Bliss Caffeine Bar — Restaurant in Halifax

Original post 2022: Would give a 4.5 actually. Come early or make reservations! I got lucky here for breakfast around 9am on a snowy Saturday morning. By the time I left, all tables were full or had reserved signs on them. Seating for maybe 30 or so? Gets quitr loud as it gets busy. Bright, cute, simple cafe with high ceilings. Very friendly staff. I tried the breakfast tacos (two corn tortillas with candied jalapeño, black beans, poached eggs, a sauce that I forget), which includes a side of parmesan home fries with a basil cream sauce, for $18. All very delicious and filling! Was hard to decide from the menu because the handful of breakfast items they have, all look very good. Also tried a cinnamon heart latte, their obvious special for Valentines week. ($5) A good size portion, not too sweet.

2nd and 3rd visits: breakfast again with the same friend both times. The Brekkie is great. My scrambled eggs were done to perfection. He asked for burnt eggs, and the cook actually sent them out on a plate by the server, to see if they were good enough. Awesome customer service for doing that, and the eggs were just what he likes. The sausage is tasty as sin, with whatever herbs it's made with. Tasty, buttery, almost crunchy toast with the crust cut off? Greens add a touch of health to the plate. LOL The two bacon strips are cooked perfectly flat, like a ruler, which I picked up and ate with my fingers. Excellent fresh home fries with parmesan with chunks of various sizes, just the right amount of greasiness. The Lucky Charms latte for St Paddy's was very fun with a few marshmallows on top, and great tasting drink itself without being too sweet. The only thing I find is that the atmosphere is a bit loud bc the high ceiling echo I guess?

4th visit: a beautiful Wednesday morning in May 2023 and was surprised that the place was busy at 9am on a weekday. Not full, but close to it. Had the tacos again and this time was too full to finish them. Tried the special birthday cake latte, which was tasty, not too sweet, but heavy and that added to my fullness. My friend got the basic brekkie again and was consistently as good as last time.

5th visit: Feb 2024 on a cool Friday right at 8am opening. First customers of the day. We each got the Brekkie, this visit mine with poached eggs. Gave my meats and most of the potatoes to my friend to save on some calories myself, but was still very content and satisfied eating the toast and both of our greens, with my eggs. All ingredients are locally sourced and the bacon is by far the best in the city. By the time we left around 9, the place was about half...

Came here for breakfast. The menu is small, but has some good options. Interior design is very modern. My waffles were good, the chicken burger was a bit on the sweet side for a savory dish.

That being said: the service was what really rubbed us the wrong way. Our server was nice enough, but somewhere along the line we were clearly forgotten. Everybody seemed to get their food before us. People that came in 15 minutes after us, had their food first. I tried to make eye contact with our server, but to no avail. Finally after what seemed like an eternity we got served our food with no explanation or apology.

When paying we did give a 10% tip - not more, since the service did not warrant it - and the lady who took the payment (not our server) was clearly not happy about it. Just said "ok" (no "thank you" or "have a nice day", nothing) and brought back the change and put it on the table before us without a word.

If waiting forever did not already spoil our morning, this rude and classless behaviour certainly did. Honestly, other people would have made a stink about being forgotten and not even receiving an apology. We said nothing and even tipped and were treated so rudely and disrespectfully, I'm still livid about it a week later.

Update in response to the owner: thanks for your reply. I'm aware that different dishes take different amounts of time to cook. But since we saw other tables that came in after us, get each of our dishes, but before us, I couldn't help but assume our order got missed along the line.

Also, it wasn't so much the wait, but the interaction at the end, that left a bad impression. If the person that took payment was not happy with the tip, she could have inquired if everything was okay, instead of passive agressively bringing back our change. Since she left the table immediately afterwards, there was also no way of saying anything to her, so we just left the money.

Even if this person had no way of knowing we were not happy, is a 10% tip not good enough? She could have just said "thank you" and kept it moving, instead of displaying her dissatisfaction in such a...

Edit: wow the owner responses to everyone are so rude and disgusting. Take accountability for the bad service u give clearly to most your customers. Its like a middle school girl answering her so called “ bullies”. Hey bliss these are ur customers, they have friends of friends of friends in NS that will talk. Just cause ur busy now, if you keep behaving this way you WILL shut down eventually. As a service worker myself your behavior is atrocious. ———- This used to be the best cafe in hali. They always had donuts, would make exceptions and had the best service. The last 3 times ive been has been not only a disappointment food wise but also the worst service i have recieved. The waitresses ignoring, being rude, and also when i asked a question twice to make sure they used phrases “ well as i said ALREADY we cant do same day reservations”. I get having a busy store can be stressful but when i call ahead to ask for a food item for pickup or for a res it would be nice to get some decent service. Oh yeah apprently i used to be able to do pickup and now i cant. They know their donuts always sell out yet they never make enough and its gone by 12. They never mentioned on the phone they werent taking anymoe people when i tried making a res and when i got there i was turned away and the waitress scoffed at me. Last time i ate there because i have some dietary restrictions and allergies when i tried asking some questions the waitress seemed so angry at me for asking if they can make their food nut free or pork free etc. and dont even get me started on another day i went to just get s coffe to Go and wasnt served and was being ignored by all the waitresses for 15 minutes until i had the courage to say “ hey ive been waiting can i just get a coffee” and then they decided to act like i existed. Im truly so disgusted and disappointed at this treatment as i used to Come here weekly and now with their new staff theyre terrible. I cant name the waitresses but i def know how they...