Sushi & Salad 3 – This is how you do customer service!

It was that time of year again – My wife’s birthday. Sushi & Salad is one of our favourite restaurants and we come here every year without fail (more often than not, we come here several times a year). We have reviewed it time and time again explaining why we love it so much but I was a little anxious tonight, as I was not sure whether there was anything left to say on this visit other than “it’s still awesome”.

Luckily, Sushi & Salad gave us another example as to why it is one of the top restaurants in Cambridgeshire that perfectly demonstrates why we keep coming back. Tonight, there was a lesson on how to maintain unparalleled customer service and keep long term customers returning.

Even the best restaurants will have an off night or the occasional error. Those of you who say that they don’t are quite frankly lying. It is impossible to run a restaurant for several years without the occasional problem or technical issue, though it isn’t the ability to avoid problems which define a restaurant but how they handle it which makes the difference.

During our latest visit, we placed our order with the team and continued to chat while our food was being prepared. Sushi & Salad make a point of making their dishes fresh to order, so we were aware that their orders can take longer than some other restaurants (and for good reason). After 50 minutes nothing came, yet we had noticed that 3 other tables had gotten food before us despite arriving after.

We brought this to the staff’s attention who decided to look into why this was. It turned out that our order had been lost in the computer system which communicated with the kitchen (let this be a lesson in always communicating with the restaurant). Naturally, the staff were mortified and apologised profusely. Not only did they rectify and problem promptly but also gave us a bottle of wine on the house (and a deduction in our bill). This was entirely unprompted by us and initiated by the staff team. Wow! No muss, no fuss!

Naturally, the food was to their usual high standard and came out shortly afterwards. The white wine is simply excellent and was perfectly suited to sushi; being crisp, light, and zesty.

Error aside, the meal was another outstanding success. This is and always will be one of the top restaurants in Cambridgeshire. Make sure to try their Spicy Crunch and Crunch rolls. Even during my tour of Japan I had never found anything I have enjoyed this much (which is a bold statement, I know!). Needless to say, we will be back!

Have you had any examples of top quality customer service? Have you had any nightmare customer service experiences in Cambridgeshire? Let us know in the Cambridge Foodies Facebook group.

Thanks for reading!

Oktoberfest @ The Filling Station 🇩🇪

For those of you who aren’t already aware, The Filling Station has taken the Cambridgeshire craft beer scene by storm.

By offering sustainable, high quality, and locally made craft beer which you are able to take away and drink in your very own home (thanks to their state of the art dispensing technology) they have attracted people from all over the county.

It really is a unique experience for Cambridgeshire which has interested experienced craft beer fans as well as newbies like myself since it’s opening. For a more in-depth explanation on how the system works make sure to read our review here.

For anyone who knows me, I’ve been a huge fan of Germanic beer for a long time, spending many holidays across Germany sampling the best the country has to offer. I enjoy Oktoberfest so much I’m have even been to every Bavarian themed beer hall within the UK. So, imagine my delight when I heard that the Filling Station was doing an Oktoberfest event!

The Filling Station doesn’t have much space to work with (being a shipping container in a small car park) so I was curious to see how they were going to manage it. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they used the long tables famously associated with Germanic beer halls which maximised the number of people who were able to join the event. I’ve always been a big fan of these tables as it encourages conversation and interaction between people sharing a large table, which the people visiting seemed to be embracing.

They were selling their usual beer cans and draft for people who still wanted to buy their usual but also offered a selection of Oktoberfest themed beers outside. These were sold from their pop up bar served by the staff team who were really getting into the Oktoberfest spirit by wearing authentic lederhosen.

I was delighted to see some themed hats for sale which I decided to grab as they were priced at a very reasonable £3.50. Massive respect here as these could have easily been sold for a tenner but clearly the team decided not to gouge and instead get people involved in the fun!

*As you can see, we really pulled off the look*

They also sold 1 litre steins for £10. I was gutted that I forgot mine as I had several sat at home. It just isn’t Oktoberfest without an obnoxiously large beer in your hand!

They had an arrangement with Eric’s Fish & Chip Shop next door to provide sauerkraut hot dogs with battered pickles and mustard mayo. This was a very clever idea to save space, as it’s just not the same without a sauerkraut sausage and providing one on site would have taken up more valuable space.

As you can see from the pictures kindly shared by the team at The Filling Station, good times were had by all. They managed to squeeze 40-50 people drinking happily within such a small space. It didn’t feel crowded either which is a credit to the way they arranged the event.

I’m really looking forward to next year and this time I won’t forget my stein!

For those of you who have not been to The Filling Station make sure to come to St Ives at the Morrisons round about and pay them a visit! If you like craft beer, international beer, or local beer, you won’t regret it.

Thanks for reading.

Pera Palace – Chatteris

My mates and I had an absolutely top notch pre wedding Turkish meal from Pera Palace in Chatteris today.

I’m always blown away by this restaurant every time I eat here. It’s a huge open food hall which has tonnes of space, which is surprising considering it only has a small entrances out the front. You’d be forgive for walking right past it entirely without noticing.

One of my favourite things about Pera Palace is the stylish interior. You get a very London warehouse vibe from the restaurant which is complimented with the interior decorating of the Turkish aesthetics. Something rarely seen our in the fens.

The service here is excellent. The staff are very engaging and chatty, which really makes you feel welcome.

We had the Hot Mix Meze, a starter of assorted samples of different dishes. I was particularly fond of the spicy sausage which was really complemented by the hummous. The halloumi cheese was also an excellent halloumi which made the entire meat-heavy dinner a little more diverse and easier to manage.

I was also please to see small white bait in bread crumbs, which had a lovely fishy pop alongside the rest of the dish. A fantastic starter set for a mere £15.

Most of us went for the mixed grill. Something which is tried and true in a Turkish restaurant but is also a great way of sampling lots of different meats the restaurant has to offer. Everything here was superb.

The lamb shish was succulent, the chicken bits were incredible juicy and bursting with flavour, and the chicken wings were also quite good. The ribs were a little lacking but otherwise an overall great meal.

I’ve had the mixed grill as a takeaway from here before and it was served along a bed of pitta bread underneath. This made a surprising difference being able to eat carbs along side the generous portions of meat. However, this was not the case while dining in. I was a little disappointed with this as we only got a small pizza slice sized pita which didn’t feel like quite enough. Usually you would expect more dining in.

My boy had the Chicken Sarma Beyti – Char grilled minced chicken wrapped in bread and cut into strips. My boy is a big foodie for a ten year old and is always very honest and vocal about what he likes.

He absolutely loved this dish! As you can tell by the photo, the dish (and all of the other dishes for that matter) were excellently presented. They really care about presentation here.

The Efes beer was sensational. I haven’t had it much in my time but every time I come here I always thoroughly enjoy it. What I love most about Efes is that it’s perfectly smooth and easy to drink, which is perfect for hot summer days, but also has enough flavour to be more than a bland lager.

I must have enjoy it too as I ended up having 3…like I said, very smooth.

The menu is absolutely huge. You could visit 10 times and manage to have something different and equally delicious every time you visit. There is no doubt that you will be able to find something for everyone when you visit, except for the most fussy of eaters.

Prices were fair, coming at about average for a restaurant but not a single one of us felt like we had paid too much as the quality and customer service was all there.

The next time you are looking for a good restaurant in the fens then make sure you check out Pera Palace. This is quickly becoming one of my favourite places in the fenland area to dine out and I am lucky enough to live a 10 minute drive! You will be hearing from Pera Palace again from the Cambridge Foodies, no doubt!

Also: In the evening there is loads of free parking and Chatteris has many great pubs to drink in afterwards if you want to make a night of it.