If I define Ruby Tuesday in one line, I must say- Good Ambiance, Average food, Poor Services, and Killer of your money. I had seen Ruby Tuesday from outside at many times but didn’t get a chance to go in, as I was biased towards Geoffreys or Kebab Factory every time.
There was a foreign delegation came to visit us in our organization, and they were willing to relish Indian taste. The day was bad for us or what, I decided to took them in Ruby Tuesday, CenterStage mall Noida. I thought its antique environment, food, and services will definitely impress the delegation.
We (5 people) reached around 1:30 pm to the restaurant, and there were just 4-5 other customers. We decided to sit around glass windows, and without any reason a representative was forcing us to sit on sofas. I checked him personally, if the chosen seats were reserved or if there was any other issue but he was saying- just.
We went ahead with his words and settled on Sofas. We got the menu cards and ordered drinks and food. It took them 20 minutes to serve the drinks and the best part was they served only 4, the fifth drink came after 10 more minutes. In these 10 minutes, we all were passing the time by to wait and were spoiling our drinks, as ice was melting fast and was changing the taste. Finally, after the fifth drink served we said cheers and requested them for ordered starters those were yet to arrive. Starter served when we had finished our half of the drink. This was happened when we have instructed them to serve the drinks along with the starters. Worst was yet to come.
We finished our drinks and requested them to serve the food. Out of ordered dishes they served only 3, and kept us waiting for chapatis and other items. When nothing had happened after 6-7 more minutes, I contacted with their representative and explained the problem and he was looking bit reluctant. He just said- Sir, wait for some time, items would have arrived soon. Finally they took 20 mins to serve
everything and again we were requesting them to serve salads. I was feeling very embarrassed as the delegation was looking bit annoyed.
Suddenly, a customer started shouting to one of their waiters and it was on a high pitch and she was complaining for the delays in services and food quality. It was like putting gasoline on fire. One of delegation members threw a sarcasm smile to me and said- “Seems, this was not the right place to have drink and food”. I tried to handle the situation saying- “This was not the case. I had visited this place many of the times in past and never faced such problems. There could be an issue with number of staff available at this time. I took dinner here seldom.”
We finished our food, and a waiter approached us for any next order for dessert. I simply said- the best dessert at this moment you could serve, is the bill. But, this needs to be served in next 5 minutes. He came back with the bill as much fast as he could, and I was surprised to see the final amount including VAT and service charges. Total billed amount was INR 13, 800 for 5 people, while the food quality was average and services were poor. We could have enjoyed our lunch 10 times better in ‘Kebab Factory’ or ‘Geoffrey’s’.
That was my first experience with ‘Ruby Tuesday’, and hope this will remain the last as well.