Since I only try out swanky restaurants (i.e. entrees costing avg. $20 - yes, I'm poor) on discount or coupon, I was very very excited to hear that Empire Lounge was having a promo night with everything save for alcohol discounted at 50%. Incredible!

It was a nightmare.

Seriously, I felt like I was dreaming throughout the whole evening. If it weren't for 4 other people there with me, I'd brush it off as a figment of my overactive imagination and never think of it again. But it was, unfortunately, very real.

The night starts off a bit wonky with me getting a bit stuck on the subway and getting off at the wrong station. Barely standing on 3.5" heels, I have to walk to the other end of Cumberland and make it there by 7 p.m (reservation was for 6:30 pm.. yikes!). Thank goodness Benny is on the same train as me so I don't look like a wobbling fool alone!

When we get there, Melissa, Anthony and my mother-in-law, Barbara, have already ordered appetizers. A red flag should have gone off in my head when the waitress comes back to re-write the 2 items they ordered. Two items!! It's only the first flub... but sadly, the first of many.

We get our appetizers in fairly decent time. They bring us another plate of bread, and after about 15 mins we've finished the bread and apps. They clear our table, then we wait about 10 mins for our order to be taken. Not bad.

We have our waters refilled.

We wait.

And wait.

And talk!

And have our waters refilled.

And wait.

It's almost 8 pm when we realize there's a crowd near the front of the room -

I should pause here to say we were given a table downstairs in the corner because we had 5 ppl. Originally it was 4 but we had an extra reservation for 2 so we called in earlier that day to ask if we could put the tables together. There was no problem. When Melissa & co. got there, the hostesses were discussing where to seat us and said something like "Well, we could put them downstairs, it should be okay." And so, we ended up downstairs. Not a bad place, and several other guests were brought down there as well

So as I was saying, there's a crowd gathering near the front of the room and I'm thinking they may over overbooked because the guests were talking with the waiters about where they could sit. Either that or they showed up early and were being demanding, which isn't too far fetched. We ignore them and keep an eye out for our food.

It's 8:10. We waited 40 mins for our food.

!!!!!

And the first waiter asks us who got the medium rare steak. None of us ordered medium rare. We all asked for rare steaks. He asks us to check that dish to see what it is and we find that it's rare. All should be good. So we get our 3 surf-n-turf's and 1 rack of lamb and start to dig in. Mind you, I'm all about rare steak. The way my mom cooks it the meat looks well-done on the outside but oh-so-juicy red on the inside. Red, not pink.

I cut open my steak. It's... well-done. *#@%&*()#@!!!!!!!!

But that's fine, I'll let it pass since I waited 40 mins for this one. I'm not about to wait another 40 mins.

On the (more) downside, the steak isn't even tasty. It's not marinated, the peppercorn-cognac cream sauce doesn't lend much flavour... it wasn't even lightly brushed with butter! Le Biftek has barely dressed steaks which tasted better than this. Unbelievable.

But food is food, so I keep eating. The waitress comes back to fill up our waters (she never checked up on us while we waited for food, by the way) at which point I tell her about my steak. I tell her as graciously as I could, and tell her that I'm going to keep it anyway but just wanted them to know that it's completely opposite to what I ordered.

Her response? "Oh... okay." And she walks off.

At least she looked a bit concerned. =T

So we keep eating. We notice the room getting more full and noisy... and warm! I mean, I know I'm wearing a sweater but I wasn't flushed during the first hour. And my Candy Apple Martini was barely sipped so it couldn't have been that.

Anthony had noticed before that the pre-debate show was on the tv. All of a sudden, we hear it blaring through the speakers. And we're sitting right under one of them.

More people are coming in. They're standing in between tables and on the stairs (there are 2 levels). We're pretty annoyed and I infer that they're putting the show on to appease the new customers. I mean, everyone else must be getting their meal slow and so the next group (due at 8:30 pm) must have started showing up.

But really, at our expense? We're already seated, have ordered, are eating... and you're going to disturb *our* dining experience to please people who don't even have tables yet? It's not even an entertaining show!

We're getting quite annoyed, Anthony most of all. I note how it feels more like Shoeless Joe's or Weg's than a fine dining place. Regardless of the price, we should expect the same atmosphere and pleasant time as those paying full price. This whole promotion is to get us to come back, right?

Then we realize it. I don't remember who figured it out, either Melissa or Anthony, but the group of people coming in aren't part of the next wave of diners. They've come as a partisan group to watch the presidential debate. So whether we like it or not, we're going to get an earful of American politics.

Le sigh.

I'm the last to finish my meal - most likely because I have more to chew through. A waiter comes by to take my dish when I mention to him about my steak.

"I'm really sorry about your steak ma'am... we're getting rammed here."
"I know, which is why I took the steak anyway, I know you're having enough trouble. I just wanted to let you know so you could tell the chef so it won't happen again-"
"It probably will!" *rueful smile*
"Hehe, well, I just wanted to let you know." Pleasant smile. =)

At this point, he asks what he can do to make things better. He can't give a further discount because it's already at 50% but to be honest, seeing now how every crevice of the room has someone standing in it and we basically want to get out of there, I don't know what to ask for. He suggests dessert and I ask the others if there's something they want to try, then he says he can get a free dessert for everyone.

I felt really bad for the guy, who I'm pretty sure is the manager. He looked like the only one trying to get things done. Every other waiter/waitress looked like they wanted to jet or just couldn't care less. But he offered free dessert, and there was creme brulee... and toasted marshmallow ice cream! So we order 2 of each of those, plus a chocolate mousse cake.

While we wait, the debate having just started, we see our corner booth slowly being cut off by the Democrat supporters. They were standing right in front of our table and if we wanted to get out, we'd have to push through 2 or 3 of them. Anthony wanted to give the one guy a piece of his mind, but it wasn't worth making a scene over. =T

The desserts come in about 10 mins which feel like 20 because of the droning debate - which would have been interesting if we were watching at home - and everything tastes great. The creme brulee is a cold version with fruit, which is nice but I think they added too much sugar for the brulee, at least for mine. We ask this waiter (another guy) for the bill and he barely acknowledges as he leaves.

We finish our dessert. No bill.

While we wait (notice a theme here?), we see 2 guys come out to serve food. They're dressed in cooks' outfits.

They got kitchen staff to serve the food!!!! And poor them, they were clueless. Overwhelmed as well, I'm sure. Couldn't figure out at all who the dishes went to. Oh, and we could see them because the people who were standing right in front of us eventually moved.

A lady asks us if those dishes are ours. The same lady who asked the previous group at her table if they were finished so they could take the table. I thought that only hapened in HK! Democrats can be just as rude, I guess. Obama represents yet a small minority of civilized Americans. We tell the lady those aren't ours. She smiles and responds with, "Are you all leaving soon?" The nerve!! Like it's our fault we're still here!!! I give her a smirky smile with a hint of glare.

Finally the dessert waiter comes by to clear our dessert dishes. We ask him again for the bill and again, a slight nod. Then the waitress who first served us came with it and we were just a hair away from leaving the place. Until we realize all the wait staff have left for the other room or elsewhere and we had no one to give our payment to. >.<

Benny goes up to the bar to deal with it. A minute later we're gathering our coats to leave. He mentions he wants to talk to the manager on the way out. That's if we make it out! We had to weave through people on the stairs and seated in every spot they could. Would they budge for us lowly diners? BAH!

Please note I'm on my 3.5" heels. And my feet are horribly squished at the front. With almost all my weight pushing them there. *whimper*

We finally make it upstairs and just then see the manager. Benny says, "We just wanted to talk to you about tonight-"

"Honestly, there's nothing to talk about. I don't want to talk about it. We had one event booked by an agency and another by a real live person and double-booked ourselves. We did the best we could and the food was good and we tried to compensate a bit with desserts. If you want to come again, here's my card and I'll take care of you."

Well, there wasn't much to say after that. I really did feel bad for him. It's not like he didn't do what he could or he brushed us off. I'm sure every one of the other groups which left before us talked to him too. He's is, unfortunately, incredibly aware of the situation. So we say our thanks and goodbyes and start to leave.

On the way out I see him address the table right behind where we were standing and overhear, "Are you the manager? Because we've been waiting over half an hour for our food..."

At the very least, I know my night wasn't the worst! At the most, I won't be going back. Maybe in a couple years if we've got more disposable income, but there are other swanky restaurants to try.

If you're curious, we left no tip. In the meantime, we'll be checking out the restaurants we know and love with the coupons we have. Pizza Rustica, here we come!