Over in America, the tipping system is a little different to Europe. In most Euro establishments, staff are paid enough (not necessarily a lot by any means, but…), however in America, most waiting staff have to rely on customers’ tips to bring home a decent enough amount of money to live on. This confuses some American tourists, who are surprised that tipping is not mandatory, only considered appropriate if the staff & establishment itself actually deserve it. Whether through attentive service, delicious food, or a good atmosphere, if you enjoy your time, you tip. If the food was mediocre at best, the staff seemed very dis-interested, or you were kept waiting an un-necessary amount of time, you don’t tip.
Starbucks previously used to pool all the waiters’ & waitress’ tips (not uncommon), but then split the pot between all staff, including the management level workers, who didn’t actually wait the tables. A judge in San Diego has ruled this practice wrong, and has told Starbucks to pay back to the workers the amount they were short changed, check out this article for more details…
Apr 19 2008
US Starbucks Employees Slightly Less Screwed Over
Aug 26 2007
Sattay With Friends
This evening we went with Assel and Walton to the roof terrace section of the Sattay restaurant. Although you do pay a little more than some places, it wasn’t quite in the range of the German style restaurant we went to mid-week, luckily. I had some Bousaky as a starter (a roll that tastes a little like a doughnut, without the sugar added), a kebab (Sashlique) with chips, and some profiteroles for dessert. Unfortunately, they were too tasty to pause and grab a photo, sorry, but you can see the edible bowl they came in at least…
One thing that caught our eyes was the difference in prices between the English menu, and the Russian menu. Being inquisitive, we asked the waitress why foreigners were expected to pay more at this establishment. The reason given was that you received larger portions for the more expensive (English language) versions of the items. Having seen how much a Kazakh man can put away in an evening, especially if the food is required to soak up a good amount of vodka, I remain unconvinced. See the pictures below for an example of how the chips cost more on one menu than the other.
The music they played was refreshingly non-pop, and the service level was good. Once we had finished our meal, and putting the world to rights over some vodka, we headed back to Walton and Assel’s place, where we had some popcorn, sweets and a little more vodka. (See the last photo below, this vodka has garnered quite a reputation internationally, apparently.)
Aug 18 2007
Last Ali BaBa Of The Summer?
We went out for a nice meal this evening. We took a stroll through the park, over the river Ishim, and then through to the area near the main square. Ali BaBa is an out door restaurant, with cover from any rain or wind that is blighting the evening. Tonight’s service was pretty excellent – the waitress was really attentive, to the point of asking if we needed anything when she noticed us looking around the restaurant. Compare this to the attitude you find in some places in Astana, where a snooty waitress will make that she is doing you a favour by wasting any time at your table at all, and you can probably understand why we were impressed. Perhaps the camera caught her attention, and she wanted to leave a good impression?
Anyway, onto the photos…
Irina had Besbarmak (a horse meat and pasta dish)
Click the link below to see the other photos
Continue reading “Last Ali BaBa Of The Summer?”
Jul 10 2007
Restaurant Vodka And Monopoly
When Oleg and Alex met up, we all went out for a meal in the evening, and tried out the outside section above two of our ‘regular’ restaurant. The service was friendly, and the waitress even spoke a little English with us. Anyway, here is a quick snap shot of the table…
Later on we went back to the flat, had a little to drink, talked, and played a game. When the sun came up, we decided to end the ‘evening’ and slept in a little late that day 🙂
Anyway, hopefully Ira and I will meet up with Oleg again before he returns to Moscow…
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Jul 03 2007
Oleg Is Back In Astana :)
He has been away in Moscow studying for almost a year now, so it is really good to have him back around, if only for a couple of weeks. We (Ira, myself, AlexC and Oleg himself), all went out for a meal this evening. We headed over to where Irina works (KMG), as she was called in on her day off (quel surprise), and once we were all together, headed to the Uzbek restaurant near there. It turns out they now have a outdoor section, shared with the Samovar restaurant (Russian food) next door, which was based on the roof. For once, the food was tasty and hot, the service was incredibly good by Kazakh standards, with smiles and a few English phrases thrown in by the waitress. Hopefully have a few pictures to follow soon 🙂 .
Jun 13 2007
Picnic In The Park
We recently went to a restaurant in the park near us (named, with some unique inspiration, Astana Park) with Walton and Assel. The place is based around the theme of a famous Russian film set in the desert, hopefully Ira will be able to inform me of its name in the morning.
Ira and I had not been there before, so we didn’t know what to expect. The food was good, the vodka must have been OK, as I forgot I took the following picture 🙂
When Alex gets over here in a week and a half, I’m hoping we can return the restaurant again. The service was a little slow, and it was yet another example of a place in Kazakhstan where ‘starters’ and ‘main courses’ arrive in a random pattern, but the waitress was pleasant in her attitude, when Ira and I went back there last week.
By the way, the post title is a reference to an annual event back in Cheltenham, where people went to Pitville park, with a picnic, and listened to some bands play…
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