The power of feedback

THE POWER OF FEEDBACK

(sipping a cocktail at the Lounge24 bar @ RadissonBLU Hotel, Tallinn)

Brace yourselves, because now I want to take a moment and discuss the power of feedback. People give feedback about restaurants, bars, places, whatever. Sometimes they tell it straight away when able and/or sometimes they send it via email after the given event. Be it good or poor service, food, drink or anything for that matter, I've noticed it's hard to speak up (at least for us Finns) when we really should. Only after the restaurant trip we complain to our friends "how poor the food was." When the waiter comes and asks if everything is/was fine, it's common to just say "yeah it was good." without really meaning it.

It's probably (most likely) a Finnish thing. There's a saying "You tell a few friends about a good (restaurant) and 50 about a poor one." That's hard facts right there for you.

But let's go back a few weeks time. The picture above was taken at Lounge 24 Bar at the RadissonBLU hotel in Tallinn, Estonia. It was one of the three cocktail bars I visited during my three day stay in Estonia. When I find a new cocktail bar there's one specific drink that I usually order to estimate the quality of the said bar. This drink needs enough technique and know-how to make good + I like the cocktail. It's the Manhattan. Like a good friend of mine told me how he can estimate the whole restaurant's quality by the eye fillet they prepare (if it's a good steak, it is likely that they know how to make good food in general), I can estimate a cocktail bar depending on how they make a Manhattan.

That said, the first place (wasn't a "pure" cocktail bar per se) I visited made me cry from the inside. I mean, if you take a tumbler with ice, drown that sum'bitch with angostura, then pour 4 cl (1½ fl. oz) of Jack Daniels and the same amount of sweet vermouth, give it a little stir and serve...wait, what? It was a horrible, utterly horrible Manhattan.

The other place was really meant to be a cocktail lounge, but they also served food. Having to wait 10 minutes for a Negroni ? Also, the said they haven't had angostura bitters for two months now (I first ordered an Old Fashioned). Two months? Really now? Hell, send a man on the first boat to Finland and get some!! A cocktail bar without angostura is like a McDonalds without BigMacs! Shameful what it is! The Negroni was as expected, good, but the atmosphere was bumming me out.

The last place...The best one I visited. It had its flaws (explained later), but clearly a cocktail bar I can easily recommend for my friends, the Lounge24 bar at the RadissonBLU hotel, not close from the Old City. Firstly, location. A rooftop cocktail bar? Rad.

Secondly, our waitress was very proficient; I asked something out of the list (twice) and although the Japanese Slipper wasn't as good as I expected, she went through with my order with pride. I had a long chat with her later on.

But there was one flaw, pretty much their only flaw they had. Their choice of vodka I mean liquor. As many might know, Estonia's national "vodka" is Viru Valge. Let's be honest. It is not vodka by any standard. It is booze. And the cocktails that had Viru in them (such as the White Russian I ordered) weren't as good as...anyone would've expected. Booze has a sharp taste to it where proper vodka is smooth as a baby's bottom. The waitress told me that the hotel has a contract with Viru Valge so they have to use it. Fair enough no that's not cool this has to change! A place like this must be saved!

Despite all of this, I had my best experiences regarding cocktail bars at Lounge 24. When we got back home I took the time and effort and wrote a lengthy feedback at 4 am. It had to be done. I explained them pretty much everything I am telling you now. But mostly I stressed the fact that if you use quality ingredients, you make quality products. And this can be applied to everything!

Being super full of myself, I even quote a part I wrote them:

"I don't expect things to change overnight or that you even agree with me, but I sincerely hope you see my point. About the larger picture I give you feedback about."

I meant that to the fullest. Even I have underlined the fact of quality ingredients when creating cocktails in this blog (right, right??)! Always use fresh ingredients and don't settle for crappy shit!

I received an answer some days later. You know, it felt so good to read that email. Without going too much into the details, just a quick quote:

"You gave us a very serious thing to think about and we will consider if and how we can change anything about this."

 I can't tell now whether anything has happened or even will. But be assured, the next time I will visit Tallinn, you bet your ass I will visit Lounge 24 again. And if I were to see and taste a quality brand of vodka in my cocktails...

...the power of feedback can be powerful indeed.

Thanks for reading this "rant", if you may.

Celestino

PS. Any thoughts? Is giving feedback really that hard, whether positive or negative? Has anything really changed afterwards? Or is everything just in vain? I'd like to read/hear your thoughts/comments.