Spice Nosh Brunch & Bar — Restaurant in Mississauga

I'm going to try to be as objective as possible within this review to give some honest feedback. To being I am going to start with the negatives so that everyone can read this thoroughly.

Cons

Today, I had the opportunity to try a place that I've never experienced before. I had previously heard good things, and saw good reviews (more on this later), so i decided to give it a go.

When I first arrived, it took about 10 minutes to be seated (honestly not that bad), however I was never really acknowledged or told I'd be seated when I was trying to ask. I just felt like I was being inconvenient. Once finally seated, no one came by to take my order or bring water for around 15-20 minutes. I think they actually forgot about me.

Once my order was finally taken, I waited close to an hour to have the food brought to me. I don't think I have ever waited this long before for food service in my life. Now I can completely understand a restaurant has more guests/customers, and can get busy. That is reasonable. But to wait an hour for a simple order, is honestly a bit outrageous. People that came in 10-15 minutes after me somehow received their food before me (this made me even more upset). At the very least treat us all poorly, or at least come check on me and give me an update. I shouldn't have to ask after 40 minutes if I'll be eating my pancake today or tomorrow. There needs to be a better priority system in place. I don't understand the backend of a kitchen and I won't pretend to know. Maybe certain meals come out quicker because most of the prep work is done. Very possible, but this shouldn't excuse an hour wait for a very simple order.

Now to speak about the reviews!

I genuinely wouldn't trust them. I looked at the reviews today and there were several, justified, one star reviews. All of a sudden an influx of almost a dozen new 5 star reviews pop up? All of them explaining how amazing service is, and referencing particular servers? While this may not seem odd at first glance. This restaurant gets about 2 reviews a day (at that). The moment they get backlash, they receive dozens of new 5 star reviews? I am speculating, but this seems to me that they are offering some form of incentive and asking for a 5 star review. This incentive may be in the form of a free dish, or discount. Again, I cannot confirm, I wasn't there, but it screams fishy to me, and we all know that businesses use these types of tactics to build better reviews (or in this case negate the several negative ones). Never once during my time there was I told my servers name, they didn't particularly seem like they cared. All of a sudden, people have the names of amazing servers and the great dishes they tried. Coincidence? I THINK NOT. Be weary of these reviews that seems to exaggerate "how good" this place is.

Pros

Now. I cannot say that I will offer an objective review without offering some positives. Honestly the place itself has a nice layout. The outdoor space is a nice vibe and the indoor space gives a nice homey feeling.

The food - honestly not much to say here other than it was actually pretty good. I can't lie. Kudos to the kitchen team on the flavours (their priority system may be in shambles, but they can cook up some good stuff).

Conclusion

Is their good food enough to suffer through the absolute void that is their service? The answer is honestly no. I cannot endure that again. Unless the next meal is made by Gordan Ramsey himself, I will have to decline. With all of this said, if the restaurant team tightened up and became more organized then this would actually be a decent spot to go to. No one person failed today, your established system failed (so don't go yelling at the service team). Everyone needs to take accountability as a collective. You're a team, act like it.

Also - if you're going to make someone wait an hour for food, please offer something complimentary (even if it's a drink). The overall unapologetic tone didn't sit well with me. At least try to better the already poor experience.

Thanks for coming to...

Really wanted to like this place but they were just too unorganized. They had a long wait but no list. Depending on who you spoke to, you might get forgotten or seated before tables waiting longer than you. It was cold in restaurant, they didn't adjust for weather or a set temperature that made sense indoors. The water cups were wet all over and sus. Couldn't tell if they were clean or dirty. Others got a water jug, we didn't. Had to wipe down my chair of food before I sat, then came to check the chair next to me and something had spilled and dried on it. Need a better process for cleaning and turning over tables. Understaffed, everyone was doing everything so it takes a while before you can place your order and too long before the food comes out. Your waiter is picking up phones, clearing tables on the opposite end of the restaurant and talking to new guests. They're really nice but just too busy. The food was good, except I've never been to a brunch place where your only coffee option is regular brewed coffee. They have Chai, but if you're looking for a latte or a cappuccino with your brunch, look elsewhere. It's also more expensive than other brunch places, particularly for what you get. I ordered the French toast which should come with a side of fruit and syrup. The side of fruit was less than half a strawberry (a few very thin slices) and a tenth of an orange. No syrup. I paid $6 to add 3 strips of bacon. I don't think people mind paying more if they're getting what's advertised, but this was disappointing. The potatoes were great, same with the bacon and eggs. The sausage was weird, didn't seem "meaty". Overall the meal was unsatisfying as a brunch, which would have made up for the cold, hectic atmosphere if menu execution and coffee were better. Won't be back unless I'm in the area and there is no wait. Wouldn't be worth the wait. And even then, my choices of what to to order would definitely be limited. Definitely wouldn't recommend if you don't like south Asian spices, as you'd not have many options because too many of their dishes had unswappable spicy twists. If that's your preferred palette you should definitely give this...

I rarely post a negative review but in this case our experience was so terrible that, I feel a review is warranted. My wife and I thought we would give this restaurant a try and continue our practice of supporting local restaurants. This restaurant is quite new and displaying a huge street sign advertising $9.99 Breakfast (see photo).

Summary…. The aforementioned breakfast special is misleading and false advertising and I was instructed by the server that it only applies Mon - Fri inclusive (we visited on a Sunday). The sign has been displayed for a few months with no wording indicating that the special is limited to Mon-Fri….clearly false advertising as brought to the attention of our server and later the Manager/Owner upon leaving. We proceeded to order breakfast from the regular menu (Greek omelet & Masala omelet). The service was friendly and average in wait-time. Upon receipt of the two breakfast dishes we noticed that the Greek omelet contained allot of salt. Honestly, such a large amount of salt that we left the omelet with only two bites taken. The second omelet contained a weird spice and/or seasoning which was not to our liking and was left basically untouched.

I sincere hope this review is taken in the spirit intended. We clearly did not enjoy the food but from the full restaurant it appears other patrons apparently enjoy the food and experience?

In summation, we were looking for a traditional, Canadian breakfast which was not as experienced. More importantly, the $9.99 Breakfast Special sign is clearly false advertising and does not contain any wording specifying it applies Mon-Fri...shameful! Obviously, we will not be frequenting this establishment again….so many alternative breakfast options in very close proximity.

Important Update…. After 2 weeks has passed and conversation with the Manager/owner the sign has “not” been changed and remains misleading and fraudulent…obviously the original intent of management is to mislead the public….absolutely shameful behaviour! (See photo...