AMARELO BISTRO - Open Wed to Fri this week

Sat 2 Dec 2023, 18:33

@Russell 

Considering this was our opening evening, serving 40 covers, for the large part we consider we delivered a good service to the majority on Friday night. We received compliments regarding the food and ambience.

Of course, there are going to be some teething issues to sort out. And in your isolated case we did not meet expectations, for which we apologise.

With some miscommunication between front of house and kitchen, we failed to deliver some items on your menu. We also did not message clearly about meeting your gluten-free needs.

Regarding people with allergies, I take these very seriously and always ensure food is safe to eat. Last night, I was not made aware of your guest’s needs in advance, which was a mistake. However, once I knew this I was able to confirm that the ingredients were GF and French fries were cooked in a separate, dedicated fryer. I mention the standard caveat that cross contamination is always a small risk. On that comment, you declined the to eat the fries.

For your wait, and your missed items, you should have received an apology at the time. You also should have received a reduction in your bill, and the server was going to propose this, but from what I understand, you were too impatient and decided to pay in full.

You claim your meal was expensive, but for a meal for three and a bottle of wine for under £110 inc. tax and service charge, I beg to differ. If you failed to receive certain food items and couldn’t eat other over allergy fears, then I would understand that you would consider it not good value. We have since written to you privately to address your points apologise and return your money.

So, it is extremely disappointing that you have chosen to post a negative review about the bistro to the whole of Charlbury. I don’t feel it is representative of most people’s experience and it hurts me and I take it very personally.

I have worked so hard to convert the Old Post Office into a useful space where the people of Charlbury and visitors can eat and drink. I am the owner and chef and take great pride in what is served from my kitchen. We are building up the business from scratch and employing local people and it takes a lot to get everything absolutely spot on from day 1.

If you value having a thriving Charlbury, rather than boarded-up commercial buildings, or seeing more of the town centre converted to residential, then I suggest you are more measured with your comments and don’t try to do a hatchet job on the reputation of our family business as we start up.