Dickens Restaurant — Restaurant in Markham

I've been going to Dickens since I was really young, even after they moved a few times. However, I was pretty disappointed to see how they handled the service today.

They said they were closing at 3 and onwards and we made it inside with more than 35 mins to spare. We were in a rush too, so we knew we wouldn't be sitting for too long anyways.

The waitress who took our order down, got the quantities wrong. We ordered two dishes, one hainanese chicken rice and one fish cutlet for three people to share.

She told us that there is no more of the chicken rice that comes with the hainanese chicken, and asked if they could substitute it with white rice. We said OK, without making any difficulties.

She asked us what soup we want, we said the vegetable one. And she said actually, you don't have a choice, cream only. We said OK, without making any difficulties.

The waitress then gave us two soups (we assumed it was for the two meals we ordered). We finished them but it was subpar and mind you, we only ordered the cream soup because we didn't have a choice, we didn't want it in the first place.

Then our mains came. To our surprise, three dishes came instead of two. Turns out the waitress got the wrong order and wrote down two hainanese chicken rice meals instead of one. Another server took back one of the extra chicken rice meals after we clarified that we didn't order it. The waitress who took our order returns and told us that she misheard us. She then comes back and proceeds to tell us that only the Hainanese chicken rice that we ordered comes with soup, and since we drank two soups, we have to pay for the extra one they mistakenly gave us.

We were all shocked, but didn't want to make a big deal out of it so we just said OK again. It was around $2 for the soup, which we could obviously afford. But it's the principle behind this experience that is so wrong.

If the waitress misheard us and took the wrong order, we shouldn't have to pay for the mistake. Additionally, we could've done without two soups because we didn't want the cream soup anyways, but because of her mistake, we had to pay for soup that we didn't even want in the first place.

The cherry on top was when customers came in after 3 and they told those customers they're closing from 4 and onwards. I thought they were closing at 3?

Anyways, it's the first time I had such a bad experience here but I think it's worth a mention to anyone considering coming here! Skip the soup and make sure the waitress doesn't mishear you or else will be paying for...

Dinner experience, dine in.

Very spacious venue, decent customer service. Prices are more on the pricey side if you compare other HK style cafes, but Dickens always had higher pricing. They do have set meals as well, which makes it convenient if you wanted a full meal without having to add the extra $5 for bread, soup and drink.

Lobster Bisque 3/5 - this was a bit bland to me. Not enough flavours of lobster or spices. Quite creamy and milky in flavour, with a few pieces of crustacean meat which was cooked well.

Borscht Soup 4/5 - this was quite sweet but had the nice tomato flavours that you associate HK cafes with (given they usually make it sweet tomato rather than your tangy/sour one).

White wine and cream mussels 4/5 - the addition of cheese in their cream and wine sauce made it quite delicious. It reminded me of the flavours of 'lobster e-fu noodles' that you can get at chinese restaurants long ago. Pairs really nicely with the mussels and it was well cooked. The strips of onion makes it add some texture. Overall enjoyable!

Baked cheese tomato porkchop rice 4/5 - if you like the sweet tomato sauce vibes on your porkchop rice HK style, this is for you! Sauce was thick but covers the fried rice nicely. Rice was well cooked and not mushy as many restaurants tend to do sometimes. Porkchop was well seasoned, good amount of fat to meat ratio. Tender and juicy. Really enjoyed. If anything, it can be a tad less sweet but overall I think its a good take on the classic.

Curry Beef Brisket 3/5 - there was something in this curry dish that i didnt really like. I couldnt depict what it was, but it was not your typical curry flavours. Otherwise, good amount of meat and did not cheap out. Was quite tender and soft. Also on the fattier side so it can get heavy.

Pork Hock with Rice 4/5 - while this dish was mid 20 in price for the meal, it was quite worth it given that the pork hock was massive! Meat was also nice and juicy and tender, fall of the bone. Skin and fat was well rendered, but there was still a lot of meat so you will definitely not leave hungry. The meat itself is relatively bland so definitely add the gravy.

Overall good. I did have take out once as well, and the experience was not as nice, probably given the travel time and being in the boxes etc. They do use the microwave safe takeout boxes though, which is a nice take. Would like to try their morning/lunch meals and see how...

Firstly, unless the menu had gone through extensive change over time, some of the reviews on Yelp and Google are disingenuous. The white wine mussels and baked escargot are ONLY "Dinner for Four" options. They do not exist anywhere else.

Moving on to my personal review: for the price point of the dish (8oz AAA beef tenderloin) I ordered it fell super short on what I expected as a standard. There's not a damn sprinkle of salt or pepper on these steaks. Just pure beef/steak inherent flavour. The only seasoning is in the sauce but I shouldn't need to be dunking my steak pieces to get seasoning especially as a $50 dish. Vegetables, which I didn't expect to come with my order because the options was "rice, pasta, potato of the day OR vegetables" is straight flavourless, pretty sure just boiled or from frozen. The mashed potatoes at least has flavour and was most likely made in house as there's bacon bits and other goodies within.

Ambiance is what you would expect from any 'HK Cafe-esque' on the quiet side but occasionally rowdy based on table and chatter. Service though? The servers aren't the least bit attentive. On a Friday afternoon where half the seating is empty and theres only like 6-7 of us tables total, all the waitresses (4 minimum) are looking down at their various stations. To get any attention we have to stand up to flag them down or walk up to their station as none of them are looking around.

Closing thoughts I would not come back here again. Even from the attention of the appetizer which came with the combo, the "garlic bread" was toasted on one side. Not even both sides. It screams lazy and low effort. I was told in the past this place was a lot better but it's an entirely disappointing...