LaBinnah Bistro — Restaurant in Hannibal

This post is to respond to the owner who posted his reply to my boyfriend's post (see below). I would like to provide some details as to what response we received from the staff during the dinner.

I ordered a glass of wine and got it served in a glass with imprints of someone's lips in a red lipstick - I did not say anything, just wiped it off and drank from the other side of the glass (not to cause a scene). When we informed the staff that the chicken was raw they first told us it was cooked and just looked like it wasn't because it was dark in the diner.... they brought out a flashlight and when they saw it was raw they took it back - no word of apology. A few minutes later they brought out the same plate, with the same veggies, and cut up remainder of the chicken breast re-cooked. Again no apologies and it was a different waiter drooping it off.... and literally it was a drop off as she was moving to another table. I did not say a word until a gentleman (from the post seems like Arif) approached our table stating that we did not "look" like we were happy. Only then did I spoke up about our disappointment about getting a raw chicken - which happens, we understand (my exact words) but it was outrageous that we did not receive a word of apology and got served the same chicken breast re-cooked.

So Arif, please don't try to make it sound like we were the nasty, loud mouth customers who made a scene. You kept asking what was wrong and only apologized after I pointed out that no one has done it throughout the entire diner. Then you had the balls to ask me if I wanted to leave a tip - seriously?

FYI (in case you don't know) raw chicken is a serious health hazard and experienced restaurants offer a refund, a new portion or another meal in the place of the under-cooked one.

Kevin Schultz 5 reviews a year ago Got served a raw chicken that was cold to the touch. Didn't notice until a few bites in. They went back and recooked it and put it back on the same vegetables. No apologies or anything. They pretended like it was completely normal for this to happen. 1 Response from the ownera year ago Dear Kevin,

We're very sorry that very small portion of your chicken was slightly under cooked (toward the end of it was thicker than rest of the chicken). I did apologize, and I'm apologizing now, again, but your wife said it was "done". We went ahead and cooked it more for you.

When your wife was complaining about it in a very loud manner (other tables were staring at us), I was trying to stay calm, and was apologizing, so, please don't take that as I "pretended like it was normal for this to happen".

We're all human beings, we all do minor mistakes now and then. I apologized and fixed it for you.

With Kind...

It’s our anniversary, and we were so excited to go here for brunch. We really wanted to go for dinner because the reviews are so amazing but our schedule would not allow it. So we assumed brunch menu would be just as good. Sadly, we were wrong.

First of all, we waited about 45 minutes for our food. In the main dining area where we sat, there were only five people dining, including ourselves. After about 3o minutes the server told us that there was a large group in the other room and thats why our food was taking so long. I assume they have a very small kitchen staff.

I ordered the crab tartalette and my husband ordered the west omelette. They came with two sides. A small spring salad and roasted potatoes. My husband said his food was okay… meh. Before we ordered, I had asked our cute and sweet-natured server if the crab dish was good. She said it was her favorite. I was so excited to try a dish that included my favorites, crab, mushrooms, and Gouda cheese! From the moment it was served, I was disappointed. The servings were small, with just two small tarts and small amount of sides. Maybe about 15 potato pieces, and a small salad. That was OK because the price was very reasonable, around $12. I had envisioned warm and soft tarts that oozed with flavor. Instead, they were over cooked, brown, and very very dry. I did eat one of them because after all, I was hungry. I could tell if they had not been cooked too long, they would’ve probably tasted good. Seemed like a nice balance of flavor but very very dry. One step up from cardboard.

As pictured below, I left the other one. The waitress asked what I thought, and I told her that the flavor would’ve been good, but that they were very very dry. She looked somewhat surprised, and cleared our table with no apology. We asked for a ticket, and that was that.

Outside of the food, the atmosphere of the inside dining was very interesting, but very worn out. The first table we sat at had stains on the white tablecloth, as did a few, I noticed that some of the items on the wall were dusty, and the baseboards along the floor were pretty dirty. We moved to another table, and the tablecloth was OK there. But all the fancy seat coverings which probably looked wonderful a long time ago, were thread bare, and very slouchy. It’s a shame, because the place has a lot of character. The place definitely needs some new linens, seat covers, and a really good cleaning and paint job. I did enjoy walking around and looking at the art on the walls.

On a positive note, the restroom was...

We traveled from our home, down to Los Angeles, then onto my hometown in SE Iowa and this was a stop over. It was the third and final night of our trip. We had been to some of the top Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurants in Los Angeles, plus we know how to make the food we ordered. This was not priced any differently than L.A. but the food was sorely lacking. We ordered the chicken tangine and the chicken skewers along with the combo mezze appetizer. No wine, no dessert and with tip we “wasted” $100 dollars. The old home restaurant left a lot to be desired. Restaurant wasn’t busy. It took 15 minutes to take our order, another 25 minutes to receive appetizers. Literally given 2 tablespoons to 1/3 cup of each (for $18). The baba-ganoush and the other appetizers, which one was only pieces of walnut, tomato & onion. The baba-ganoush had barely enough eggplant mixed with yogurt(?). They must have run out of tahini sauce and garlic. I asked my husband where was the babaganoush and he said “you just ate it!” I actually said, “you’re kidding me, right?” It took an additional 40 minutes to bring out our entrees because they must have had to chase my chicken down first. Hubby said his tangine was just “ok”. While my chicken skewers must have come from the sprinting, emaciated chicken; no flavor, no salt, nothing worth a 1-star rating. Both skewers together were less than half of the amount I would have received at a similar restaurant for less or equal price. The rice tasted undercooked and not the best quality. I think they added turmeric & chicken bouillon (Magi) to season it? I need to bring their chef into my kitchen for some cooking lessons. I wanted to pass a note to the couple who sat beside us as we finished, to tell them to run before it was too late. My husband and I have a name for restaurants like this. We call them FLO. (F)IRST-(L)AST-(O)NLY time we’ll eat there. And please dear owner of the restaurant, don’t bother with the “we will strive to do better next time! For us, there WON’T be a next time. I’ve already read the reviews and so far you haven’t corrected the deficiencies I read about...