Review:
So far, I haven’t been tempted to eat at Sevva, but I have been there a few times for drinks.
I’ve always been severely disappointed by their service and after my last visit have decided that I really hope no one ever invites me for a drink there again, as I’ll just have to decline.
I know well enough by now to sit at the bar if you actually want to have any kind of consistent access to service staff, but when I was there a few days ago, I was shoulder barged by the floor manager twice when I was sitting on the bar stool. They themselves had placed it next to their till and he managed this even though there was plenty of room around it.
The bar was almost empty, and yet I also had to contend with his loud ordering about of staff which he decided to do when he was standing right next to me. Why he couldn’t have done this even a few steps away I have no idea. I originally thought he was a customer, considering he didn’t apologise for molesting me, and only later realised he was staff when he was ordering the waiters about.
Next we come to price. Most cocktails are $120, plus service, which is a fairly hefty price, but the cocktails are good and I appreciate the location is plum and they want to attract a certain crowd. However, that crowd don’t expect to be served smashed up Dorritos with their cocktails, nor have to pay for a glass of water. The vast majority of bars now in HK have got their head around the idea that as it’s brutally hot here for most of the year, some customers could do with a glass of water to rehydrate before they plunge into the martinis. It’s common courtesy and a nice touch to give them a glass of without charge. If even the scraggiest Dai Pai can give you a glass water FOC, why the buggery-boo can’t a supposedly refined establishment like Sevva?
The rude and perfunctory way in which my request and subsequent questioning of this situation was handled has made me never want to set foot in there again. Money grabbing a-holes, and that’s all there is to it.
Location: Top Floor Prince’s Building, Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong.
Agree with you and personally, I hate that place. Snobs Snobs Snobs!
Happy Eating!
Geoff
This place definitely needs to improve on its service! First thing first, they need to put on a smile more! I was reading the book “Service Included” by Phoebe Damrosch and it introduced its own Diner’s Bill of Rights which include: “the right to have water.” It is a diner’s right indeed!!!!
Jason
Jason, I got a real bee in my bonnet about the water issue and went to the length of clarifying it with the consumer affair’s council. In the UK the law is that if you ask for a glass of water then the establishment had to serve you. They don’t have to give it to you for free, as they are actually providing a service and can therefore charge for that. Fair dinkum.
In Hong Kong however, there is no legal requirement for the bar to serve/sell you tap water. They are within their rights to choose exactly what they want to sell.
I was quite disappointed about this, as I was hoping we’d follow the UK lead over here and I was looking forward to a good old slanging match with the next person to tell me I had to buy mineral water.
Ho hum. I just think it’s incredibly low-rent to not serve tap water to someone if they are willing to drink it.
@Caustic Candy, thanks for the detailed information! It is certainly something new to me and I wish I knew before. Hong Kong is known for its so-called excellent customer services (as seen on TV) and wide selection of international cuisines but I am disappointed about many aspects of it, ie: water serving for example. You are right, if I am willing to drink tap water, tap water I shall get! Maybe it is time we all act as HK’s food lobbyist! Thanks again for your information!!
Jason