more positive note, the dark haired, slim waitress was lovely and was apologising for the inconvenience and upsetting experience that the manager and boss caused. She had great hospitality skills and tried her best to give us a good experience manager and boss should learn from her! Honestly, spend a few extra pounds and go somewhere where you will actually be treated with respect and kindness! This place is obsessed with ‘cutting costs’ more than meeting agreements made with the customer. If they are this obsessed with cost cutting in front of the customer I dread to imagine how much they must ‘cut costs’ in the kitchen!"