Carnegie's - Food & Service

The rack of venison is great. I had it a couple of times recently and thought it was delicious. Even the creamed cabbage on the side was tasty for this carnivore. Can recommend it to anyone wanting a change from steak or lamb.

Finally I had the honor of actually dining here.

Why donā€™t any restaurants carry tzatziki for the deep fried calamari here in Taibei? They all use tartar sauce. The horror! If it came with tzatziki it would have been much better.

Lots of clams in my pasta. Good!

Creme brulee was too ā€œeggy.ā€ It was a nice big portion, maybe too much, hence the watery and eggy taste? But nice, topped with tons of fruits.

Were my margaritas VIRGINS? Dang, if I wanted virgins Iā€™d have a Pepsi or coffee.

Itā€™s nice. Pretty cheap, I was pleasantly surprised.

Do you have to have a penis to get good service at Carnegies? Been there twice in the past week and both times the service was subpar. Hereā€™s a summary of last night:

Sat down, had to get up to go ask for a menu. Asked if there were any drink specials and was told ā€œnoā€ (found out from my tablemate that it was HH until 9pm). After my food arrived I asked for water. 15 minutes later -still no water. When I inquired about this I found out sheā€™d given it to the wrong person at our table. So, I again asked for water. The server told me that I should just take the water from my tablemate (even though sheā€™d already started drinking it). I insisted she bring me another water, and she got an attitude about it.

Aside from that, other people at our table had trouble getting a serverā€™s attention when they wanted to order. They never came by to clear our plates after weā€™d eaten nor did they ever stop by to see if we needed anything.

I know that Taiwan isnā€™t exactly renowned for its customer service, but the treatment I have received at Carnegies was by far the worst of any restaurants that I typically frequent. Based on my less than satisfactory experiences there, I plan to give Carnegies a miss in the future.

Hello Erhu,

Be not surprised it is me reacting to your post. I have informed Uncle Bob of your post and he is very concerned about your comment but he has no Internet Access up in the lake district and will only be back next week. He hopes you could call his cell phone, I will PM you his number.

Cheers!
Michel, Chairman of the AFSPHH

Last night was the first time Iā€™ve eaten there in a very long timeā€¦ Canā€™t say I was too impressed with the All Day Breakfastā€¦ Twas ok but for the money, not what I would call good value. My friend really liked his Steak and Kidney pie thoughā€¦

I was also dissapointed that you werenā€™t there Bob! Iā€™d kinda built myself up for meeting the legendary tpebobā€¦ :smiley:

[quote=ā€œRoachā€]
I was also dissapointed that you werenā€™t there Bob! Iā€™d kinda built myself up for meeting the legendary tpebobā€¦ :smiley:[/quote]

Iā€™m back now. Roach: ermā€¦thanks for the epithet; little overblown but an interesting one nonetheless. :slight_smile:

Also want to thank Taverncaptain for letting me know about some service issue-related posts whilst I was reading Wordsworth on the shores of Ullswater. Trampled a few daffodils when phoning to find out what that was all about.

Erhu: I gather that Olivia has contacted you with regard to your post and she (and I) will be most happy to meet you at your convenience in order to hear from you first hand what happened. I hope that you will attend the Happy Hour next week.

Best Regards,

Bob

Erhu:

My advice is to give Carnegieā€™s another chance. I have had nothing but good service there and the staff is extremely capable and friendly and more importantly the food is fantastic (I still am licking my chops over that last ribeye!). Also tried the venison. Very good! Also, very much liked the Greek salad and the fish n chips though they arenā€™t as good as the Tavernā€™s. :smiling_imp:

Notice that while Tetsuo keeps complaining about the service, he keeps going back and back and backā€¦ haha

[quote=ā€œfred smithā€]Erhu:

My advice is to give Carnegieā€™s another chance. I have had nothing but good service there and the staff is extremely capable and friendly and more importantly the food is fantastic. [/quote]

I agree with Fred. Iā€™ve never had anything but the best of service and food quality. Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon when they are extremely busy you might wait a little bit. However, at other times everything is exceptional.

One thing you should notice is the quick and considerate responses from Olivia and Bob (and TavernCaptain). That should tell you something about how dedicated they are. If you have any comments about the food or service they are eager to hear about it so that they can improve. This is something that isnā€™t easy to come by here.

You would be missing out if you didnā€™t give them another try.

Rio Ayu (my 2 year old daughter) and I just returned from lunch at Carnegieā€™s. Neither Bob nor Olivia were there. :cry: Service was great. Beer was great. Ayu liked her cookies. Yes was played on the sound system.

We were both pleased.

And Bobā€™s mom received a pleasant surprise. :laughing:

I have been going to Carnegies for a few years now. My last visit was last Sunday. I sent Bob a pm telling him that the delivery of my orange juice and coffee was slightly tardy. On Sunday I had a fillet steak with creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. It was fantastic. It was ten pounds sterling.

I am a regular, and I know Bob personally. I am the Worst Customer. Bob buys me more free drinks out of pity than I spend money in his establishment, so the cynics may like to take my praise with a pinch of salt, but on the converse, I urge them to listen to how I got to know him.

One day, three years ago I told him his breakfast was crap. I had never been to the place before, but letā€™s just say I know an English breakfast when I see one, and I told him that he should be ashamed of himself as an Englishman serving margarine (amongst other cardinal sins) with breakfast. This was late on a Saturday night. He and I had a drunken exchange, during which he told me he would endeavour to provide in future the best breakfast known to man. Well, in Taipei, at least. I said ā€œyeah, rightā€. He said " I will have freshly squeezed orange juice". I went to the toilet.

I went back the next weekend and Bob had installed a proper English breakfast. Pretty much whatā€™s on the menu now. This was revolutionary at the time and I enjoyed a size 8 3/4 Panama with English mustard.

Since then I have been present at various tastings, (such as the venison trial) where Bob sent stuff back to the kitchen umpteen times because itā€™s ā€œnot rightā€.

Why is this important? I have a limited budget the same as everyone else. Most of the time, I get a decent feed, in a decent amount of time at Carnegies. This Sunday I had to wait a bit. Actually, my steak was cold in the middle. Did I complain? Well, I said to the server ā€œItā€™s a bit cold in the middleā€. And it was whisked away and re-grilled. Was I upset? No. Let me tell you why.

Iā€™ve eaten in most places in Taipei. Sometimes they get it right, and most of the time they donā€™t. The difference with this place is that they actually give a shit. If you have a problem, ask for a manager if you feel the wait staff havenā€™t satisfied your request. Why do I say this? Well. Look at how many people regularly eat there. You can be guaranteed that sometimes the regulars (including me) get iffy service. Such is life. But the regulars keep coming back because on balance, the food is good and the atmosphere is good.

Which is another important point. Now, for those of you looking at the clock and thinking ā€œwhy would someone write this sort of shit at two oā€™clock in the morning if he hadnā€™t just come back from Carnegies and been given twenty camels and a young wifeā€ let me just explain that I have just come back from another pub where someone elseā€™s food was put on my bloody bill! Which brings me back to atmosphere. Why do you think the place is full of regulars? Because, you can run a tab with confidence youā€™re not going to get ripped off, the staff are honest, and both the staff and managers care about the quality of the stuff theyā€™re serving. That is all I ask in a pub. Or a restaurant.

For those of you who have come in and had bad service: So have I. But the point is, you have just been unlucky. In my humble opinion, about seven times out of ten, it hits the mark in the food and drinks stakes.

Shop around. I do. I have been universally disappointed. If I donā€™t like something at Carnegies I tell one of the managers. More often than not they take any suggestion seriously and make changes. For example, I am going to tell Bob tomorrow that I am not happy with the muffin that comes with the eggs benedict. And you can be damn sure there will be an earnest discussion about what constitutes a proper English muffin. I am prepared to be proved wrong, butā€¦(!)

WH

I have had the privelege to get to know Bob over the last couple of years through my frequent visits to Carnegies, and I can say that he takes his business and his customers very seriously. I think I have also spent a small fortune in Carnegies during this time as well so I feel that I can share some fairly accurate observations and comments.

As some other posters have stated, Carnegies is one of my refuges in Taiwan and one of the things that helps me retain my sanity. I am glad Carnegies is here. I have gotten very consistent service over the past couple of years. Granted there are some variations from time to time and staff do turn over or not show up to work causing some hiccups, but overall the place is consistent. Considering the broad range of customers and themes they cater to from lunch through dinner through crazy dance on the bar nights that is nothing short of amazing. And what is even more impressive is that all of this is done with local staff that have been properly trained and motivated. A great credit to both the Carnegies managment (you know who you are ladies and JONATHAN, and, erā€¦ Bob) and the staff.

You will probably say that because I go there regularly I get better and more consistent service, and you are probably right. Regulars are just that, regular, and as such the staff gets to know you and your idiosyncracies. But Carnegies is the one place that I do and will reccomend to anyone visiting or living in Taipei that has never been there before.

Having opened two restaurants myself here in Taipei, I can speak to the challenges and frustrations involved in getting cosistent, decent service from your staff. Using my experiences as a gauge I think the Carnegies team has done a great job.

Regarding many of the posts on here from folks that seem to have a bad experience and then wait til later and post on the web, all I can say is talk to Bob. If he is not there ask for one of the managers. They wonā€™t run away and they are more than happy to listen to what you have to say and to correct for it. I have had some times where I had to escalate to get things in order but never was it personal, and the response was always polite and professional and solved the problem quickly.

Cheers Carnegies, and hope to see you here for quite a while more.

FEI

Today I had a filet steak in Carnegies for lunch and it was really good quality and good portion. Iā€™ve been their about 5 times now all in the last 2 months and was happy every time. Service was good and the place has the best atmosphere of any in Taiwan. It is fast becoming my favorite restaurant. Now I just have to try out their nightlife.

A slightly belated and brief thanks to both FEI and Panda for their positive comments and to be sure they will be passed on to the staff and management. They are much appreciated by all and we shall endeavour to continue to provide a good product delivered professionally. Actually, we will try to improve on it. This forum has indeed been a useful tool for us and there is no doubt that the comments herein keep us on our toes.

Best Regards,

Bob

Just back a while ago from lunch at Carnegieā€™s. Very nice, indeed. I had, for the second time, the new Greek salad, which I guess is more authentically Greek than was the old Greek salad. Anyway, the new Greek salad is quite good, and Iā€™m thinking it must be very healthy as well.

My boy had the rack of venison and said it was delicious. Certainly looked delicious, from my vantage point across the table.

I know some folks from time to time comment about the price at Carnegieā€™sā€¦ that it is high. I donā€™t knowā€¦ I mean, I know that all things are relative and that you can find more inexpensive fare elsewhereā€¦ but, my wife, perhaps the most frugal person I know, absolutely loves Carnegieā€™s and finds the prices there very reasonable. And anyway, I donā€™t know where else in Taipei my boy could have had a rack of venison.

Also had a pint of the newly-arrived Guinness. Wonderful. Just wonderful.

Put it this way: Around what? NT$350-NT$650 for an entree is about six quid to about 12 quid. That is not expensive for what you get at Carnegieā€™s. At all.

One? ONE? You poor man. You poor, poor man!

We had:

1 - two servings of suop and rolls
2 - one serving of rack of venison (w/ cabbage and large roasted potatos)
3 - three soda pops
4 - one serving of the new Greek salad and bread
5 - one pint of Guinness

Total (after VIP discount) : NT$ 702

That is a very, very good value, especially considering the excellent quality and large quantity of the servings.

We couldnā€™t finish the cabbage and brought that homeā€¦ and the dogs absolutely loved the venison bones. They each got two bones to eat. Everybody is sated and happy.

Iā€™ve been back to Carnegieā€™s a few times for brunch and have to say they do have a very good weekend brunch menu. I always get the ā€œNot So Big Oneā€ which consists of 2 eggs, a very nice serving of bacon (yummy bacon -NOT the shriveled up overcooked kind!), a huge sausage, sauteed mushrooms, baked beans and toast. It also includes freshly squeezed orange juice and unlimited coffee or tea. A lot of food and not a bad price at $320. Itā€™s easy to spend a weekend afternoon there, chatting away on the deck. The only thing that I wish that they had on the brunch menus is pancakes.

Oh, and since my complaint about Carnegieā€™s service a while back, Iā€™ve gotten consistently good service. Carnegieā€™s is now on my A-list.

I had a great Greek Salad and a monster burger last night on the patio. Very enjoyable!

What did V. have?

(Maoman: Technically, isnā€™t the NT$100 vodka Red Bulls a ā€œFood & Serviceā€ topic rather than a ā€œchatā€ topic? - just asking)

Bob

What did V. have?[/quote]
V. had what she always does - the pasta with seafood - mussels? clams? Iā€™m not sure. It must be good though, because she orders it almost every time, although she also likes the chicken and mushroom pie. :thumbsup: