M Cafe — Restaurant in Coquitlam

STAY AWAY

I can see why at times I have heard this restaurant is about to go out of business. Our experience here has been nothing short of upsetting and frustrating.

For validity purposes, you can tell based on my other reviews, that I provide fair and honest reviews.

My recommendation: STAY AWAY FROM THIS RESTAURANT.

Size of party: Our friends arrived first. It was Sunday night around 6pm. Their family was 2 adults and one 4 year old. We arrived a bit late. 2 adults and one 13month old.

Status of restaurant: Not busy. Not packed. Empty tables everywhere.

When we arrived our friends were already seated. We had a booth. Our friends said that the waitress told them we had to use booster seats for both children because they ran out of of high chairs. I was a bit confused.. But ok.. I accepted this at first but was a bit confused.

My wife decided to wash her hands at the bathroom before sitting down. She procerds to walk over the bathroom in close proximity and looks over at me and points. I walk over and boom, there are 3 high chairs stacked on top of each other. I ask politely to the waitress if we could get a high chair for our son because he is 13 months old and he doesn't sit still when eating. The waitress said "sure" and asked me what table. I pointed at the booth. At this moment another waitress walked over. She said "what's the issue?". I was like "no issue, we just want a high chair for my son who's 13 months old". The waitress said "no, we cant do that and he has to sit in a booster seat". I responded "he's 13 months and cant sit still when eating. He doesnt know how. She said" that's not our problem with attitude".

Now I'm ticked off.. So i walk to the table.. No high chair because i dont want conflict. Waitress comes back and my wife sits down. I asked her politely what's the reason for not allowing high chair? She said that it's a safety issue with hot food and servers walking back and forth. I gave her the benefit of the doubt but THEN see there is 5-6 feet of gap between where she claimed there is "no room" to walk by.

I tried to compromise to ask if we can sit first. When the food comes, then we can put our son in the high chair. She said "no, we cant do that". She said she will have to give us another table but we have to wait 30 minutes to 1hr. I asked if we could sit and wait and then when tables cleared and then we could move with the high chair. She again said "no we cannot do that".

Now both sets of parents are just pissed. Walked over to Sushi Town and asked if they can accommodate two children in high chairs. "No problem".

Walked back, took my family and went for some delicious sushi.

Will NEVER NEVER return to this place. It's NOT kid friendly. I got no apologies, just a bunch of attitude and declines to help. Probably the worse customer service ever.

If you're looking to be treated with disrespect & attitude, come here.

Will bring my business somewhere else. Good luck and don't bring your kids to eat. They may have to sit in a booster when they are 6 months old.

"0" stars.

I will also be letting the large outreach of asian community I am connected to know about our experience and all my family not...

TLDR: If you're not their friends, you don't matter as much. Food: decent, not always consistent Service: brief and curt

• To start, let me preface by saying that the restaurant owners have every right to operate the business as they see fit. I mean, it is their place so their rules right? This is only an opinion so take it for what you will. *

If you are ever in a rush to get a table, or it is very busy here (think Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner rush, etc) I hope you aren't too hungry because you're not going to be getting a table in a timely manner. The front of house (middle aged Asian male, who usually tucks his tie into his dress shirt) plays favourites with people who come in to place their name on the wait list. They have an open notebook that they use to record names and how many people in said party. No time or number system is used here to determine who came in what order. In this notebook, there appears to be a "priority list" and "secondary list". Most walk-ins appear to be placed into a "secondary list". If you are placed there, good luck.

Our names was written down a good 10 minutes before Group B even came into the building. One person from Group B entered the main waiting area, waved hello to Mr. Front of House and exchanged some greetings. Their name was promptly placed into the "priority" section of the notebook. Ultimately, they were also seated before us as well.

Be aware that this restaurant's cut off times for their menu (11:30am for breakfast/5:30pm for lunch) is very strict. Their staff will not advise you before you are seated that the cut off time is approaching or actively ask if you wanted something in the breakfast/lunch menu if the time is getting close. Though I understand why the cut off times, the Kitchen staff needs time to finish off orders and to change over.

Much of the interaction (except for paying) is done through apps now. Contact tracing is done via a QR code and ordering is also done using a QR code for the table. A constructive suggestion would be to use some sort of electronic que system (ie: you enter how many people, it prints a ticket) with a TV screen mounted high to show who is next in line for their table. Many places do this now, with some review sites offering this service as well. Especially in times of Covid-19, this would be a good way to reduce the amount of people loitering in the waiting area and communicate to patrons when they should be ready.

If those are their rules -- no problem. I will simply choose to spend my...

When you visit HK(Hong Kong) style cafe, I would recommend not much good service as their culture where they are from is different from North American. Their original culture are based on crowded and packed city life which offers face food serving time without much social communications. I see that they are trying to be more adapted to the Canadian style but I wouldn't put my hopes up. If you keep that in your consideration, you would be less shocked visiting HK style cafe.

They implemented "app ordering system" even for dining in option which helps to deliver accuracy in case of miscommunications due to language barrier, rushed service, and lack of understanding of food items if you are new to this restaurant.

You will be seated and a printed copy of QR code will be provided. If you want to use the QR code which need to be connected to their mobile app, make sure to download M cafe app before visiting the restaurant.

Scan the QR code using a cellphone camera which will be connected to the app, you can find the menu and select your choice of food. The QR code will indicate the table you will be sitting at and the order will be placed through the app. Then, you can sit and relax until the food is served.

Once you are done with your meal, they accept the payment at the till. Walk up to the bar area to pay. They used to take debit and cash, but now accept Visa and Amex. Double check which credit card they accept when you are seated in case I am mistaken about the credit card accepted.

I like their fried rice or noodle options. But I feel like deep fried pork chops are slightly smelly in my liking.

Currently offering 10% off the bill before tax if you use a mobile app order. You can also order in person if you wish, then you need to ask for a...