BISTRO SAM 716 TURKISH GRILL HALAL TOURISTIQUE — Restaurant in Quebec

I chose this place because I'm Turkish and wanted to try Turkish food. My food was very spicy, for me as I have a sensitive stomach. The server should have informed us about the spiciness beforehand.

Ayran was not listed on the menu, but we asked for it, and the server said they needed to check and ask the chef. In restaurants, drinks usually come first, but here, the ayran arrived after 1 hour we finished our meals. Two of my siblings had finished their meals, and they didn't need the drinks anymore.

Even though my brother wanted a wrap, it took a very long time for the wrap to arrive, almost half an hour. The restaurant wasn't crowded at all; it was almost empty, so the wait was quite long.

They made the ayran at the back, but it took nearly an half an hour to bring it. It usually takes about 5 minutes to prepare, but here, it took so long. Also, as I said before, the food was too spicy and had nothing to do with Turkish cuisine. To be honest, it was almost tasteless and lacked flavor.

Now, let's get to the main issue. My family and I live in Ontario. Until now, nobody has forced us to give a tip, but this server came to our table to show the bill and said, "This amount goes to government," and he demanded a 15% tip from my mom. My mom was already going to give him a tip, but it seems like he didn't like the amount and forcefully asked for a higher tip. He even shamelessly showed the machine saying he demanded 15%.($18)

My mom was shocked and told him that tipping is not mandatory, but the server said it's mandatory in Quebec??? if the service is provided. Of course, you should serve, you are a server. It is our choice to give a tip or not. He tried to interfere with how much we should give as a tip. Like what?

Honestly, I've never experienced such a ridiculous situation in my life. The server forcefully demanded a tip from us and still wasn't satisfied with what we gave, asking for more. He claimed it was mandatory here, but that's not true; how much we tip is our decision.

After leaving the restaurant, just to be sure, I checked the internet, and there was nothing as the man claimed. Even though, yesterday we went to a sushi restaurant the server never wanted a tip from us or said that "tip is mandatory here". Giving a tip is entirely the customer's decision; if they are satisfied, they can give a tip, but it is not mandatory. Nobody can force you to do it.

Finally, I personally would't visit this place again. Hope they...

Let me just start this off by saying that I don't give a lot of 1 star reviews but this place definitely deserves it. Any restaurant that treats customers this badly just doesn't deserve anyone visiting. Please note (especially if you're from out-of-town and just looking for a halal or Turkish option), you should spend your money elsewhere. One of the managers (he claimed to be called Max and said that he was just another waiter) spilled an entire can of a Coke on one member of our party. I'm not even exaggerating- it was an ENTIRE can. She was soaked and so was the baby. What's the best course of action for any reasonable restaurant? Apologize? Seat the customers at another place that's not soaked in Coke? Offer something complimentary? Comp a portion of the meal as an apology for ruining someone's expensive clothes? The answer this guy had- none of the above. NOT EVEN AN APOLOGY. I asked him about it- at first he refused to acknowledge it. Then, after a few more seconds of arguing, he said, 'Okay. Fine. It was my mistake. What do you want?' He brought his face right up to me in a threatening manner. Apologize at the very least, buddy, instead of arguing with customers and keep your distance? I asked him to comp just that single meal. He said, 'Why should I pay for her meal? If you break the glass here, would you pay for it?' I told him that I would pay for anything that I broke but he just started arguing and arguing and arguing. You spilled Coke all over your customers and you just want to argue with us? I asked him if he was going to pay to replace her clothes instead since now he's admitted that he made a mistake. He said that he would not and just started getting close to our faces in an extremely threatening manner.

So, yeah. Don't be a guest in this wonderful city and be treated like this. You deserve better! By the way, the food was average, at best. Picture below. This should cost half of what it does. The potatoes were rock hard. The salad was insultingly small. The entire middle of the plate has one green chili. Initially, I thought it was some sort of joke. The 'pizza' (not pictured) was even worse. Calling this 'Turkish' is an insult to that cuisine. Please spend your money elsewhere and trust the...

I wish there could be 0 for this restaurant and l hope anyone plan to go there they read the reviews before they order anything from them. We were visitors from Ontario and once we stepped in the waitress made gestures as she does not want us there additionally she said ok you can only order grill nothing else. it is the first time that l have seen a restaurant does not want to get customers in and limit their menu options. We were two family with kids and because of not having time we sat and ordered what they asked us to order (only grills). The portions were very small, meat was not well cooked also the kebap was so hot we were not able to eat, and did not like the taste. They did not bring small empty plates for kids. We got everything by ourselves so the service was not nice😏as a last step we asked for bill and l paid it but the machine was in french so l did not understand clicked and paid. Once we were leaving the restaurant the owner came with the bill and was saying you did not give any tip this is not good we said ok we can pay cash then they started refusing the money. We said ok and leaving the restaurant but they were talking behind us in french and once we went back and ask what is going on tip is tip if it is a must you should wrote somewhere then he was saying this is not professional but wording it out was professional for him and definitely they were begging for tip😏 Poor beggars definitely because of their attitude l disgusted what l ate and what l felt. In Ontario we went to restaurants pretty often and have never seen anyone begging for any tip it does not matter if you paid...