Zorba — Restaurant in Leuven

Ik kan deze review in het Nederlands schrijven maar ik ga het in het Engels doen gewoonweg omdat de ervaring dermate slecht was en ik bijgevolg zo veel mogelijk mensen wil waarschuwen voor deze afgrijselijke ervaring.

I could have written this review in Dutch but I feel the need to warn as many people as possible.

I usually give only good reviews or no reviews at all, unless the experience is so negative that I feel compelled to do so.

Zorba (Heverlee) was the absolute worst dining experience I have had in my life.

The big boss, “Bibis” is completely burnt out and has absolutely no interest in hospitality or politeness, but rather in rudely seating you and writing down your order. When asked a simple question about their English menu (we did not ask) which is also the placemat, he responded “you will eat it as it comes”. It is clear that none of the staff have good knowledge of Dutch or English as communication is very difficult. (I see about the silence in your reply, you agree)

Secondly, we ordered a Greek mojito which was described to contain fresh basil, lemon, lime and mint. We received a glass of the cheapest sugary pre-mix with one wedge of lemon and one brown mint leaf. So technically it has all the ingredients but you will taste nothing but artificial flavor and cheap sugar, whoever calls that a mojito should lose their liquor license. We left the entire glass after a little sip at the side of the table. When we called the waiter, we showed him the drink and said we will order beer instead because it was quite undrinkable. He just nodded and brought the beers.. again probably the complete lack of the local languages or complete indifference maybe a bit if of both.

Thirdly, the lamb chops were ordered rare, but they arrived well done and dried out. We left half of the order to show the waiter the dried out meat. When they were clearing the table he again just nodded at our complaint and left with the plates.

Fourthly, one of the guests was vegan and their salad of 19.50€ came 10 minutes after all the other dishes (which were hot). Leaving her to wait uncomfortably, and when it arrived it was simply tomatoes chopped in 4 quarters with an excessive amount of oil, and some olives and onions. All of their dishes include fries/salad, so we asked for some extra fries as the vegan salad was so little. They charged 4€ extra for those fries and sauce. This made the miniature vegan salad to be the most expensive dish on the bill. Pathetic scamming.

When presented the bill, I highlighted all the above again and asked if that was normal. Indeed, I was told to complain at the moment. I guess complaining in Dutch, Flemish or English to their staff is not valid because they just nod at you and leave, and sorry I don’t speak Greek. The artificial sugary garbage in a glass that you call mojito was still full in the glass and I showed it to you. Then you told me again “I should have complained at the moment” which we actually did multiple times (the rude boss “Bibis” who doesn’t understand/speak a word of Dutch/Flemish/English like most of your staff, the bad drink, the late and minimalistic salad…).

Then when I said I did not feel comfortable paying for a mojito we did not drink and complained about, you indeed said very ostentatiously that I had to pay every last cent or you would call the police. Of course I would not engage with such incredibly rude, unprofessional and ridiculous behavior. I paid your bill and left (I even left you 1€ tip) because I would not waste another minute of my evening on such a greedy unprofessional disgusting excuse for a restaurant.

You can see from my other reviews that I am no stranger to restaurants of all kinds (from a local frituur to a 3 michelin) and I am usually very positive about the experiences. Do you really think I would return to this nightmare?

In conclusion: Avoid this place...

Placed an order, they brought something else. I admit I started eating it (my fault, I was hungry) when the apparent boss came and told me (like in ‘Seinfeld’) “that was not for you”. They were about to drop a second plate on my table (and charge me for it), which was my original order. During this whole process I had conversations with four successive waiters, one more incompetent and confused than the other. It was never clear who serves me and what they had to do. E g they brought bread and some unidentified spread, but no plate to work on it. When I asked for a plate, after some explanations, I got what the guys from the next table had, that is a plate for bread. I found the experience mizerable and humiliating. Nobody said “sorry” for the error, perhaps in Greek culture real men do not take resposibility. Something needs to happen to this place, and I am not suggesting anything else but training of their staff. Hope this helps.

Note: I am adding this comment after I saw the response of the owner. The person who claimed to be the owner came only at the end and did not see the previous scenes. It was not a single student waiter, it was a string of waiters, some quite experienced. Nobody ever apologized for what happened. The above description is accurate, and this is my first negative review ever. It is fully deserved by this business. About taking responsibility: the answer below is further proof that nobody is willing to accept any form of criticism or feedback. Furthermore, this response is a very accurate measure of the atmosphere in this restaurant, check it out and you will experience it...

Zorba is a wonderfully kitschy Greek restaurant.

Let me tell you how wrong we were when we thought one starter platter wouldn't be enough! 🤣 Turns out it totally was because our mains were HUGE portions that were so delicious, you almost couldn't stop. And to top it all off, we had tiny cups of Greek coffee and baclava just dripping with syrup and nuts. The vanilla ice cream they served with it actually help cut the sweetness some.

Our waiter was super sweet and attentive without hovering. Although we did have a bit of a wait between courses. But I definitely...