Sabina's Casual Dining & Pub - Pickering — Restaurant in Pickering

Decided to go here with a few friends and I wonder why I chose this place. To start with the advertising is wrong. They do not have happy hour from 8pm to close. We got there around 745pm. Only ordered one round of drinks before 8pm and then ordered everything else after 8pm. Pricing was not honored nor the daily deals. Our server seemed to be new which is fine cause everyone has to start somewhere but she didn't have much knowledge of the menu or drinks. The food was mediocre. We asked for our food to be spicy and nothing was spicy. The Mutton Pizza was good. The Steak Plate overall lacked flavor, but the gravy helped a lot. The Curry Pasta was heavy on coconut and lacked flavor. The Meatlovers Pasta was bland. The Pepper Chicken App was ok. The Jaffna Fire flavored wings was mild. Normally Jaffna flavored anything is spicy but this was just not spicy. They have TV's around the place and a private room for parties. Overall I'm just disappointed for the false advertising and specials. I wouldn't mind paying the regular price if the food was good but I'm just not happy with the meals and drinks. With the drinks, I got coke on the side and there was no ice at the bar for them to give me a drink with ice. The cups and cutlery did not seem clean. I had to polish my own utensils before using and my shot cups looked like it had lip stains on it. I didn't say anything as I didn't know what to expect as our server seemed to be new as mentioned above. I am disappointed in myself for recommending this place. I don't know if it's new owners or not but hopefully they take this into consideration as they are on social media advertising themselves to draw in...

I had a terrible experience with the owner that I think is important to share. We were trying to book Sabina's for a celebration of life for my brother who recently passed away. In addition to incredibly invasive questions about the details of my brother's passing that sounded like an outtake from a forensic TV show, he was very rude - kept speaking over us, and not listening to what we were asking to do. Up until that time, we were still prepared to go forward - it's just business, right? We weren't shopping around for new friends. We just wanted a place where our family and friends could gather to celebrate and remember my brother. Now, here is why I am writing this review. As we looked at the menu to decide what to serve, and were costing it out (we needed to know we could afford it, right?) he leaned over and said 'Why are you thinking about the money? Your brother was rich.' We were simply shocked at his rudeness and insensitivity. He was aware that our brother passed only a few days ago, unexpectedly. WHAT KIND OF PERSON TREATS GREIVING FAMILY THAT WAY? He kept repeating that as we left the restaurant, telling him we would hold my brother's wake elsewhere. We will be paying more, and I am fine with that. What is most important for me is that we have a place that will treat us with respect and where we can connect with the people most important to my brother and say goodbye with food, fellowship and drink. Can you imagine if this man aaid that to my mother, or said some other equally tasteless and rude thing? We dodged a bullet by not booking at Sabina's I can tell you. Too bad no stars isn't an option. How you treat people...

When Sabina's opened it was a fairly reliable place to get decent quality pub style food. Service was prompt and and pleasant and prices were fair. Being British, I like to get some British Pub Grub, they do have a small selection on their menu, but this isn't the best place if that's what you're looking for - I wasn't impressed with their meat pies - just a separately cooked flaky pasty top on top of a bowl of gravy/meat. I'm not too keen on their fish and chips either - it didn't seem to be battered in-house but more like a frozen battered filet. Initially I found the food quality to be acceptable and soon learned what items to avoid, but lately everything that I have ordered has missed the mark. This week I tried their chicken parm - I received a breast of chicken flattened to within an inch of its life and then left to cook a bit too long - the bread coating was almost black, it just wasn't a nice dish. The spaghetti was OK, but the marinara sauce was very watery. The pasta comes with an option of alfredo or marinara - I asked for a bit of both, but the waitress told me that the pasta was only a very small portion - I don't know why the size of the pasta has anything to do with my sauce request, but for her to advertise that the portions were very small is accurate - portion sizes used to be more generous. It seems to me that this restaurant isn't able to sustain the quality that they first offered for the prices that they offer, so I won't be visiting here as often anymore. The service is still prompt and friendly however, and it's always easy to find a...