Howdy Ho!
Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. Although I worked, I was scheduled at a few stores that were full of great help and NICE customers. That’s all I want in life sometimes.
I had time to go celebrate Kristen’s birthday though.
We decided on Japoix and we were given the VIP treatment.
This restaurant has been open a year and not located downtown or in any of the “hot” trendy areas so it was NOT packed at all…what a shame. We got the HOOK up because of it though. Let’s go through the food first.
Japoix is a French Japanese fusion restaurant…and yes…every restaurant is a fusion restaurant now. I also apologize for my crappy photos…”trendy” restaurants=dark as a motherf*cka inside.
Pork Belly Bao Bun Sliders: pork belly in Szechuan sauce, pickled daikon, and onions. A tad on the dry side.
FREE duck wontons: roasted duck, spiced cream cheese with a side of thai chili. Out of nowhere the executive chef brought us two plates of these things! Then he brought us a FREE tasting of his seabass! I won’t complain!
Szechuan Lamb tenderloin with yukon potatoes, watercress, cambozola cheese, onions, and truffles. We got this dish for FREE too cause they “made a mistake” then ended up bringing this lamb dish out with the correct lamb dish. So tender, juicy, and well flavored. So good!
My main entrée was the Scallops with brussel sprouts, thai basil quinoa risotto, corn, shiitaki, and lotus root. The risotto was so savory and creamy…I couldn’t stop eating it. Delicious.
We actually ordered more stuff but my camera sucks.
The birthday girl got her FREE birthday dessert (chocolate cheesecake) and since I checked in here on Yelp on my phone, the rest of us got FREE Mochi Ice-cream…which is always sweet and chewy and yum.
I made Kristen wear the crown. We had such great service and felt so special getting all these hook ups.
We then went to the back lounge area for a few drinks where the owner bought us a round of FREE shots! I swear he wanted to sleep with all of us!
Lynne was sweet enough to join us for a few drinks that night! I got to meet her fiancé and see her before her surgery. She’s getting her boobs done…just kidding. She’s having knee surgery. Sniff Sniff.
We went across the street to Dazzle which is a blues bar…meaning a ton of old white dudes were dancing with their young ethnic wives…seriously…there were like 3 couples like that there that night….this is where Glenn and I will end up in a few years.
The cover charge is $5 a person but they gave us a 2 for 1 deal for our big party. The drink specials were amazing! $4 for martinis, lemon drops, cosmos, etc and $2 for beers.
The servers even dance while they shake and serve your drinks for you! It ended up being a pretty great night!!
Then I woke up and drank these babies raspberry chocolate truffle and pumpkin spice coffee. ‘Tis the season!
TIP DEBATE:
Okay, so I’m going to come across as a sh*tty friend and snobby but I have this ongoing ANNOYANCE about tipping when I eat out. First of all, I was a waitress as a student so I may be more “sensitive” to cheap tippers. Second of all, I’m not talking behind any ones back cause I have this argument WITH my friends ALL.THE.TIME.
Anyways, I find it incredibly ANNOYING when people bust out calculators to figure the tip. Calculators on their phone, pen and paper, whatever. Tipping 15% is OLD. You are suppose to tip 15-20% now..which doesn’t involve a calculator. Find your check total, move the decimal to the left, and double that amount…which is 20%! Also if the chef/owner EVER hooks you up for stuff you tip even MORE cause the server has to work extra to bring you the free food/free whatever. Tipping 20% vs 15% can mean a measly 2 bucks! If you don’t have enough money for an extra 2 bucks then don’t eat out. But busting out a calculator at the end of dinner doesn’t mean you are doing the math to be generous (OH let’s make sure we tip EXACTLY 15%), it means you are calculating it to be CHEAP and tip the minimal!
Yes, I sound cold hearted, privileged (although I worked hard to go through school), and rude but seriously?! Either do the math in your head, over tip, or ball park it.
Okay, rant done.
Anyways, have you gotten the hook up at a restaurant? Thoughts on people who figure out the tip on a stupid ass calculator?
PS. Make sure to say congrats to Jessie who gave birth to her beautiful baby girl last week!! Or you can send her hate mail…she gave birth last week and she’s only 4lbs heavier than her prebaby weight. W.T.F. Nicole Richie, Heidi Klum, Jessica Alba? Eat your heart out!
There’s a sushi place in Austin that Alan and his roomates went so often that they always gave us free saki, desserts, etc. Actually the one time Jon was there, we ate there with Glenn and co too! We always overtip. Alan is very generous. I just round up after doubling tax or moving decimals.
I agree with you on tipping and currently am brokeass!
P.S. The pork belly bao buns are popular! Saw another food blogger friend post one from NYC. Maybe I’ll post the photo of my one and only from Boston tomorrow.
I tip 20% if the service was really good, or it seems like the waitperson is over worked. Otherwise 15-18. People should be able to do the math in their head. %15 is just as easy to figure out as %20, and depending on what the food tax is sometimes you can just double that.
You shouldn’t use a calculator to calculate the tip not to avoid being cheap, but because you should exercise your brain every once in a while to do very, very simple math. Moving the decimal to the left and doubling is about as difficult as moving it to the left and then mentally adding half of that amount.
I was a waitress in high school too and had my fair share of stingy and rude tippers. I’m always conscious to leave 20+%. The only time I leave 15% is when I had HORRIBLE service or something. That’s pretty baller how her birthday turned out, freebies will always convince me to come back!
sales tax where i grew up was 8.5%. so you were always taught that the minimum to tip was to double the tax (17%) and going over was fine, under was not ok.
i’ll be honest, when i first moved to oregon (no sales tax!) tipping threw my brain. but i’m not an idiot, so like you said, you just find 10% and double it. math aint hard.
and if you can’t spring an extra buck or two for a decent tip? go to mcdonalds.
I agree with you on the tipping topic. I bartended/served for 7 years, so I generally overtip because I know how it feels to get stiffed. This one tends to slip through the cracks, but if you are there for happy hour or you have a coupon, always tip on what the bill would have been BEFORE the discount. Your server/bartender is taxed on the total bill, not the discounted one. So even if you leave a good tip, you could still be shorting your server.
Most people will argue that times are tough and they can only afford to tip 15%, rather than 18-20. I’m sorry (and this is going to sound bitchy – I apologize) but if you cannot afford to tip the appropriate amount, you cannot afford to be going out to eat. Plain & simple. Did the kitchen mess up your food order and not leave off the onions? Don’t punish your server – they didn’t cook it! Was the service not as exceptional as you expected, but instead just average? Your server is human, and maybe he/she is having a bad day. Maybe their car needs to repaired and they don’t have the money to fix it, they are in a fight with their significant other, a loved one is ill, etc. Don’t snap at them and then “get back at them” by leaving $0 tip. Leave 15-18% if you aren’t pleased. They still have bills to pay. Put yourself in their shoes!
Oh I could argue the tipping situation alllll day long haha
No I can too! I will also overtip to make up for cheap friends! Service is part of the whole dining experience!
Lol. If I do get hate mail I’m forwarding it to you!
I always move the decimal over for tipping too. It’s just easier and as long as the service wasn’t awful, I think of 20% as the minimum.
I never use the calculator and usually just double the tax and add an extra dollar or two. If they stink though, they only get double the tax. I like nice servers and want to show them I appreciate their patience.
OMG that is a major pet peeve of mine as well. Zach worked at a sandwich shop post-grad (until he got his job now which brought us to CT ugh suicide) and there were tons of people who WOULD NOT tip him when he delivered sandwiches. Even people who ordered hundreds of dollars of catering to be delivered or office workers who ordered a bunch of sandwiches to be delivered – NO TIP. Like, sorry if money is so tight for you, but if you can’t afford a few dollars of tip then get your lazy ass to the sandwich shop to pick it up yourself. WTF? P.S. if money is that tight you should be BRINGING your lunch to work. Duh. Cheap bastards!
Also I hate when I am dining with a big group of people and the check comes. Inevitably someone doesn’t put in enough money (or tips like 5%) and I am ALWAYS the one who has to figure out who owes what and has to call out the douche who came up short. Okay end rant, sorry for hijacking.
I LOVE reading your restaurant / food reviews!! And I am so with you on the tipping. I was a waittress for years and so I — more often than not — just move that decimal and give the waitress the 20%. I understand how much work it is, and I feel that if you can’t afford to tip, then you shouldn’t be eating at a restaurant that requires them.
I wish we’d come for dinner!! Japoix > Rugby game nachos.
I always tip 20%+ too – I used to serve at restaurants in college and understand what all goes into serving the customers. Yeah, sometimes you have an off night and who knows what the story behind a slow server is – I like to give them the benefit of the doubt. I even tip at Jersey Mike’s for the great service when they make my sandwich!
The one place I usually fail at tips, though, is anything that requires me to tip in cash… like on a parking shuttle service at the airport or hotel shuttles. I never have dollar bills on me and feel terrible when I remember! So I usually try to make up for it on the return trip.
i’m sooo w/ you on this. i worked in a couple restaurants, too, and shitty tippers suck. we work hard, and it really is only a few more bucks. the calculator move is so ridiculous. gah!
cant recall such amazing service, but maybe have gotten a free drink or food somewhere along the line. night looked super fun!
I’ve never been a waitress, but it still peeves me when other people under-tip. I sat near some high school seniors on prom night at Red Lobster. The party of 7 tallied up at /least/ an $80 bill, making a loud scene and demands the whole time. Then the girls left to fix themselves up, leaving the chivalrous young men to pay. We watched the three boys put down $2 each, declaring confidently that this was appropriate because “Dinner was okay.”
The only reason I would tip less than 20% is if the waiter/waitress was downright rude or inattentive. A lot of people blame the waiters for things out of control–the food was slow in coming, there was something wrong with it, or the music was too loud etc. However, not all waiters/waitresses are angels. I once overheard a student who worked at a restaurant say that she always calculates the tip and puts it on the bill because “people wouldn’t pay her otherwise.” If that happened to me, I would probably cross it off and write “$0.00.”
Dazzle looks like fun! We’ll have to check it out after Portland. Being a RETIRED cocktail waitress / bartender OH MUH GAWSH! Loved your take on tipping! I agree with you! I find people that don’t tip properly EMBARRASSING.
Having been in the industry myself, the LOWEST I tip is 20%. I think all of America should have to live off tips for a year…&& deal with ridiculous people.. then they might understand!
Also, something people MIGHT not think about…with awesome Groupon deals & coupons these days… if you eat 60 bucks worth of food… and only have to pay 30.. STILL TIP LIKE YOU PAID 60! You still ate $60 bucks worth & took up the same amount of time at their table!
[...] each of their pork belly bao sliders. Julie posted a photo from New York’s Ippudo and Diana posted a photo from Denver’s [...]
I pretty much always tip at least 20%, unless the waitress is a rude b*tch – then I leave nothing, and complain to the manager.
I was once a waiter myself. But what is wrong with 15%? why should waiters be the only profession (besides bankruptcy lawyers) getting a pay raise right now? everyone’s hurting and feeling the pinch.
And I hate to say this, but since I had the skills to wait tables when I was 17, I don’t particularly find the work done worthy of a huge reward. At a fancy dinner, sure. At applebee’s, 15% is more than enough for you grabbing the microwave meal from the kitchen and plopping it on my plate
[...] up was lunch at Japoix. I’ve been here before and although it’s located in the middle of town (middle of nowhere), I love their service, and [...]