BY : ‘Mamohaila Rampo
MASERU
Big Six Meat and Chill owner, Masilo Mosoeunyane, recommends Basotho to normalise making reservations in advance before going to a restaurant for efficiency, quality and the progress of Basotho owned restaurants.
Mosoeunyane said majority of Basotho are still accustoming to dinning with friend s and families in weekends and with that they need to align themselves with rules and regulations that some restaurants operate with.
“It is so unfortunate that we get bad reviews for being slow since customers just pitch at a restaurant and demand the best service without them making any reservation. Reservations are essential because they help in the plannery for best services,” said Mosoeunyane.
Mosoeunyane said this in alignment to the Maliba lodge racism saga that flooded social media in the past week. As narrated on Maliba lodge Facebook page, two complainants surfaced on Facebook evoking havoc from the public. The complainants said they were put in an isolated corner at the hotel while white people were allocated the best seats and services.
On its social media page Maliba Lodge Director explained that they are adapted to reservations in order to provide top notch meals to their customers, stating that it is unfortunate that Basotho fail to abide by the rules of local business while outsiders follow procedure.
The official statements read” Maliba Lodge is insulted and severely disappointed to be unfairly labeled racist.”
It continued to say “We are a remote lodge that has to preplan everything, dinner bookings are essential. This has nothing to do with race but is essential to operate a fine dining restaurant in an isolated area.”
The statement also said Maliba stands strongly against any racism or discrimination and will never tolerate it also they are deeply saddened by this accusation and the response it has caused.
Analyzing the business‘s progress thus far Mosoeunyane said their progress is just adequate, in comparison to 2022. Stating that the harsh unpredictable weather affects their business terribly since Big 6 is an outdoor restaurant.
“Climate change is disturbing the progress of Big 6 restaurant tremendously, in December we were forced to not run efficiently as a result of bad weather, it was only one weekend which was rain free,” said Mosoeunyane.
To adapt to the weather conditions, they will be renovating to have more indoor space, also the restaurant will be more spacious outside for the continued comfort of their customers. We are forced to get used to unstable weather conditions for the success of the business so that employees do not lose their jobs.
The owner mentioned that one of the major thing that contributed to the business not reaching its targets fully is the fact that general public are still dealing with the after-math of the COVID-19 Pandemic so they luxury of eating at a restaurant is cut off.
Nonetheless Mosoeunyane said he is very more than grateful for the continued supports that Basotho are poses toward local restaurants especially Big 6.
