Cafe N One — Restaurant in Markham

What a joke. I was so excited to see a place nearby with souffle pancakes that isn't Fuwa Fuwa (which I love, but I like to support local). Completely disorganized and dismissive staff, who seem to lack all management and steps of service.

We came at around noon and the place was fairly busy but had quite a few free tables. We were seated quickly, but it took a while to take our order. A family of 8 was nearby and a few other 2 tops.

This is where it started to go wrong. We ordered 4 things: a tea, a tiramisu espresso (out of sheer curiosity), a mango panna cotta, and the creme brulee pancakes. A simple order, imo. I know souffle pancakes are not the quickest or easiest thing to make, and that's fine. I knew what I was getting into.

However, it took a good 10 minutes for my friend to even get a black tea. Seriously. Nothing in it, just tea in a take-away cup. Nothing else came. No coffee, no panna cotta.

Then came another 5 min wait for the panna cotta. Note: the base is pre-made in environmentally-unfriendly plastic cups. Which is a cheat way to do panna cotta cos you can't tell if it collapses or not. All they do to order is add a fruit topping. This should take 2 minutes to prepare, tops. Not 20. The fruit was not even fresh. The strawberry was a day from going off.

After the ~15-minute mark, we flagged down a server because it was obvious they forgot my coffee. Coffee and tea should come at the same time.

This is a café. No one should be sitting there waiting 15+ minutes for an espresso when there are so many staff working while my companion has basically finished her drink and dessert. After asking, it came quickly enough, further showing they simply forgot. Also, it is not espresso. Nor is it tiramasu. It was just a small latte with chocolate dusting. No lady finger biscuit, no marscapone (that I could taste or see), no egg, not even any almond/amaretto/rum flavour (extract or artificial) which a lot of people add for a little brightness in a tiramisu.

It was now edging on 30 minutes. Every other table received their food. Tables that arrived after us already received their souffle pancakes. I tried to be patient but it was bordering on unacceptable and we were concerned that, again, they had forgotten my order. We flagged down one of the many distracted servers and I asked whether my pancakes were coming. She told me that souffle pancakes take 20 minutes, which I already knew. I pointed to tables that arrived a good 10 minutes after, and thus ordered after us, and asked why they got their pancakes first. She then backpedalled and basically dismissively implied it was my fault for ordering the creme brulee ones as those take longer. Doesn't say that anywhere on the menu.

Look, don't lie to customers. And don't blame me for ordering something on your menu. Just apologize for the wait, and say you'll check with the kitchen. I'm sure many customers who don't know how long souffle pancakes take complain regularly, so it would be helpful to teach staff how to deal with that politely.

I know how creme brulee is made. I've done it myself. It does not take a significantly long time. And even so, how can you serve something that takes 20 minutes to customers who barely even walked in the door 20 minutes ago, but not customers who walked in 40 minutes ago?

Finally, the pancakes came and the creme brulee was LAUGHABLE how small it was on the pancakes. (See photo). The bananas were well-covered, but you can and should do that in advance if time is so tight. That took an extra 20 minutes? You need to fire your chef then.

By this point we were both fairly annoyed and I ate the pancakes quickly just to leave. They were nothing special. Sure, they were light but deflated, and the "creme brulee" was pointless. Thin, tastless custard with a teeny, thin bit of caramelized sugar crust. Not like other people's pancakes.

Just that irritating comment from the server changed the experience from a mediocre one to a completely miserable one.

Over-priced, nothing special food with terrible and extremely slow...

Summary] - Amazing food, however the service was extremely slow. Dishes come out one at a time as they are prepared, so expect 10-15 minute delay per dish.

[Note] - They are only accept cash and debit. Limited indoor seating and only two high table outside on the patio. Tends to get busy on weekends, so make reservations.

[Overall Review] A small little Japanese cafe serving up cute delicious brunch! They have two tables outside in the front that is covid friendly and QR code to scan and order online. Once you finish your meal, you have to go inside to pay and they only accept cash and debit! We went on a sunday at around noon, before heading there I gave them a call to ask if they had a patio spot available which they did and reserved it for me as we made our way down. Once we got there, we notice they were pretty busy. We started off placing our orders online, 2 drinks, 2 brunch entrees and pancakes as dessert. We were seated for awhile after placing our order online before someone even came by to give us water. Before our drink orders even came out, we got our first dish but no utensils to go with it. So our dish was sat on our table for about 10 - 15 mins until the server came by with our two drinks and we had asked her to utensils and sharing plate. She then came back with utensils and sharing plates, then about 10 - 15 mins later our second dish came. We notice that the table inside facing us on the patio also received one dish at a time as well. So I recommend you share your meals instead of ordering individually as it seems they serve one at a time.

[Detail Food Review - This was my favourite dish, the waffles had a mochi texture which was so unique to me, as I am use to the traditional waffles. I love that this had a mochi texture that gave it the perfect, crunchy exterior with a soft chewy interior. The karaage was seasoned perfectly, juicy and crispy. The aioli gave it a perfect kick of spice.

[Eggmelt Croissant] - This was so buttery and soft, just like the description. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. However, I was not a fan of the roasted potatoes that it came with. I am more of a home style fries person.

[Matcha Latte] - Even though it was in a take out cup, they still took the time to make a cute latte art which I thought was a nice touch considering they had a lid on it when given to me, so I wasn't even expecting a latte art to come with this. Perfect balance of sweetness for me.

[Creme Brûlée Souffle Pancakes] - Love anything creme brûlée, and this hit the spot. Fluffy, soft with the perfect amount...

Firstly I just want to say that I am not a breakfast person so the fact that they didn't have your typical breakfast of eggs and bacon was already a major plus in my books.

I came in with a friend today and the vibe of the restaurant is a cozy little café. They do both dine in and takeout. You order by scanning a qr code and ordering from your phone. The menu is quite vast and full of beautiful pictures of the food. I spent a good 5-10 minutes just looking at the menu as it was extremely difficult what to choose. However my friend and I both chose the karaage moffles. Which essentially is a Japanese version of chicken and waffles.

I have to say the food is extremely tasty and fresh. There is a slight wait for food however I don't mind the wait for food this good. The chicken is fantastically juicy and seasoned to perfection the spicy mayo compliments it very well as the spice and acidity helps to cut through the richness of it. The moffles or mochi waffles are phenomenal, beautifully golden brown the mochi helps add a chewiness in a good way to a soft waffle. So you have crunchy chicken with soft and chewy waffles fantastic combination. On top of that you get a su-miso syrup which is not overly sweet but gives a great flavour and slight sweetness to the waffles. The dish also came with a side salad of arugula, cherry tomatoes and carrots with a tangy/savory vinaigrette which give a nice freshness to the dish after a few bites of chicken and waffles.

On top of that I tried a yuzu berry soda and my friend got an iced coffee. The soda was nice and refreshing with a unique yet familiar taste. Its almost like a sprite with fresh blueberries muddled in with it along with some mint. Quite tasty and refreshing. The ice coffee was delicious and my friend said it hit the spot.

Overall great food, great service and a cozy atmosphere. This place is definitely a good place to catch up with friends if you want something more that just a Starbucks or Timmies meet up. The price isn't bad either, definitely will come again and try the soufflé...