Mambo — Restaurant in Municipality of Paxos

Service 0/5

Absolutely shocking experience.

We came in for dinner. The woman who took the order was very friendly.

We had the prawn main dish as a starter to share. My husband cleaned them and we had two each. My first was fine, the second had a really funny taste. Slightly chemical? Hard to explain, but just tasted funny. My husband finished his second and said, hmm, something was slightly odd about the taste of those. And i said, yes, same for my second prawn. We'd both had the exact same thought but couldn't quite work out what it was.

We were both very hungry and then had the salad which came with it. The prawns were cooked, we weren't worried about that. And to be honest neither of us quite knew the issue.

The second waitress (brown hair) came and took the plate away and asked if everything was ok. My husband took the opportunity to say the prawns had a funny taste, and I said for me it was my second prawn, ie the first was ok. He was polite and friendly about it. She had asked a question, and he gave an honest response. The waitress then said "well this is the first time anyone has said that." Strange thing to say. Does that mean we're wrong? My husband said we'd had prawns many times, in fact the same dish two nights ago down the street. He said he wasn't looking to complain or anything, but wanted to give feedback. It was very awkward her response to his feedback. She was defensive, and pretty much ignored us after that.

The bill came and I paid when my husband was in the bathroom. He came out and asked if we'd been charged for the prawns, The first waitress, who again was very friendly, seemed a little confused, and said yes we had been. We had eaten them so she didn't know or think we'd had a problem. She said if we had an issue, why eat them and say nothing? Fair question.

My husband explained we had told the other waitress, who was standing nearby, that we'd both felt they tasted funny when she cleared our plates. Presumably the second waitress hadn't passed our feedback on and dismissed it straight away.

The second waitress then instigated a defensive barrage of arguments at us:

the chef said you cleared your plate so there was no problem You had four or five prawns, why keep eating them? If there's an issue, you take a bite, and then say there's a problem. You don't eat them all and then do it later. It makes no sense.

I interjected - we had four prawns. That's two each. My first was fine. My second was not. I ate all my prawns because that's like four mouthfuls. I didn't know until the final one it was funny. It also wasn't "uncooked" or something so awful we couldn't eat it. We literally told her they had a funny taste when she asked if everything was ok. Why ask otherwise?

She proceeded to say, you ate them, therefore it doesn't make sense.

I said, you're basically saying we're lying. That customer service is terrible.

In the meantime, the first waitress (or owner?) had gone straight to refund us whilst the other woman was intent on arguing and telling us why we were wrong. When she came back, my husband suggested half as a compromise because yes we did eat them, but she said no and gave us the lot back in cash anyway. It's such a shame we hadn't just spoken to this woman the entire time.

The problem entirely was the second waitress' attitude and how she dealt with this. And it was very bad. Don't argue with your customers, dismiss what was just feedback, and say what they're saying doesn't make sense.

We both walked away very angry and disappointed in the whole experience. It wasn't even about the money back, but it became about that because the feedback was totally dismissed.

I'd love to review the rest of our meal and wine, which was good, but sadly this tainted the whole...

We booked in advance as the restuarant is always busy. Lovely location on the harbour front away from the very busy square, less excited kids! and you overlook the yachts and people promonading. The staff are all lovely ladies, reserved but helpful no hassling to buy expensive dishes or pushing expensive bottles of wine. They are very polished in presentation and service. We had 2 starters, saganaki and courgette fritters with yoghurt neither were very special being underseasoned. The mains were liver and mousakka. Again, a lack of herbs and seasoning we are used to liver being in strips and fried with lots of rosemary but this was a slab of calves liver which was a little underdone ( for our taste), but tasted well except NO HERBS. My mousaka was also a large portion, but hardly any meat in it and no hint of herbs or cinnamon. The house wine was very resonable a 1/2 litre rose just 7 euros. Unfortunately there was a sizeable overcharge on the bill, however this was quickly addressed so im sure just a human error on a hot and busy night. Just one more thi g the main course was presethe moment we finished our starter which was a bit overwhelming, we like a nice break betwen courses but you cant ease everyone! Maybe just the dishes we chose but a bit disappointing. Definitely a good location and good service but maybd try the pastas, mussels and...

Very very pleasantly surprised today while having lunch here. We were not super hungry so we kept it simple and ordered just a Greek salad and Prawns Saganaki, accompanied by a couple of beers. The friendly staff brought us 2 I ice cold beers very quick, and shortly after we got our meals as well. Greek salad was delicious - all the ingredients were very fresh and veggies tasty and crunchy, but the star of the show was definitely the Prawn Saganaki. I've discovered Saganaki only on our third visit to Greece. We've had it in a few places and when we thought we found a version that it's hard to beat we actually found a version that it completely levels up everything else we've had so before. Probably tastyest prawns I've ever had - sweet, with a hint of salt, and deliciously "prawny". The sauce was very well balanced, it wasn't bitter or sour like in other places we had - simply perfect! If I would be staying on Paxos I would probably eat here every day! Prices are quite average, Greek salad was 8€ and the Prawn Saganaki 15€. Thank you for the wonderful gurmet...