Essence of Unionville — Restaurant in Markham

UPDATE Mgmt response below they give illusion that they are looking into my situation.... however NO ONE called me or posted pls provide your information below to have us contact you. FYI warning to their type of reaction or response. False. DO NOT COME HERE! I wanted to post this as a warning of our poor experience June 11 2024. I did reserve a table for four adults celebrating my mom's bday yesterday. The only reason gave service a 1 star is because the gentleman the male server who greeted us yesterday @11:15am was very kind professional and easy to talk to. We left closer to 12;25pm or so.... I ordered 3 salmon lunch meals poke bowl and one lobster roll coffee and one tea..cranberry juice for my niece. $257.64 TIP: $36.00 Total: $292.64 total Avg costs per adult for four of us was $60-70 per person pretty expensive lunch for Horrible bad experience by female server when we were almost done.. I provided decent and generous tip considering level of horrible experience only because I appreciate servers & hard their work is.I didn't want to fault him on the female server brief but horrible interaction with us....(The nice gentleman served us before this female server started by time we had our food he ended his shift)By @noon the gentleman said hisshift ended and he would be leaving. I wanted to ensure that he would receive my tip and asked about tipping. He advised that the lady who is now here will take over and they do share tips and he kindly thanked me for thinking of him... As we were finishing our lunch I took out of my bag a small dufflet chocolate cake. The lady server saw it and said you cannot bring cake into the restaurant if you want it will be an additional $25.00 additional charge like a corking fee! I wasn't aware of this policy and i said Oh I didn't know of this and i was surprised. I told her that it's my mom's bday officially today. She said that the restaurant can give her a slice of cake . I didn't know about this policy. She said to me in a rude manner all restaurants charge you if you bring a cake in.I told her that I had few b-days with friends one of my friends took me to an Italian restaurant she brought in a bday cake small size one and it wasn't an issue Markham this past Feb 2024. She just gave me a rude look...*Btw there was no one in the entire rest we were there 11:15am 12;25pm yesterday empty We are almost finished our lunch but i can tell you our interaction was minimal with her as she wasn't as friendly or even cared to ask if we needed anything before i brought the cake out..**She rudely said to us as well some people come in to order coffee only and bring out a cake... Well, we would never do that and obviously i ordered 3 salmon lunch meals, one poke tuna lunch bowl and one lobster appetizer one cranberry jujice one coffee one tea subtotal bill: $257.64 and i added $36.00 total: $292.64 I know most people would not even to TIP if it was her alone.. she may get 5.00 tip but out of respect to the male server who was kind and friendly and asked if i needed anything when we got our food.She gave my mom a slice of bday cake. We Thanked her a few times... but we couldn't light the candle she left for 5min trying get lighter stating no one had a lighter....making the bday experience further worse... When we were leaving she ODDLY Said Happy bday to my mom yet she never addressed that to her during our lunch and my niece said no one was in the restaurant i guess she doesn't like people she had many opportunities to ask if we needed anything.or even wish my mom a happy birthday but she was too focused on being rude and had a stern look on her face at all times..I dont see how you can treat people like this and for those wondering why I didn't ask for the manager ?? No one was there and i didnt' want to make an issue out of the policy she stated. its' how she treated us and her look and demeanour that i felt she could've been nicer as well my niece said to me when we left how odd out of bar staff and kitchen no one has a lighter. very strange why...

Can I tell you how excited we were to return to Essence of Unionville! After a long pandemic closure, their Sunday brunch buffets resumed earlier this year. It’s still one of our favorite uptown brunch spots. The staff and management team, including our regular server, Barbara, warmly welcomed us back!

The seating and décor changed a bit, but our favorite booth was still available.

The buffet included:

Herb Crusted Pork Loin with Pineapple Glaze, Artic Char, Roast Turkey, Prime Rib, Omelet Station, Smashed Potatoes with French Herbs, Rigatoni Pasta with Baby Spinach, Grilled Vegetables in Tomato Sauce, Vegetable Fried Rice, Maple Glazed Seasonal Vegetables, Eggs Benedict, Canadian Bacon & Sausages, Soup of the Day (Potato Leek), Sushi & California Rolls, Smoked Salmon, Peel & Eat Shrimps, Marinated Mussels, Crab Clusters, Mixed Green Salad, Penne Pasta Salad, Baby Kale & Red Cabbage Slaw, Quinoa Salad, Mexican Street Corn Salad, Cheese Platter, Assorted Fresh Fruit and Assorted Deli Meats.

Croissants, Danishes, Scones, Kiwi Mousse, Chocolate Mousse, Assorted Tartlets, Carrot Cake, Green Tea Cake, Apple Crumble, New York Cheesecake, Crème Caramel, Chocolate Cake, Mango, Raspberry & Vanilla Sauce (delicious with their cheesecake)

What a list right? I might have missed some items! The buffet was just as delicious as we remembered. The first thing I ate was a scone! My husband keeps telling me to stop eating all the carbs, but the scones are my favorite!

Just like before, we were never rushed, and Barbara was lovely as always. We would get up, come back, and our juices were magically refilled. Tea and coffee is included in the price, and parking is complimentary (register your license plate with the hostess). Reservations are highly recommended!

Current price:...

Update: (July 13, 24) First thing first, 5 days came and gone, no direct or indirect contact of any kind from them, leaving a reply with an empty promise pretending to rectify their fault by leaving a reply saying I will be contacted direct but never follow through, this is the level of "Customer service" they are giving.

I must remind the "owner", I was your customer, I didn't get pay to inspect your business and your system. When there was an error in your system, how you fix your system has nothing to do with me as a customer, how you dealt with the situation was most important. The whole situation only ONE party took a lost and it definitely was me (CUSTOMER) I literally paid for YOUR mistake on the spot.

May I remind the "owner", all these happened on Father's Day, my objections were going no where when I brought up the error to the manager, so I had only 2 choices, pay or ruined Father's Day for everyone there. So I rather it just ruined MY own Father's Day.

Think about it, is basically I provided a better service then their manager .

Original review: We went for Father's Day special on Sunday, needed to be prebook online. With the booking confirmation page clearly stated ALL taxes and fees are included. When we were there that day, EVERYTHING was extra, with 15% service charge AND even added tax for service charge. Their manager "handled" the situation by telling me to go after their online booking system, surely didn't want to let this ruin our Father's Day and it didn't seem like I had a choice anyway. It should definitely be made aware of for...