DDC Dinner at Beawon Korean

[Rich Pawlak]

Huge kudos to Herb "herbacidal" Lau for hosting and executing (without a firing squad) a terrific Korean repast for the Dangerous Dining Club at Beawon in Cherry Hill last night.

Item for item the menu ROCKED, from 3 kinds of seaweed salad to killer kimchee to a proper rendition of bulgogi, the often-ruined marinated beef dish. Awesome sweet and spicy chicken, as well as an equally, but differently piquant seafood melange, my favorite dish of the night. Expert veggie pancakes and dumplings as well.

All in all a screamin good deal at a very good place. Y'all missed a good gathering.

[KatieLoeb]

Too bad you missed the circus with management after everyone left. There was suddenly a written contract produced that had never existed before and they attempted to extort more money from us in the guise of tax and tip that was supposed to be inclusive, as it has always been for every other DDC dinner we've ever arranged. The banquet manager, who was not present, clearly didn't have as good a grasp on the English language as she claimed to, and conveniently forgot that the $30/person price she negotiated with Herb was supposed to be inclusive. They also charged Herb for the no-shows out of his own pocket.

Anyone that was rude enough to RSVP and cancel with less than 48 hours notice or simply not show up owes Herb some money. It's not fair to make the host pay for you if you didn't make it for whatever reason.

I thought the dinner was great. The aftermath left an exceedingly bad taste in my mouth. As a restaurant professional, I was appalled at the lack of consideration and lack of professionalism shown to us by Beawon. I think they owe Herb an apology and a refund of the money he put out on his own.

[philadining]

Well, that sounds like an ugly situation. But it seems to me that the argument is with the no-shows, isn't it? Written contract or no, if one arranges a dinner for, say, 50 people, and only 40 show up, that's not the restaurant's fault, is it?

I'm sure the restaurant could have handled it better, but if they prepared food for the pre-arranged number, I'm not sure they're so out of line to expect to be paid for that number of covers. Of course the tax and tip thing is a different problem, and probably should have been in writing somewhere. I don't know how things are usually done for these dinners, but this might be a good lesson to always get something in writing, including a no-show policy.

That said, I think Katie's right, those who RSVP-ed yes and didn't show, owe Herb money.

[I_call_the_duck]

I see your point, philadining, and I think it was the tax and tip that was the biggest blow. We were there for two hours after everyone left, going around in circles playing "yes you did" "no you didn't". It was just so tiring after awhile.

I do think those who didn't come should cough up their money. No fair making Herb pay.

[Capaneus]

I see your point, philadining, and I think it was the tax and tip that was the biggest blow. We were there for two hours after everyone left, going around in circles playing "yes you did" "no you didn't".    It was just so tiring after awhile.

I do think those who didn't come should cough up their money.  No fair making Herb pay.

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Yes.

Although Herb has no obligation to pay this unless it was something he specifically agreed to, and should certainly challenge the charge with his credit card company.

[marinade]

I see your point, philadining, and I think it was the tax and tip that was the biggest blow. We were there for two hours after everyone left, going around in circles playing "yes you did" "no you didn't".    It was just so tiring after awhile.

I do think those who didn't come should cough up their money.  No fair making Herb pay.

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I went through a similiar situation with no shows and last minute cancellations for two of the dinners I hosted. I was sold out early on and even started a waiting list, yet on top of that I still had holes after I negotiated with the restaurant to jam in more seats. I even sent confirmations to the attendees. It's not fair to the restuarant, the host, and the folks who would have come if there was room. These type of events are fueled by trust and the for the most part do work fine on that.

As far as the final cost of the event - get confirming snail or email fom the restaurant with a cut-off date for the market order. I wouldn't host an event without it even if the restauranteur is my long time friend.

Jim

Edited February 27, 2007 by marinade (log)

[KatieLoeb]

This was truly the most exhausting waste of time I'd ever experienced. The amount of ill will generated by the restaurant over a relatively small amount of money was not a balanced equation. And Herb should absolutely dispute the credit card charge. The restaurant doesn't have a leg to stand on legally. There was a written contract, but it didn't appear until after the event and had NO signature from Herb on it. It was extortion plain and simple, and based on their error/lack of understanding, not ours. At one point I suggested they call the Cherry Hill Police Department and have us loaded into a paddy wagon for theft of services to see how far that would get them. The entire situation was preposterous.

Note to future DDC hosts. NEVER make arrangements without making sure everyone is literally speaking the same language and that all costs per person are inclusive and that there are no hidden minimums or any other surprises that might rear their ugly heads after everyone else has left the party.

[brucedelta]

Well this was my first attendance at a DDC event or any bricks and morter eGullet event. I wanted to finally put some faces with names and meet some of the people who I have read for some time now. I very much enjoyed meeting the people I got to talk with last night and hope to attend another event soon.

Finding out about the fiasco at the end puts quite a downer on the event, as I am certainly never going to visit Baewon again, and they are local for me. I guess I am in some small way glad I walked out with Rich & Robin before this all went down.

It is still not clear to me if management or Herb ended up prevailing in the tax/tip dispute.

It is clear to me that I owe Herb money, as I RSVP'ed for my wife and I. She ended up deciding she was needed at work and asked if I would mind if she skipped dinner and stayed late at work. (Coincindently and with no prior communications we both pulled into our driveway at the same time, so she did stay fairly late)

In any case I did not give a second thought to her deciding not to go. Based on my experience organizing these types of events the establishment understands that the count can vary and I have always found them to be very accomodating. I have some experience as I am attending a dinner on thursday where for the first time in 8 years I am not hosting, but in the past I always discussed with the establishment what I expected for attendance. They also understood that these were people I knew from the internet and I had no commitment other than the email replay that they wanted to attend. It has never been a problem and most restaurants are glad when someone brings a crowd in on a normally slow evening. With that perspective I did not think that her not attending was a big deal, and I appologize to Herb for causing any kind of problem.

I have no knowledge of what prior arrangements or contracts/payments may have been made so I could easily be speaking out of place or not understanding the situation.

I have no idea how many no-shows there were, but clearly the table did not look like it had a large amount of wasted food at the end.

My wife even joked about why I did not bring her home something and I told her it was a buffet, so I did not bother, but clearly I should have.

I will contact you Herb to arrange to get the money to you for her no-show.

-- Bruce

[KatieLoeb]

Bruce:

It was a pleasure meeting you as well. My rant wasn't directed at you (or indeed any specific member of the no-show contingent. I didn't even realize your wife was going to join us at any point), but more how silly it was for the restaurant to be arguing with us over a relatively small amount of money, and the ill will they generated after what was clearly a completely successful event from everyone's standpoint. The dinner was excellent, the service quite efficient. I wouldn't dissuade you from going back to Beawon at all, in fact I'd encourage you to go back and tell them you were one of the attendees at the DDC dinner, so they understand the full impact of their idiocy. Leaving low level employees with no authority in charge of a special event is just bad business. The person Herb dealt with who was the source of the misunderstanding wasn't on the premises for our event. That's just poor planning on their part. Suddenly producing a "contract" after the event, is bad business. I think the restaurant is some of the best Korean food I've had in the area. I will certainly go back to dine a la carte in the dining room. But it'll be a cold day in hell before I'd try to arrange a banquet or special event there ever again after our experience last night.

I'm certain Herb will be happy to hear from you regarding your wife's cancellation. It's a shame she couldn't make it. It was a great dinner up until we tried to pay and leave.

[Rich Pawlak]

Well, it was bound to happen.

Prior to Monday night, this had never happened in either of the two incarnations of the DDC. At any event that I have ever hosted, or have helped to host, I have never agreed to a minumum number, and always prepared the restaurant for a few no-shows. And, invariably, there have always been no-shows, and never enough to trigger any sneaky stuff from a restaurant. Dirty pool by the staff of Baewon.

When I heve ever arranged DDC gatherings I have always used the phrase "we average 30-50 people or so for these things, but I will give you a final number by this date..." and when I've phoned in the final RSVP number, I've always added that "there could be a couple of no-shows, or a couple of additions, it's that kind of group, but we'll be at that number." Never ever signed a contract either, never been asked to. And when I collect all the money, I hand it over to the restaurant immediately, so we can eat in peace.

That's not to say that Herb didnt get royally screwed. And he has every right to ask for the money from the rude no-shows.

I now wish we hadnt left so quickly. I think the twins may have helped our cause had we stayed a few cranky minutes more.

[brucedelta]

Katie,

I did not take your rant as directed at me, and actually I have no idea how many no shows there were. I am assuming more than 1 or the restaurant is more idiotic than I could imagine.

I think Rich put my expectations into words well (I guess that is why he is a pro). Whenever I have been involved in these type things the restaurant usually has an expectation of about x people. I will pay Herb because he should not be out of pocket and it is the right thing to do.

On the other hand I stand by my statement of never going back there. If management is so silly that such an incident should have occured then they do not deserve my patronage. Maybe they are right and will get along fine without me, or hopefully they are wrong and others will feel as I do, eventually giving them their just deserved demise.

I do not mean to say that an incident like this should cause the demise of a business, but if they can be so stupid about this then there must be other decisions that have offended customers, and the cumulative effects of bad management will eventually be felt. If this is their first and only such poor handeling of an event then they will never miss me and life will go on fine for them!

Either way I will feel happier in my life if I do not encourage this type of behavior by going there again. As a matter of fact I think I strongly disagree with the idea of going there and telling them I was with DDC since that gives them the impression that their actions were correct and had no impact, after all "the customer came back so all must have been well". I could never do anything that would imply all was well after management tried to enforce a previously unseen or unsigned contract.

-- Bruce

Bruce:

It was a pleasure meeting you as well.  My rant wasn't directed at you (or indeed any specific member of the no-show contingent.  I didn't even realize your wife was going to join us at any point), but more how silly it was for the restaurant to be arguing with us over a relatively small amount of money, and the ill will they generated after what was clearly a completely successful event from everyone's standpoint.  The dinner was excellent, the service quite efficient.  I wouldn't dissuade you from going back to Beawon at all, in fact I'd encourage you to go back and tell them you were one of the attendees at the DDC dinner, so they understand the full impact of their idiocy.  Leaving low level employees with no authority in charge of a special event is just bad business.  The person Herb dealt with who was the source of the misunderstanding wasn't on the premises for our event.  That's just poor planning on their part.  Suddenly producing a "contract" after the event, is bad business.  I think the restaurant is some of the best Korean food I've had in the area.  I will certainly go back to dine a la carte in the dining room.  But it'll be a cold day in hell before I'd try to arrange a banquet or special event there ever again after our experience last night.

I'm certain Herb will be happy to hear from you regarding your wife's cancellation.  It's a shame she couldn't make it.  It was a great dinner up until we tried to pay and leave. 

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[Mummer]

I left before the billing fiasco, unimpressed with the meal. I'm unfamiliar with Korean food, so I thought this was just the ticket for my maiden voyage.

While several tastes were good, I found nothing outstanding. Am I supposed to be happy that nothing was bad? That's a half-step from school lunch. Some hot dishes went pretty fast, and they finally brought more bulgogi. That, too, was merely ok. Warm, stringy beef with a watery sauce more sweet than spicy.

I want to go with mrbigjas to one of his Korean haunts for the real deal.

On the business side, my DDC host story had the resto giving me a check with tax and tip added. The boss, with whom I'd made the inclusive arrangements, left during dessert. The sous chef removed the tax, tip and a cover for the empty spot at one of our tables. I handed him a big wad of cash, and everybody wen't home happy. While it's more because their food is better than this service story, that restaurant just moved into a bigger space.

[KatieLoeb]

As a matter of fact I think I strongly disagree with the idea of going there and telling them I was with DDC since that gives them the impression that their actions were correct and had no impact, after all "the customer came back so all must have been well". I could never do anything that would imply all was well after management tried to enforce a previously unseen or unsigned contract.

Bruce:

I should have been clearer. Go back and tell them you were with the DDC dinner and it's such a shame they handled that so poorly since everything else went so well. I think that might at least get their attention.

I doubt this place will close anytime soon and I suspect they could care less whether they see our mostly non-Korean dining club members again. They have a loyal local following amongst the Korean community, who pack the place for them nightly. And I suspect the sorts of gaffes that occurred due to the language barrier with our arrangements are highly unlikely to occur with their regular clientele. :shrug:

It's just a damned shame. The problems we encountered were just bad restaurant management mojo regardless of the type of cuisine being served. We weren't trying to pull a "dine-and-dash", but they made us feel like criminals. It was poorly planned and poorly executed hospitality from their end.