The Triangle

Issue date: 3/12/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Melissa Cell The Bubble House, located at 34th and Sansom Streets, may serve a variety of dishes and bubble teas, but lacks a quality service that makes it difficult to enjoy a meal.

"I am dissatisfied with your service tonight and I'm a little bit appalled that you had the audacity to automatically add an 18 percent gratuity fee to our order," was the last thing I said to the manager of The Bubble House minutes before I left the establishment. This was the first time in my 21 years of life that I ever complained in a restaurant.

Let me preface this review by stating that it will be more focused on service and dining experience than on food alone. I never realized how crucial atmosphere was to a restaurant until I was confronted by the lunacy and disorganization of the Bubble House.

I visited Bubble House on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. with a party of seven people. We had made reservations weeks in advance and even prepaid for the dinner with a credit card number - all before we even set foot in the door. So, it was surprising to find that after all of the arrangements we had made, our table was not ready upon our arrival. Undeterred, we cheerily smiled at our waitress when she finally did show us to our table.

The members of our party all ordered bubble tea - which took 15 minutes to arrive, by the way - except for one of us, who ordered a soda, an order that was completely forgotten. Apparently, if you're not going to order the bubble tea, you do not exist.

When we moved on to ordering food, the real debacle ensued. I ordered sushi - but there was none; I then tried to order the steak - but there was none. Surprised at the coincidence of both dishes being missing, I ordered the salmon - but of course there was none. Our waitress didn't even inform the other guest at my table who had ordered salmon that they had none; she had to speak up herself - had she not, she would not have eaten.

When I finally determined that I'd have to end up ordering the chicken, I asked for a side of risotto. There was none. Still in good spirits, I laughed with my friends about it. A few minutes after the waitress left with my order, she returned and pointing to the menu, said "You ordered the tuna, right?" No, I had not.

Continued...

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