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• Joan - Tallinn 24 October 2010
  The first time in my life that someone tried to rip me off so much "in my face". Table of 4, came for a late evening wine, we got a wine recommended by the waiter/owner, a big guy. It was 435 EEK. He brought the bill before we asked (ok, no problem, we understood he wanted to close the register for the day, and we were also ready to leave within 5-10 minute anyways). We saw the bill was 520 EEK, not 435 EEK. We put 560 EEK wanting to ask about the price difference. But the guy just took the money and walked away. We waited...and waited...and waited...a friend of mine called him a couple of times, but he would ignore us COMPLETELY. After over 25 minutes, it was clear he was not planning to give us the change, so I decided to approach him and ask for it. He then ignored me replying "what change?", and basically saying that we had stayed until late so that he had the right to charge us more. I guess he had mistaken us by a group of "lost tourists". After making him realize I would not buy on that, he said he did not remembered how much we had given him. Amazing. At that point I was pretty pissed, specially because he was treating me as a stupid person and challenging my arguments, so I told him I would call the police. He would not bother. I could not care less about the 125 EEK we were overpaying, but I care if someone is trying to rip me off, for the sake of it. So I called the police. In the meantime, I was trying to explain him that we had ordered a wine that was 435 EEK, and he had charged us 520 EEK, and that that wine was nowhere to be found in the price list. He then argued that the wine was not the same wine, but he never mentioned that to us when we ordered (in fact the label said exactly what was on the menu, except for one word). The rudest waiter/owner I've ever encountered. After about over half an hour of arguing (and waiting for the police) a girl appeared (another manager?), we explained the situation and she was also very argumentative, but eventually he agreed to let us pay what we had to pay, and not more. This was just 1 minute before the police arrived.All in all. The place is meant to be cosy, but they don't seem to bother much about the food nor service (I had been there once, and judging by what they were eating on the only other table in the restaurant, is nothing special). By nothing special I mean, you get the typical pasta you can make yourself at home without much skills, but it is going to cost you significantly more. The price quality ratio is hence bad. The wine was barely ok (did not have much body or flavour), but was "easy-to-drink" (we went later to Hell Hunt, a popular pub, and a bottle of Italian Chianti was comparable, if not better, and costed half the price).I "understand" the current economy tempts people to try to get more out of you. But ripping off is not an option for me. There are many places in Tallinn that serve much better food and good wine at cheaper prices with better service. Go to them. Avoid In Vino Veritas!