We’ve tried to make a reservation there before for the evening’s show. First via Instagram. No answer. Then by email. No answer. No matter. So then by phone. That worked. At least we thought so. Then when we got there, they couldn’t find our reservation. Ok. That can happen once…

Since we read in other reviews that this happens sometimes, we went directly to Lafayette last Saturday afternoon and made the reservation for last night with a hostess. We had friends from abroad visiting and were looking forward to the special evening. But it should come differently.

Arrived at 8:45 pm. There was no COVID certificate check, none of the employees wore a mask. The hostess did not find our reservation again. She asked for a confirmation, which of course we did not have. We had made the reservation directly at the place. Instead of finding a solution, she simply ignored us and took care of the other guests. An assistant then told us to go to the bar they will see what is going on. More and more people came to the bar who either didn’t have a reservation or also had problems with the reservation. Getting a drink was also not really possible, it was chaos at the bar. After about 30 minutes without any further information, I lost patience and we went back to the hostess. There was another woman there who asked if there was a problem.

YES. There is a problem. You have lost our reservation for the second time!

I explained everything to her again. She did not really listen to me. In between, she ran away several times and was on the phone. Ok. Since I live long enough in Serbia, I know that sometimes you have to be “loud” to get something here. So I asked for the manager. She claimed she was the manager.

Ok. Then it would be your job. To solve our problem, right? But maybe she doesn’t understand my English? So my fiancee explained everything again in Serbian. That didn’t help either.

A solution? There is none. She tells us they have 65 tables, 65 reservations. Period. And she ignored us again. I had two choices now. I get really loud and ask for her boss. Or we leave this place and don’t spend any money here. We decided on the second one.

I have NEVER experienced such ignorance and unfriendliness in my whole life! We went to hundreds of restaurants. In the best restaurants in Belgrade, in Berlin, in London, in Paris, in Dubai, in NY, in Zurich – you name it.

What more can I say about this? I still have no words. To be fair, the food there is good. We have already been there twice for lunch and ordered food from there. That’s not where the problem lies.

The problem is the reservation system, which is not a system, but chaos on paper lists with unfriendly & incompetent employees. We were not the only ones either, there are several reviews on the internet with the same problem and another group of people was later in the same restaurant we were in Beton Hala – we were hungry.

If anyone from the Lafayette team or management reads this post, please feel free to contact me. I don’t just complain, I know how to solve the problem with the reservations. I also know how to train employees to be friendly with customers and to be solution-oriented. I have years of experience in event management and work as a business developer and “Swiss Quality Optimizer”.

And for all of you who want to spend an evening there…

Two tips:

1.  Ask for reservation confirmation.
2. Don’t have expectations of a great evening, it may well be that they won’t find your reservation and have an alternative plan ready 😉

Is there anyone who has had similar experiences or did everything work out for you? Then feel free to leave a comment…

Update. Through a colleague who knows the owner, we have received the following message about our case.

The Reservation
Every guest who makes a reservation for the Lafayette restaurant must receive the same message, our circular. Please understand it is obvious that the protocol has not been followed. Any person who makes a reservation for Lafayette is also obliged to leave a contact phone number and to confirm their arrival on the day of booking no later than 12 noon. It is a booking protocol in our restaurant that we all respect.

-> BGfoodies: “The protocol was not followed”. Is that supposed to mean that we are now guilty that the employees made mistakes? And yes. You have read correctly. You as a customer must call, not the restaurant calls you 🙃

You can ask for confirmation of the reservation to be sent to your email. The best is to book on the Instagram profile.

-> BGfoodies: It’s nice they have a protocol. It’s just that the employees don’t follow it. And it is also not communicated. Because we had reserved the first time by phone. The girl confirmed that everything was fine. She had our number. There was never a confirmation but she never said that we need one. The last time we were there on the spot and made the reservation. The hostess wrote it on her phone with our name. She did not even ask for a phone number.

And the owner probably doesn’t know what’s going on operationally anymore.

No one answers emails, Instagram says to book by phone, and reservation messages are NOT answered. The same thing is on the website. Reservations are only possible by phone.

The problem here is with the employees and the organization. And it doesn’t matter why it didn’t work. What upset me so much was how they reacted to our complaint.

The Prices and the dress code
La Lafayette offers standard and premium tables. Premium tables are located closer to the stage. Mandatory for a standard table is dinner.

For a premium dinner and a bottle of premium drink from 15000 RSD. We have a cabaret fee which is 10 Euro/per person and is included in the bill. The minimum age limit is 23 years.

The dress code is elegant. That means that man needs to be dressed in shirts and pants and for ladies, elegant evening dresses or suits.

->  BGfoodies: It would be good to have this information on the website & co. Same with the reservation process. But there is nothing at all.

The post How to get a reservation at Lafayette Cuisine Cabaret Club in Belgrade? appeared first on BGfoodies.

When you think of Serbia, you probably think of something in terms of Balkans, SFRJ, Tito, Novak Djokovic, Nikola Tesla, great festivals, excellent beer, rakija and a loooot of meat, then beautiful women, awesome parties and loads of fun with some pretty amazing, friendly and outgoing people…

Yeah, you are right. But there is one more thing you most certainly think of as well-the thing most Serbian people love to do is- to smoke! All the time, everywhere and nobody can stop them!

Fact is that Serbia ranks the number one place in smokers per capita. This makes it incredibly difficult for a non-smoker to find a venue to enjoy in, smoke-free. It is not easy for the planet either. Health professionals around the world now accept the fact that there is somewhat of a global tobacco epidemic and that there are some serious health consequences. It is estimated that the total number of tobacco users is 1.3 billions and is expected to rise to 1.7 billions by 2025.

In Serbia almost half of men and one third of women are active smokers, and among teenagers 16.3% girls and 12.5% boys by the age of 15 years smoke. 65.7% inhabitants of Serbia are Exposed to environmental tobacco smoke in their homes, and almost every child. At work places, 55.5% of employees are exposed to second hand smoke for more than 1 hour daily.

Non-Smokers Hell

If you are a non-smoker, the restaurants, bars and  clubs can be the living Hell for you. It can be incredibly difficult for you to find a venue to enjoy in.  You know the feeling-of not having your entire wardrobe and bags, coats and hair smelling like someone emptied an ashtray on you. And you will often have to deal with smug and smirking glances after even just asking about a non-smoking area of the joint. Don’t let this surprise you. You need to be aware of the cultural differences that you will be faced with here.

There is a Joke about it: A foreign couple comes into a restaurant and asks the waiter: “Have you got a non-smoking table?”. The waiter answers them: “Sure, which table you don’t want to smoke on?”

The Signs & the Law

Most of the time you will find both signs below outside of a venue. This means that there is actually a non-smoking area inside, theoretically speaking. But  in fact, the guests simply don’t care at all about these signs. Don’t try to call your waiter and complain, he won’t give a shit about it. The only possibility which you have, is to change the venue and to hope, you will find a better/different one nearby. There are not a lot of them. At the end of this article, you will find a list included so you can know beforehand exactly what to expect and where.

Officially, a non-smoking law exists and the Serbian Government announced that it was getting ready to enforce it with more force and make it applicable anew, so the smoking would become forbidden in all the restaurants, bars and clubs. This was in the beginning of the Year 2016. In the meanwhile, has anything changed? Nothing!

If you are wondering what the Ministry of Health or at least the doctors and the medical staff of this country do against this “epidemic”, here some statistics about typical Serbian nurses:

So, the answer? Nothing. Most of them in fact-smoke themselves! 🙂

Smokers’ Heaven

You are free! There really is no other place in the world where you can feel more accepted and appreciated than here in this regard. Your passion will never again be interrupted by having to walk out and smoke, and this means you can stay, enjoy and party all night long!

Summer brings freedom for everyone

During the summer, situation for our poor non-smoker is much better. Belgrade has become world known by its open river boats, where you can party all night long under the stars and the night skies covered in various lights and moonlight.

There is nothing more beautiful than the sunrise in Belgrade you can greet while you are dancing on the river; with or without a cigarette in your hand.

Smoke or not smoke

So, be prepared to stand your grounds and not get insulted by this, for many, rude and preposterous attitude you will get.

Still, to avoid getting into this situation in the first place, like we mentioned earlier-on our website you can find the list of some non-smoking venues, as well as the list of the venues in which #smoking and #non-smoking-areas are properly segregated.

• Non-Smoking Venues
• Venues with Non-Smoking Area

The post Smoking or not-smoking: that is NOT the question! appeared first on BGfoodies.