Audrey S.
Yelp
Last night the staff here showed me how much they value customers... a shocking surprise for Amsterdam.
I took my friend, a former chef from Malta, to this place because I had raved about it often. I talked him out of playing it safe with the traditional mussels, and he went with the chorizo tomato mussels.
The chorizo, olive, tomato combination in the mussles just wasn't working for either of us. We tried, but the olives seemed like they went from can to pan, the chorizo was huge, more like salami cut into two-bite pieces. It was a heavy style. He was disappointed, I was embarrassed. And what now? Complain? Say nothing and never come back? Another hyped up and let down new wave place in Amsterdam?
It's not easy to build up courage enough to criticize a kitchen, especially in a different country. So when the server asked how everything was, we had this awkward silence, and the server said "Umm... okay." And then we spilled the beans.
He brought us a fresh, piping hot plate of their Thai style mussels a minute later. Amazing. Spiced glamorously with fresh and simple ginger, lemongrass, shoots and coriander. We could taste how their innovative ingredients compliment the mussels. What a lifesaving move from the kitchen and server. And then the bill was clean from any mussels charge.
To most, this would seem like a usual reaction from a kitchen with an unhappy customer. But in a tourist hub like Amsterdam, rarely does feeling appreciated come with the experience. Some say that valued service in Amsterdam is nonexistent. Well, times seem to be changing. Phew.
And in return the place won the respect of two customers who almost weren't coming back, and have turned them into repeating customers who will continue to recommend Mossel & Gin.