Cherry Blossom Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Guelph

My partner and I have been coming here for a few years now, and always had a good experience. The food is good, atmosphere is nice. Tonight was probably the last time we will eat here. For 2 people, we paid $100, no drinks. I understand things are expensive right now, but I wasn’t expecting that much. We ordered dessert and as we ate I paid. Now, as a general rule, I always tip. Tonight I didn’t, as I didn’t have the extra money to support a tip, and I didn’t expect to pay $100 for 2 people. The waitress got a few steps away before rushing back and proceeded to harass us over the no tip, saying people always tip and tips are based on service. I explained that service was great (it was mediocre, you order off an iPad, people bring you the food and clear plates without speaking even if you say thank you - there was literally no customer interaction other than that), and we always enjoy coming here, I just wasn’t able to tip right now. She wouldn’t drop the subject, so I said honestly with it being so close to the holidays, I didn’t have the extra money for a tip on top of an already $100 bill. I expressed this same sentiment a couple times more as she pressed again for why I wouldn’t tip based on service (which again, was mediocre in my opinion). I said I’m sorry I just didn’t have the extra to pay this time, I just wanted to have a nice date night with my partner. We have a 4 year old so we don’t get to go out often. She said her manager would see and wonder, and I offered to write a note on the receipt to clarify nothing was wrong, I’m just not rich - like I had to actually say that to this woman. She then forced my partner to write a 5 star google review as we sat there, and I literally laughed and said uh, can we eat our dessert first?! As we were leaving, she came up to us and requested proof of the 5 star review. My partner was basically forced to take out his phone and let her see the review he left. She then asked for my review. I said I would write one later, right now I’m leaving. In the car, my partner deleted his review, as it wasn’t genuine. I understand times are rough for everyone. And again, I always tip. This one time I didn’t I was harassed, and very unprofessionally commanded to leave a review. Not to mention the embarrassment I felt while in the restaurant, in the middle of dessert, trying to explain my financial situation to this waitress who wouldn’t drop the subject after I awkwardly apologized for not having enough money to tip her on top of an already expensive dinner, while people around us could hear. This interaction overshadowed the overall experience we were having up until that point. Not sure if management is pressuring their staff to intimidate or guilt people into tipping, if employees are treated poorly if their table doesn’t tip, or if this was just a weird encounter. But trying to force a tip isn’t going to win you more business. It’s going to...

Dear Cherry Blossom,

Please STOP All-YOU-CAN-EAT (AYCE from now on). Why? It gives guests the wrong expectations, it demoralizes your chefs, and it leads to bad service (and bad tips).

Your chefs can cook. That's not the problem. The bento boxes and sushi and sashimi sets are tasty and good value-for-money. That's why we've been going to your restaurant in the years since you opened.

After last night's shockingly cringeworthy service experience, we won't be going back unless you overhaul your business model and get rid of AYCE. We went as a group of four to celebrate a birthday (gift bags made this obvious). Two of us wanted à la carte (ALC from now on) and two wanted AYCE. In the past, you seated us at separate tables next to each other so we could still talk during the meal and so you wouldn't have to worry that the ALC guests would sneak food from the AYCE. [Side note: if you're a guest who would do this, YOU'RE the true problem. Re-evaluate your life choices.]

If you can't seat guests together because you're worried about ALC sneaking from AYCE it means your business model is broken.

Anyway, we were told this wasn't possible because it was a long weekend and you were too busy. We asked "Please?" and the kinder server showed us to separate tables next to each other and we chatted happily as the birthday gifts were opened before we ordered. BUT right beside us the lead server was tearing a strip off the poor woman who just seated us for about a minute. Then the two AYCE guests were told they would have to sit in another part of the restaurant. It was pure spite on the part of the lead server. When I protested she said the tables were too booked, but the place was half empty. It was so embarrassing that we left and went to a far better Thai restaurant across the parking lot (that doesn't have AYCE but has very friendly staff and amazing food).

I don't blame you for holding AYCE guests in contempt, but YOU set up the system that makes people try to get more than their money's worth. This leads to rushed orders needing multiple servers, rushed food preparation, and bad tips because servers don't get a chance to show their professionalism to guests. Just switch to a full ALC menu, bump your prices a bit and focus on a relaxed dining experience with good food and happy staff, chefs, and guests. The tips will come - you won't have to demand them (which is also inexcusable, btw).

Good luck! We'd love to see you turn the place around to what it was when you opened, but WITHOUT AYCE.

P.S. Stop with buying the fake 5-star reviews, too. No real guest writes "clean" in a review. It's expected and the only comments related to cleanliness will be if...

I've been going here since they opened, mostly because of the beautiful atmosphere and location. The food is ok but nothing to write home about and the service has always been mediocre to subpar in my opinion. I'm honestly pretty surprised this place has such a high rating based off of the service alone. Until tonight I'd never experienced anything overtly negative but also nothing overtly positive to write a review about.

Tonight unfortunately was my last straw with this place. I came in here for a quick bite before a movie that I really wanted to see and was sure to specify that I just wanted a la carte. The host sat us down and handed us the ipad to order. Maybe this should have been my first red flag as I've never been given the ipad for a la carte, however the restaurant was virtually empty and the servers were nowhere to be found for help(as usual) so we just decided to go with it. Proceeded to order a few small things with the other person I was with. The food again, was ok but nothing exceptional. The one roll I ordered tasted pretty stale but I can look past that.

We eventually asked for bill and were shocked to see that we were charged for all you can eat. I tried to calmly explain to the waiter that we didn't want all you can eat and if they looked, would be able to see that we ordered next to nothing. We had neither the time or the hunger to make all you can eat worth it. We politely asked if they could just charge us for what we ordered and explained our situation while repeating that we clearly asked for a la carte before getting seated. They refused saying it was "impossible" which is obviously untrue. They just blankly stared at us, no apology, no acknowledgment of the mistake/miscommunication. It was a very awkward encounter that could have been easily avoided if the employees here cared about their customers.

Keep in mind that I have been regularly ordering take out and dining in for years, so they may or may not have recognized me as a semi-regular. Regardless, that lack of service is not okay! However, I'm not one to make a scene in public and once I realized that these people had no intention to help us out, I decided to just take the loss on our movie and stay for more sushi. When they came back with the debit machine, they had it programmed with the tip so we couldn't even control that. Cherry on top of an exceptionally awful meal. Makes me sad to think of how many other people have been scammed by this place. Absolutely abhorrent and will...