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re: wolfe
vincentlo
Apr 26, 2010 03:03 AM
Just went back to Jai Yun with a group of 4 last Friday and a $100 Restaurant.com certificate. They weren't happy with the certificate, saying they had to add a mandatory 18% tip. I was thinking...I would give you at least a 15% tip anyway, even if I hadn't obtained the gift certificate in advance, so what's the point of "threatening" a 18% tip? The dishes were truly great showing tremendous knife skills, but kinda as expected, portions were tiny, and most ingredients were inexpensive. They *really* can't charge $55+ before tax and tips per person. We were the only table the entire night, and they deserved that. My second and most likely my last visit to Chef Nei, who was in a surprisingly good mood.
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Jai Yun
680 Clay St, San Francisco, CA 94111-
re: vincentlo
lexdevil
Apr 26, 2010 05:23 AM
The mandatory tip on the pre-coupon amount is the only way to protect the wait staff from receiving a tip based on the post discount amount. In the case of the $25 off of a meal valued at $35 (a standard restaurant.com coupon), this can be especially bad, but even the $100 off of $200 or more can leave the staff hurting. Given that those of us who use these coupons are cheap (yes, I include myself here), I think it's fair to protect the wait staff.
Additionally, the 18% tip shouldn't come as a surprise. Before you click the print screen restaurant.com displays the following message for your Jai Yun coupon:
Valid with a minimum purchase of $X. 18% gratuity added to pre-discounted check amount. Reservations recommended.
That language is then repeated on the coupon itself.
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Jai Yun
680 Clay St, San Francisco, CA 94111-
re: lexdevil
vincentlo
Apr 29, 2010 12:02 AM
Of course I knew to tip on the prediscounted amount.
The point was that they really weren't happy we were using the $100 gift certificate, and the woman said it wasn't a good deal for us to use the gift certificate because they had to add the 18% tip, implying that some people tipped much less in general. I know a lot of Chinese-Americans customarily tip only 10% or so in Chinese restaurants.
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re: vincentlo
I guess I still don't really understand--if you had tipped 10% INSTEAD of using the certificate, of course you'd have ended up spending much, much more. You were just upset with the hostess's attitude when you gave her the certificate?
If the food was "truly great" (despite the portion size--which you had anticipated--and the relative affordability of the ingredients) AND you saved $100 (and would have tipped on the pre-discounted price anyway), I'm not sure I see why this was such a terrible experience that you'd refuse to ever go to the restaurant again (which, of course, is your prerogative).
If, on the other hand, you felt like they gave you smaller portions because you used the certificate, then that would be another issue entirely.
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re: abstractpoet
vincentlo
May 1, 2010 03:12 PM
Yeah what you don't understand is what I don't understand either. The lady kept saying it wasn't a good deal for us to use the $100 gift certificate. Maybe she wasn't expecting us to pay *any* tip and she wouldn't have charged us corkage for the two bottles of wine we brought, had we not used the $100 Restaurant.com gift certificate. It was a very bad experience because this was a $65-per-person dinner, and I guess Chef Nei thought he was serving a tasting menu like a fancy French or Italian or Californian restaurant, but there was little explanation of each dish, the decor was that of a cheap Chinatown restaurant, and the corkage did not come with any service or stemware. The portion size was ultra-tiny, basically tasting menu dish portions but lumped into a single plate for four people. The white they sold us wasn't even chilled, and I had to flag them down for ice in the bucket, which didn't come with a serviette so every time I poured the wine, it was dripping all over the place.
We each paid $80 for the dinner, and I brought two bottles of wine to this dinner. I think at this price point, there is some expectation of either costlier food ingredients (think Koi Palace) or service.
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Koi Palace Restaurant
365 Gellert Blvd, Daly City, CA 94015-
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re: wolfe
vincentlo
May 3, 2010 01:24 PM
I honestly think there's probably no one who's checked Jai Yun's reviews on Chowhound and Yelp more frequently than I have all these years. ;-)
Jai Yun's a step backwards compared to its old location. The tiny portion of egg white with abalone was served on a ridiculously large plate, and it was only served after we agreed to bump up our price from the minimum $55 a person. It was bland bland bland, and people know I'm a big fan of simple flavors, but this was a huge letdown.
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Jai Yun
680 Clay St, San Francisco, CA 94111
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re: vincentlo
Actually a lot of the Restaurant.com certificates specify in advance a mandatory tip. I just ordered the $100 Jai Yun GC and it clearly says "18% Gratuity added prior to discount" on the coupon.
It's still not a bad deal considering the $100 GC was only $8 w/ the current promo! Ends today!
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Jai Yun
680 Clay St, San Francisco, CA 94111
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re: dietndesire
lexdevil
Apr 25, 2010 10:07 AM
If you get over to the Easy Bay there are lots of great choices including Champa Garden, Enssaro, Messob, Cafe Colucci, Digs Bistro, A Taste of Joy, Otaez, Sichuan Fortune House, Everest Cafe, and Anh Hong.
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Champa Garden
2102 8th Ave, Oakland, CA 94606Messob
4301 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, CA 94611Otaez
1619 Webster St, Alameda, CA 94501Sichuan Fortune House
41 Woodsworth Ln, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523Digs Bistro
1453 Dwight Way, Berkeley, CA 94702Cafe Colucci
6427 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94609Enssaro
366 Grand Ave, Oakland, CA
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Ruth Lafler
Oct 17, 2009 01:30 PM
The current deal is not the "maximum" -- if you can wait a week they should cycle back around to 80 percent.
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