Rocomamas

Last night, Friday 30th August, I went to Rocomamas with my girlfriend and another friend of mine. The restaurant had been on our radar for a while as we have heard some good things from friends who have been there. Upon arrival we were greeted by a very friendly host, once seated our waiter came round quickly to introduce himself. We were off to a good start.

The atmosphere is busy and vibey, the colour scheme of reds and blacks mixed with wood makes for an interesting aesthetic. The kitchen is open for patrons to see, the intensity behind the pass on a busy Friday night adds something to the energy in the room. To order food you have to tick off what you want and how much of it, the waiter tears off the sheet and places the order through to the kitchen.

We took a while to order drinks, I deciding on a glass of red wine for which there appears to be one option. When the glass of wine came however it unfortunately tasted remarkably like vinegar and was not pleasant. Before sending it back I asked my friend to taste it as its possible it could just be me but he confirmed there was a very distinct vinegar taste to it. Against my nature I sent it back and asked for a coke light instead.

A few minutes later the manager, a guy in a beanie, appeared asking who had sent the wine back. The way he addressed us made me feel like a naughty school child who had drawn on the classroom wall. I said I had sent it back because it wasn't pleasant and tasted old. He told me that he had tasted it himself and there was nothing wrong with it. I told him well my friend and I had both tasted it to which he responded that it must be our palates that are the problem. Now, I did not appreciate his tactic of blaming the customer. It left a bad taste, worse than the wine.

Putting that behind us we got on with the evening. We placed our orders, all three of us having burgers in various guises. The burgers were excellent. There is no two ways about it. I have to say something about the chips. You get three options; small, medium and large. Never take the large. The amount of chips that arrive is completely excessive. They are fantastic chips, don't get me wrong but unless you want to eat the equivalent of ten potatoes stick to the medium or small. The medium also being more than enough.

We finished off the food and decided that best course of action at this point was to drink a lot of water. We then decided on pudding, waffles to be exact. There are three or four options, all of which come in a full or downsized portion. My friend had the classic waffle with syrup and ice scream full portion while we had 'Oreos and scream'. Our waffles were fantastic. The downsized portion is way more than enough, its a full waffle that in any other establishment would be the full portion. When my friends full arrived it was just way too much.

So in all in all the evening wasn't bad. The food was great albeit the service was slow, probably owing to it being a Friday night but we did wait more than 30min for our food to arrive. Our waiter did his best under the pressure so top marks to him. The manager left a lot to be desired and probably should work on his people s****s if hospitality is the career path he has chosen. I did not take kindly to being blamed for his off wine. To the credit of the restaurant they took the wine off the bill although I did not mind paying for it as I don't send food or drinks back in the hope they don't charge me, if at all. I can recommend the restaurant and I would go back but my interactions with management do make me think twice.