Salang Kabob House — Restaurant in Ottawa

Four stars for the food, five stars for the service but negative 5 stars for the way a situation over a rude and completely ignorant customer was handled by the owner/chef. I was in for a late lunch on a Thursday afternoon with my two year old daughter, my parents and four friends. As we were finishing up, paying our bills this man walks in and sits down at a table that had been cleared but apparently not wiped down. (There were many other open, clean tables) Our server (the only one working) was taking our payment from my father at the cash register when this man yells something in half English half Arabic at the waitress who responds “I’ll be the in just a second”. As my father is returning to our table this man charges up to the counter speaking very loudly once again half in English and half in Arabic, berating, insulting and calling the waitress names about how his table was dirty and it wasn’t dealt with immediately. The exchange continued for a couple minutes, customer continuing to speak to this lady like she was a piece of dirt. The owner/chef finally comes out from the back and the man starts telling him what a terrible server the lady was and says he didn’t yell at her as he continued to call her names, she was a liar and should be fired. After witnessing the name calling and berating himself the owners reaction was to calm the customer down but more or less taking his side and returns to the kitchen. At this point with our coats on, my daughter in my arms felt I could not leave without saying something. I Approached the waitress who was still at the cash, obviously rattled and expressed my sympathies to her and asked to speak with the owner myself to which she obliged so I went into the back and told the owner what I had witnessed. To my disappointment the owner brushed it off like it was no big deal and this single customer no matter how he treated his employee was worth keeping around instead of taking the $20 loss, growing a pair, telling this man his behaviour was rude and archaic, would not be tolerated in his establishment and to get the hell out and...

UPDATE October 2024: I had a phone call with the manager who was deeply apologetic for the situation and refunded me the money. My thanks to Salang for correcting the mistake. I have revised my rating accordingly.

This place is either dishonest or incompetent. And the food is mid.

What do I mean by dishonest or incompetent?

I made a Door Dash order and paid by credit card online. When I came to the restaurant to pick up the order, they insisted on charging me. I had left my phone in the car so I didn't have the receipt handy. They charged my credit card.

While packing my order, they spilled oil all inside the bag, so had to repack it.

I went to get my phone and confirmed that I had already paid by Door Dash online. I asked them to give me a refund on what they charged me in the store. The person at the counter said they did something to refund it, but wouldn't give me a receipt for the refund. I asked for confirmation that the refund went through but one knew how to do that at the restaurant. They made me wait 15 minutes until the owner or somebody else could come.

We wait. Someone shows up and shows me their point of sale system saying that the refund has been made. Tired of waiting, I take their word for it at this point and leave.

Fast forward a month later and I see on my credit card statement that no refund was made for the charge in the store (Door Dash charge was still there too). I've had to file a dispute with the credit card company about this charge now.

The worst part is that the food was just meh too. Never coming back...

This place have been opened for quite a while. I only recently review it as it crossed my mind while eating another amazing platter of shami kabob. I have tried many things ... if not all items. Certain items take time so I cant complain as it's not their fault. Otherwise it's pretty average in serving time. I always loved chaplee meals and half roasted tandoori chicken as my top choices. Other items are also amazing. It all comes with rice and salad plus one freshly baked tandoori naan. It is worth the price as everything is freshly baked or cooked. The salad has always been fresh. I feel like I well treated myself after every platter. I would give it a 5 but I encounter a few minor things that made me lower my rating. Many occasions I placed a chaplee order but when seated they approached and said chaplee is not available. Please tell before hand as it occured more than once. Also I never understood when they either brought naan minutes before our meal or we had to wait for naan sometimes when we were almost finished. These parts of service can improve and be avoided. Edited : Chaplee is on menu but they don't take orders for it. Such a disappointment and...