It's in my neighbourhood and my impression was that it's quite decent. So thsi afternoon I decided to take my boyfriend's parents to this place for a cosy lunch. But then I was disappointed - for the first time.
It makes sense that Christmas makes restaurants think it's a good chance to shrink the menu to "Christmas Special Menu" - but it doesn't make sense when the menu has nothing Christmassy. This afternoon what's in store is a menu with:
1. "Turkey salad" - Don't fantasise over it. It's just ordinary mixed greens with several slices of fatty turkey on top.
2. Soup of the day - Corn and ham cream (and I didn't know it's so until it was dished)
3. Tuna Pasta / Sole Fillet Pasta / Clam Linguine / Rib Eye etc. - It's acceptable. Well-cooked pasta, the seasoning and toppings are in reasonable volume. But my Clam Linguine got quite some sand in them.
4. Coffe / Tea - Top up $5 if you want Mocha, Cappuccino, Latte - which makes sense. The coffee is okay, it's a fresh brew so nothing went wrong.
5. We also ordered a bottle of red and a glass of white - Expect less than half of a glass because that's their 'standard size'.
But what left a huge flaw to this lunch, which was supposed to be cosy and celebratory, is the attitude of this bistro. Because I live in the neighbourhood it is almost natural for me to tell the staff I am a vegetarian and would accept some twist to what I eat. Even even smaller places like New York Club and ramen places, similar places (in terms of price) like Panevino and Classified, would have sorted it out for me. And this restaurant, or a particular staff member/manager, just wanted to make me understand it's not possible to cater my needs because it's Christmas! (Like mine is supposed to be ruined just because all you see is short-term profits).
So for Turkey Salad - I couldn't exchange Turkey for more greens, though I was promised I could at least get a few more tomatoes. Soup of the day - they forced it to the table because it's ready-to-serve and they got nothing else for me, not to mention a minestrone. I already rejected it because I would in no way have ham in my soup, he still put it to the table, as if he would be in trouble if he didn't serve me according to the menu.
Pasta - seafood was acceptable so I could only have a Clam Linguine. Wine - as aforementioned they said it's a standard size, though I strongly think they should have added 'half' on the menu. No complimentary bread sorry - it's okay. Okay
What really pissed me off is the staff memember/manager reckoned that's necessary in order to run their business. He spent a lot of time explaining his difficulty rather than trying to make ends meet. What I received is - it's business and that's how they do business; so they can only offer what's within the frame, though the rest of the neighbourhood tries their best to be as friendly and considerate as possible. They would rather lose you forever rather than trying to adapt to your needs (not preferences). I live in this neighbourhood and I hang out a lot in cafes within Tai Hang!
I am disappointed because my important lunch with my boyfriends' parents was ruined by this cold attitude - not to mention it's a Christmas lunch! I am more disappointed because this cafe (which I previously thought outplayed Cafe on the Corner) is forever unlisted from my neighbourhood life.
If you want to experience authentic Tai Hang friendliness and food - even chains like Classified or independent places like No.5 do better. You don't want 'business difficulty' to ruin your precious time with loved ones.
Note to the owner - it's now a Green Monday time when restaurants ought to be vegetarian-friendly. If you continue to run your business this way, you are not going to survive.
In the end I was told that the guy actually gave us 10% discount. I don't call it a favour, because you didn't deserve the service charge at all.
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