jakov

i have a question about tipping and am not sure whether i should ask it here. i usually have lunch at a restaurant, well, not quite a restaurant, because i have to walk up to the kitchen and order from the window. i usually carry the plate myself to the cashier and occasionally when there is a line-up and many orders have to be prepared, someone will bring the plate to where i sit after i pay my bill. they do keep the table clean and collect the empty plates. i am not sure whether i should tip at a place like i described above. oh, forgot to say it is in vancouver. they have a kind of coins cup beside the cash register; however, i would feel very embarrassed to leave some change in the cup, large or small and i feel that the cashier would also be embarrassed. could anyone advise me whether i should leave a tip? if i should, how much should i leave and where should i leave the tip, the coins cup or the table? thank you. jakov

hi everyone, i have just had dinner at pear tree and it was excellent. the nice lady with a beautiful smile welcomed me and took my umbrella. i did not have a reservation and was lucky enough to be sat in the lounge. i ordered the three courses as planned and asked about the drinks. i was given a rather long list to choose from and many of them i have never heard of. it was kind of hard to decide and i settled with ginger ale. the nice lady suggested to have some kind of juice in it and brought me a pink drink. it was tasty but i will have lemonade next time. first came the lobster cappuccino. it was surprisingly smooth and a little creamy. nice, i love it. i had the lamb shank as main course and it was perfectly prepared. i used to have a lot of chicken and beef and not much lamb. tonight’s lamb taste great but a little ‘flat’. i cannot find an exact english word for the feeling and flat is the one that i feel is close. i am not sure whether it make sense to you. since i was so full, i struggled a bit to decide whether i should have no dessert, and i gave up because crème brûlée seemed so much irresistible. it was so… so …, sorry, i have no word for this, you probably know what i mean if you had the crème brûlée at the pear tree. i had a great dinner and very enjoyable time and will certainly come back again. jakov

thank you for your reply. i would probably have a ginger ale or lemonade in case my server could not suggest anything better. i am a simple guy, a pepsi and sirloin oscar at keg would make me very happy, and hoping that i could learn some sophisticated things from the gurus on egullet. first thing i got from egullet is that pear tree is a nice place in burnaby to go and i have been living in burnaby for many years and know nothing about it. so i will try it out. jakov

i plan to dine solo at the pear tree in burnaby. after a quick search in egullet, i would like to try lobster cappuccino, lamb shank, and crème brûlée. what i am not sure of is the drink. i do not drink wine or beer and am not sure whether having a coke or a coffee would ruin the whole thing. could anyone please give me some input about drinks? thank you. jakov