Morning friends..
Kenny, Annemarie and I Met Ruth and Ken here Saturday night.
I have heard only wonderful things about this restaurant and was really wanting to try it.
Apparently there was someone that posted something questionable so I wanted to put this on here right away....
We were late..I have no problem adjusting to island time..haha
Ken and Ruth were already seated and waiting for us...
The server immediately stopped by for drink orders and brought them right away.
I will say...we were drinking water and they kept our glasses full without us even asking!

We were not ready to order right away, but the server was at our table 3 times to take our order...bless her heart...haha. She was very patient.
When we finally order..our fault not hers..she did not keep us waiting...
We ordered and the appetizers came within a reasonable (really..this time is based on what an american is used to waiting at an upscale american restaurant)
The Conch fritters were very tasty and they came with a dipping sauce that was a little spicy and tangy. I do not really eat fish but it was good. Kenny really liked it!

We had time for appetizers and our food arrived very promptly..
I ordered the vegetarian pasta with Alfredo sauce. I still have some in the fridge. It was so good and it was a very large serving.
When our dinner was being served...the manager/owner (do not know) stopped by the table and chatted. Very funny knowledgeable fellow.
It was very sweet of him to stop over and really talk to us.

Kenny got a Mahi Mahi...blackened or something like that..it was very good. I had a bite and couldn't believe I liked it! ha, It was Unbelievable!

Annemarie wanted a Ceaser Salad..This is not an American salad. It had anchovy dressing. This did not sit well with her, haha. I don't blame her.
The server very sweetly replaced it with a garden salad and she munched on that.



The priced of the dinners was very acceptable. It is a slightly upscale establishment. The service and the quality of the food made the prices VERY acceptable!
It was not overly expensive..I think Ken's Mahi Mahi was 22 american or so...not bad. (did I mention it was very fresh and yummy!)
The salad was pretty small and I think a little too high in price... but that is not what people usually order I think...

I was a beautiful first night on the island with wonderful new friends.
I highly recommend Unbelievable. The service was better than most I have experienced on the island when you compare it to american standards.
I should say here that I am not slamming anybody else...I always expect to wait because it is a different way here...we did not wait at Unbelievable at all!

It was Unbelievable!

I Agree Unbelievable is Unbelievable. My wife and I ate there 4 times during our 2 week stay and enjoyed every meal. This has become our new great place to eat on the island. The service great and the food ever better! We will be back next July.

I second Kristi's post! Food was excellent and service was prompt and attentive throughout the whole night.

My Ken had an appetizer of the cerviche which was delicious. (Me, a non-fish eater saying that should say A LOT!!!) I had the conch fritters too and loved them. For our main meal, I had the special of rib-eye steak and it was grilled to perfection. Melt in your mouth, and the flavor was oh so good! Ken had the seafood mixed grill and said that it was good as well. For dessert I had the chocolate cake (highly recommend for any chocoholics out there) and Ken had the cheese cake which was drizzled with a strawberry sauce. It had a graham cracker crust and was delicious.

We will be going back on our next trip. It was that good!

(Kristi - you guys will just have to meet us back there We loved the time we spent together! It was the perfect way to end a glorious week on Bon!)

(Message edited by ruth0531 on August 3, 2009)

So glad to see your post. I loved it too! Can't wait to return next year.

I would agree. We had a great experience at Unbelievable in January. And they did a great job with the decor.

Mhmmm another place we might need to try in November !

Ok - it looks like tat will be one of our stops in September..... sounds yummy!

Looks like I'm going to have to personally check this out...next week

Please do and let us know if we should follow suit, the week after. Or better yet, why don't we meet there and check it out together. I'll let you write the review!

Leo and Vince..it is a must..wonderful! Worth the time and money spent!
The service was Unbelievable! haha

Leo.. Sounds like a plan. I sent you a PM several days ago. Since I never got a response, did you get it?

Vince, I didn't and I am checking now to see where it ended up in inbox folders.

Been there a few times last year & liked it. We'll be there again next month. Take a look inside downstairs.

T-Shirt Divers John and Sue - thanks for the message - YGM too -

Carl, I don't think I received your message, Sue

Finally getting around to posting the pix of our dinners...at least Kristi's, Ken's and mine...

Krispi had the Vegetarian Pasta


Ken (my Ken )had the Mixed Seafood Grill


and I had the Rib-eye special


Everything was UNBELIEVABLE!

And just for good measure, here we are on the terrace, one more time! It really was a great evening!

I had pop tarts for breakfast and you post a photo of a steak?!?!?! Man...I'm hungry!

Tribs it was damn good steak too!

Good morning everybody,
As a waitress at Unbelievable, first of all THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR GREAT COMMENTS AND MESSAGES, but I'm sending this message so that everybody knows what is happening.

Yesterday night (08-08-09) my colleague had a client that was a bit disturbing. Why?
At the beginning when my colleague took the orders of this client(a man) with his wife, my colleague asked these clients twice if the orders are correct and they told my colleague that the orders are correct. They ordered a seafood mix grill and a papiyote fish. Everything was going perfect.

But when the dinner came at the table, the client told my colleague that the meal came wrong. That he didn't ordered the papiyote fish, but the popier fish, so my colleague asked the client if he wants to change his meal, he said it's okay, he will eat the papiyote fish.

Ten minutes later my colleague went to the table to ask them if everything was alright and they told him the food was good.

When they finished their meal, my colleague asked them if they wanted dessert and the client told him that he wanted the check.

So I as a waitress brought the check and when he opened the check, he's asking why is there 15% service charge on his bill, if he got the wrong meal?

I told him that the 15% is written on the menu and he didn't want to change the meal when we asked him. That he ate every bit of his meal and didn't even argue about it. If he didn't want to pay the service charge, he could talk to the owner.

And so he did and because the owner didn't want any problems with this client, the owner got rid of the 15% and the client only paid for their dinner. When they stood up, he told my colleague that GUESTS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT.

In my opinion everybody makes mistakes and I think these kinds of people should stay home.

Let's leave names out of this please, you would not like your name posted in a negative way. I as a waitress at Unbelievable wrote this message, because he told us that he will write wrong things about this restaurant and I just wanted to let everybody know what was happening at Unbelievable Restaurant.

Because it is Unbelievable what had happened.
And I want to thank you all for your support and if anyone could just give me an answer on this question.
What do you people think about this situation and these kinds of people? Is it fair to do these kinds of things in a restaurant?


(Message edited by modfreddie on August 9, 2009)

Ushka, I agree that the customer's behavior, as described by you above, was bad.

However, I think it is wrong to state that people like him should stay home. The way you stated it, it sounds that every one who makes mistake should stay home. Well, that leaves the Pope -- some people (certainly not me) think he is infallible. Can Bonaire survive with the Pope as its sole customer?

If you do not like serving people like this, perhaps you should consider a different employment. Or turning the restaurant into an exclusive club, with pre-screened members who would undergo extensive psychometric evaluations prior to admission.

I was making plans to come to Unbelievable with friends next week for dinner. Your pre-emptive strike above has certainly turned-me off.

USHKA, THANK YOU FOR TELLING THIS SIDE OF THE STORY.

LEO, I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOUR THOUGHTS. WAS IT YOU. NO SO WHY DON'T YOU WAIT AND FIND OUT YOURSELF. INSTEAD OF COMING ON HERE AND ATTACKING SOMEBODY WHO IS POSTING WHAT HAPPENED. I PERSONALLY LIKE TO KNOW THESE THINGS FIRST HAND THEN I CAN MAKE A MEASURED DECISION ON WHAT I BELIEVE AFTER I HAD A MEAL THERE.

Leo, I didn't mean it like that. The client knew what he was doing. And everybody is welcome anywhere and everywhere. Everybody had good comments and we had also bad comments. And we try to fix everything so that everybody stays happy and have a great service

Patrick, calm down. No need for yelling. We can keep this a civilized discussion.

Ushka is posting a message, naming a person who's not part of the BT community. I don't think it is right to speak behind someone's back.

Ushka is asking us about what is fair, while she is being unfair herself. Consider this: on the basis that the customer accepted to eat the meal, even if it was the wrong one, Ushka feels justified to assume that the restaurant owned no gesture of good will to the customer. However, Ushka's logic misses two critical points:

(a) the customer did not want to wait for the correct order to be prepared; perhaps the customer was hungry or had to go to bed early.

(b) under what circumstances would the restaurant had extended some good will gesture toward the customer? If the customer had agreed to wait for the correct order to be prepared then, Ushka's logic would dictate, that the service charge would have been justified.

As for myself and the restaurant: I was salivating with lively anticipation, after the reviews I've seen here and made plans to have dinner there on 8/18. I found, however, Ushka's pre-emptive strike a bit too tact-less for my taste.

I think that it would have been more tactful, and would have reflected better on the restaurant that Ushka represents, if she waited for the customer to post his review first and then responded to it at the appropriate forum.

leo, as the saying goes, "the best defense is a good offense". i'm guessing ushka knows there may be some unfavorable postings coming soon on BT and wanted to get her side of the story out first instead of waiting for a bad post about unbelievable and then playing catch-up to defend the restaurant. if the customer was dissatisfied then the meal should have been returned. if it wasn't returned and (acccording to ushka's OP) was finished completely, then the customer should have paid the bill without complaint.

i have eaten at a restaurant (not on bonaire) where i ordered a steak medium and it was served medium-well. not a big problem, it was still edible, not dry. i mentioned it to the waitress so she could inform the kitchen that they were over-cooking the medium steaks. she asked if i wanted to return it and i said no. when the bill came, one of our friends who was eating with us told the waitress that i should have been offered at least a free dessert. i told my friend that i didn't want a free dessert, that the food was fine, and that i was a big boy and didn't need someone else to register complaints for me. we paid the bill, including about a 20% tip and left. and i have eaten there since.

ushka is right, mistakes happen. and maybe if the customer hadn't threatened to post "wrong things" about the restaurant she wouldn't have posted this to begin with.

o.k leo your right I should have waited, but I was afraid that things will go very bad if the client wrote bad things about it

Pat, if the customer is question does not post a review here (or elsewhere), then Unbelievable would be the first restaurant to have posted a pre-emptive customer review. Not sure if this is a distinction worth having in the service industry.

Bringing the wrong entree is a mistake. Even if the customer accepts the entree, even if the entree is delicious, it doesn't take away the fact that there was a mistake. My attitude, Pat, would have been very similar to yours. If it's good, I would have eaten it and I would not had expected any gestures of good will from the restaurant, though I would have noticed their commitment to high quality customer service if they offered any such gesture.

Here, however, we have a totally different scenario: we have a restaurant employee attacking a customer behind his back (to the best of my knowledge, the customer is not a member of BT). That, to me, is impolite, uncalled for, and unacceptable.

I don't expect any restaurant in Bonaire to show extremely high quality of customer service. I don't expect that from most restaurants I patronize here in Chicago. But the last thing I would expect from any restaurant is a lecture about their obligation, or lack thereof, to accept responsibility for their mistakes.

Attack is your best defense, when applied to your competitors. When directed toward your customers it only shows that you have left the services industry and joined the Greek Postal Service.

Hi Ushka and Welcome to BT. Most of the folks who post here are from the USA, just wanted to put that out there as it is common in the states for folks to tip anywhere from 15-20% for dinner depending on food quality and service, some even tip more. I fall in the 15-20% range as Pat said.

I am sorry you had a bad experience with a customer last night. I'm sure it isn't the first time nor will it be the last. Just the way it is in the restaurant business. Sounds like that guy was looking for something for nothing going on what you said. Yes, mistakes happen, I was there last night too, you are an excellent waitress and most charming. Try not to take things to heart too much. I know it's hard, I do it too.

I do have a question though, if you don't mind. We have been coming to your restaurant since it opened and enjoyed many a good meal there. My question: Has the 15% service charge always been on the menu? Is this something new as I don't remember it being that much of a service charge in June when I was there. It is the highest service charge I have seen on Bonaire. I totally understand having a service charge, it is not nice getting stiffed on a bill and I'm sure the owners want to keep their wait staff happy. I have been a waitress many many years, not now, but know how it is. You depend on that money to live on.

Anyway, with 15% service charge being made mandatory on a bill thus creates customers expecting more for their money. Why? I have no idea, but from the places I worked for the higher the service charge, the harder the wait staff has to work as then the customer no longer has the "choice" of tipping what they feel appropriate or what they can afford. It is like a jelly roll effect. I used to have customers (retired couple) who could not afford to tip the "normal" amount, but were so sweet and a joy to serve. They tipped what they could and I had no problem with that. I am thinking you may be turning some folks away with that high service charge on Bonaire. Here in the states, it is quite normal at restaurants, but I was a little taken when I saw it here on Bonaire. It is usually about 10% on island where I have been too and a lot of place charge none. Maybe something to think about?

Now, that has maybe a little to do with that guy, I don't know. He could be just a jerk or having a bad night and took it out on the wait staff. Either way, your restaurant should do fine. Great location and wonderful decor. Don't let one bad apple upset you, it is not worth it. Some folks like to just shout and stamp and say bad things. That doesn't mean they will follow through with them either. Food for thought.

Debbie, is it necessary to add insult to the injury?

that guy was looking for something for nothing [...] He could be just a jerk or having a bad night and took it out on the wait staff [...]

Between this and the airport parking issues I am gonna get a good tan today!!!

Leo, life isn't always fair. And fair isn't always equal.

Leo, that is the norm in the garden state where I dine, yes, place like the Outback or such do not, bu fine dining places do.

I also am not arriving at conclusions, just putting possibilities out there. Seems from what I heard, the wait staff tried to fix the mistake promptly. Strange all was good till the end. I saw the 15% service charge when I read the menu and also the bill, my choice to eat there knowing it is there, good or bad service, risk you take when manadatory service charge is there in my honest opinion. Trying to get out of paying something that you knew was mandatory for such a slight mistake doesn't make sense, to you it does, Leo, to me it does not. If they had not promptly offered to fix the mistake, then one would talk to the manager. I will agree to disagree and leave it at that.

I am off to go enjoy some diving.

Have a great day, Leo.

ugh...Ursula, welcome to Bonaire Talk. I can see why Ursula posted, in the past, a poster that feels they got bad service posts (and it's usually their first post) and it can really have a negative effect on the Restaurant's business (as we all know, it's happened many times on BT). So, that said, I think as Pat said, she was trying to take action prior to a possible bashing.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

debbie, one of the reasons i tip 20% is because of my poor math skills...it's easier to figure it out.

tink...you know what they say about opinions....

ok...time to get a margarita and sit in the sun.

Debbie, I did not say that it makes sense to me to ask for a service charge waiver under the circumstances. I said that the customer had every right to ask for one, considering that the only remedy the restaurant offered was at the customer's time (ie to wait for a new order to be prepared). And the restaurant, ultimately, agreed with the customer!

There is another fine detail in this story. Ushka knew the customer's full name, down to his middle initial. Did she lift it from a credit card slip? If so, what does this tell you about the trustworthiness of the establishment?

Tink, the only person who should take any action about this incident is the owner of the restaurant, not a waitress who was indirectly involved. I have not been to Unbelievable and I don't know who Ushka is and what's her role in that business. She introduced herself as a waitress not the owner. And, until now, business owners found it wise to respond to criticism rather than to preempt it by attacking the customer behind his back. Perhaps Ushka is ushering us into a new era of customer service.

PATRICK THE ONLY ONE ALLOWED TO YELL ON THREADS OTHER THAN CC IS THE MODERATORS!!! and your post was removed because it was rude, really rude, now cut it out!!

(Message edited by modfreddie on August 9, 2009)

(Message edited by modfreddie on August 9, 2009)

Patrick, thank you for your thoughtful and eloquent contribution to the discussion.

Since Krispi and Ruth started this discussion, let me hopefully just end it with: we had a great dinner, with some really great people, and great service with a 15% service charge that we actually added to.

lets kill it for now

I would love to know what type of fish a papiyote, and popier are.

I don't see them on the Bonaire Fish List
Bonaire Fish Cross Reference

I assume, and you know what that means,,,, that it is the way the fish is prepared or the sauce that it is served with Timmmy.. havne't googled it yet so not sure..

I don't know either, as I was there last night and was told the fish choices were Mahi Mahi, WaHoo, or tuna, so maybe a local name for any one of the above, Timmmy?

I had the Mahi Mahi, which was good, it was served with garlic butter sauce. Now, my fish was included in the seafood combo entree, there were some other dishes with sauces that had names I am not familiar with.

Ken, we added to it too. Folks should also be aware that the 15% is added in guilders, not US.

Ahhhh Yah Freddie thanks

Maybe Papiyote is Papillote or " fish cooked in parchment paper " with lemon, garlic, capers & EVOO.

and popier is fish chunks or " poppers "


Just a guess but Inquiring minds .... sitting in lawn chairs

Debbie - Delicious I'll bet !


Wahoo = Mulatu or Mulá
Black fin tuna = Buní Pretu
Yellow fin tuna = Buní Rabu Hél
Dolphin Mahi Mahi = Dorado


See link above for larger list

(Message edited by muddysoapfish on August 9, 2009)

Kristi - glad you made it home safe -

It seems as though papiyote fish is fish in parchment (although spelled somewhat differently). The popier fish, I haven't found.
Mick
Where's Jerry?

Timmy, please post that in food and wine.

You got it Skip -

Take me there now!

Patrick.. you are going on ad on and on just like those people that you accuse.. Please stop before I must act on it,,,

(Message edited by modfreddie on August 10, 2009)

That's ok Patrick, I didn't think your message was rude either.

I assume that you have no issue with what I say. Otherwise you would have participated in the discussion. You are a successful owner of a diving business and I am sure that you can present your arguments in a thoughtful and respectful manner if you disagreed with something.

Of course you can always proceed to the next message if you do not wish to participate in the discussion.

Otherwise the only possible explanation is that you have a issue with me as a person. Since we do not know each other and we have never met, I cannot imagine what that issue may be. Is it because I am a "foreigner"? It is because I exercise my right to participate in discussions here, under the rules of the forum?

What exactly is the issue? Why would you chose to attack the person instead of that person's ideas?

Ok boys and girls, that's it for this thread. Say good night and let it rest in pease.

It's now closed. Move on and enjoy.