photo: PrahaIN.cz/Asian restaurant in Prague
Repeated and loud words of thanks, bows number one, two and three and a resounding goodbye. All this followed after the doors of the Asian restaurant in Prague 4 were closed behind the Ukrainian couple who had dined there.
PrahaIN.cz happened to be there as well. After a few minutes, we approached the owners’ 16-year-old daughter, who, even after more than ten years, does not speak perfect Czech. She explained to us what happened between the guests and the staff, her parents.
Asian restaurants are said to be used to people not tipping. It regularly returns the amount to the crown. “Those two people left 450 crowns, which has never happened before,” assessed a smiling Anička, whose gaze repeatedly slid to the mobile phone display. “Moreover, mom didn’t want to take it and kept returning it to them. They didn’t understand each other. The two people from Ukraine, for a change, thought it was not enough, she thought it was too much and wanted to give it back to them,” she added.
In this particular restaurant, it was a hot tip. You can buy a lunch menu here for 119 crowns, and both locals and couriers of individual delivery services serve the door here.
Decent Czechs
The aforementioned Anička helps out regularly on weekends. “I have school so I’m studying, but I’m here over lunch. Many people come to us, we know many of them, they are polite. But they give a tip very rarely, for example five crowns, when something costs 95 crowns,” she notes, adding that her parents always taught her to be as kind as possible to customers.
“Dad didn’t agree with that, but for example we let the guests pay until the next day several times, when they didn’t have the money with them, that also happened,” Anička added, adding that she doesn’t remember the tip in the amount of several hundred crowns.
By the way, the family has been there for about twelve years. She settled in Prague 4 shortly after arriving from Vietnam. He tries to get home once every two years. Otherwise, it saves a lot. “Now for the rings, because I’m going to sports aerobics,” the owners’ daughter pointed out to us, glancing unobtrusively behind her. In a smaller room within the restaurant, where the family apparently sometimes lives, there were several shiny glasses. “We won you,” she added.
From work to work
After all, Prague 4 is known for its Vietnamese community, mainly thanks to the SAPA market (articles are HERE), nicknamed Little Hanoi. Here you will find hundreds of stalls and shops with clothes, food, drugstores, home accessories and other things. In general, there is probably nothing that customers cannot find here.
Anička’s family doesn’t come here much. She remains immersed in her work, where she usually finishes cleaning after 10:30 p.m. In the morning it’s time to buy supplies and turn on the stoves from 10:30.
Tipping is usually around ten percent within Europe. The Nordic countries are known for giving almost none. The south of the old continent, on the other hand, is famous for the fact that it is billed directly to the order, so the customer is not surprised.
On our way out of this Asian restaurant, we ran into a Foodora courier, a Ukrainian, in front of it. He spoke Czech fairly well, so it was no problem to find out how he was doing. He told us that he usually receives thirty to fifty crowns for delivery. It is said to be worse when paying by card, when people don’t give anything. “And card payments are the most, so I won’t earn much,” he shrugged.