Annette's WONDERFUL Playground

What's a vegetarian? A person who doesn't eat meat and animal products such as milk, egg or honey. There are many different types of vegetarians, such as Strict Vegetarian (No meat and Animal Products), Semi-Vegetarian (Occasionally eats poultry and fish) and Lacto-vegetarian (no meat but eats dairy products except egg), lastly, due to religion, there are some other items that this group of people doesn't eat. You must be thinking, why am I explaining this? It can be googled easily but there are people who doesn't understand this. I'm working in a normal restaurant, serving meat, seafood, dairy products, and etc... Once a while, I'll have some vegetarian customers walking in looking for vegetarian food. Something's it is a bit frustrating, trying to explain to customers why we have limited vegetarian dishes in our menu. It's not that we don't welcome vegans in a restaurant, but it seems like it is very difficult for a vegan to underst...

How to have a great dining experience? It all starts with your orders. Follow the simple guide to ordering and have a great dining experience. 1. Call the waitress only when you are 'READY'? I always find myself standing next to the table trying to take orders for 'unready' customers. The customers will then desperately flips the menu, while the waitress stands there waiting for their orders. I get very annoyed because they are not ready, but doesn't allow me to go and come back later. Sometimes other customers who are really ready to order could not get any waitress because we a stuck with unready customers. 2. Remember your orders Many times I had to sent the food back to the kitchen because the customers don't remember what they order. In the worst case, I got complained because the customer said that I missed out their order when what happens was that they told the other waitress that they did not order that item when the dish was served. I...

I needed to write this post because I realize that there are some customers out there who feel that we, the Waitresses, are mind readers. They had eye contact with us, and then look away. What does that mean? There was no sign of any body language to tell the waitress that they are ready, except that they look at the waitress, for a split second.  Seriously, we are unable to read minds. We do need a clear sign that you are ready and requires our service. There are customers who 'talk' with their hands, waving them non stop, and when we approached, they are actually talking with their friends. So what can customers do to get the waitress's attention? 1. Eye Contact &  Clear Signal/Body language This is the most important point to take note of. If you did not established eye contact, how would the waitress know that you are calling her. After establishing an eye contact with the waitress, you need to acknowledge that you needed attention. You can do it by nodding your hea...

I have recently taken part in a Facebook giveaway organized by Westgate and I'm lucky to win a $100 Isetan Voucher. So today as Mr Wonderful and me were off on the same day, so we went down to Westgate to collect the vouchers, at the same time, to utilize the Capital Mall voucher we had won from Sharekool .  Westgate is located right next to Jurong East MRT Station and Jem. The mall is only partically occupied, with some other shops opening soon in late December and early January 2014. There are lots of restaurants in Westgate, with quite a number of Japanese restaurants. I think Westgate will be very popular with Foodies... Here's some photographs.... A very well organized queue system. I love their Gyoza..... Westgate is BIG.... The view from the top.... Sushi, anyone.... I also find some interesting snacks & beverages at Isetan Supermarket. I had these and they taste great.....

Everyday when I start work, the first thing I'll do is to make sure that I have enough pens with me. I need pens to take orders, note down reservations, and for customers to sign credit slips. What annoys me the most is when I lend my pens to the customers, I don't get it back.  Not all restaurants provide pens for their staffs. Like me, I bought the pens with my hard earned money and I really get very frustrated when customers keep my pen into their pockets. Taking a pen without asking is just like stealing.  There was once when I handed my pen out to a customer to sign the credit slip. After signing, he said to his friends, "This pen writes smoothly!", then he popped the pen into his pocket. That was my pen and he took it without asking. I did not ask him for my pen, but I felt really annoyed. He was dressed in a nice suit, looks just like a working professional, but he 'steals' my pen in front of my eyes. It is not very expensive to buy...

Meaning of Reservation: An arrangement whereby something, especially a seat or room, is reserved for a particular person. There are some things that you should take note when making reservations. If you follow the steps correctly, making reservation is a breeze. Name Your name is required so that the hostess can find your reservation easily. In Singapore, we will normally give our surname, instead of our names. Actually, it is best to give a name that your guest knows you by. For example, Tan is a very common surname in Singapore. Sometimes on a busy Saturday night, I have more than 5 Mr Tan on my reservation list, with 2 or 3 Mr Tan arriving at the same time. There was once when a customer made a reservation under the name of Mr Lim for 10 persons. The guest arrived one by one, asking for Andrew. When we asked if they are the guest of Mr Lim, none of the guest knows that his surname is Lim, as they known him as Andrew. You may also give your initials, example: S.P Ng, so that it is ea...