Ristorante Nahman

On the evening of Thursday, May 27, we arrived at Nahman’s, one of the many restaurants on Music Square, where our friend and guide Eyal had reserved a table for three. Eyal had introduced me to this restaurant in 2019, and I loved it. The house manager told us and Eyal that he had to cancel the reservation because “there is a big group event," and said that “I tried to call but there was no answer.” Huh? A bigger group came along, and you canceled a confirmed reservation? He kept saying “I tried to call,” and I then jumped into the fray. “Wait a minute—you are missing the whole point: you should NEVER have even made that call. The problem is not that he didn’t receive it (Eyal does not believe that he made the call, by the way); the problem is that you saw a better gig and then cancelled ours. That is totally unacceptable and unprofessional.” He kept saying, “But I tried to call him”—over and over. Finally, I said: “He works as a tour guide, and I work as a labor lawyer trainer. We both book our work out months in advance. Neither I nor he would EVER cancel on a confirmed client because a bigger, more lucrative client came along, and certainly not without making actual, direct contact with the client who was already confirmed to make sure that it was OK.” “But this group has 170 people!” I answered, “Fine, it should have been 173, because you could have set up a table to the side, even inside, for us three. We had the right to eat at the table we reserved days ago.” Very angry now, the manager went off to find us a table at another fish/dairy restaurant in Music Square, a fine restaurant called Piccolino at which I had eaten before, with guide Oreet Segal. But when he said to me, “Now, the problem is solved,” I reiterated that “It very much was NOT solved. I ate at your restaurant in 2019, with Eyal, and I loved it. It recommended it in my personal travel guide that I sent 20 copies of out just on this trip. But I will be writing a very negative review of your restaurant in TripAdvisor because you are not professional, you do not keep your word, and you kept claiming that the problem is that Eyal (supposedly) did not answer your call when the problem is that your restaurant does not keep its word and you treated us like nothings. On top of that, I will be removing my strong recommendation of your restaurant from my guide because why on earth would I send people here?” Travel tip: AVOID Nahman’s on Music Square—you have several, other great options right there. You may have a "reservation" but it means nothing to them there.