Roses Cafe Senso — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

Senso has some great variety of food options and certainly doesn't dissapoint when it comes to taste and quality.

I absolutely love the food (Especially the very authentic persian "Ash-e-sabzi"). Also to add that the drinks and juices are all fresh and being made all right in front of you!

However there are a few points that I want to mention which takes away that five star experience and because of things like these we have a been visiting here less often lately:

As many people have mentioned the price for many of the menu items are high and just don't make sense. The caesar salad for example is more expensive than upscale restaurants like the keg(!), and not by a small margin, about 30% difference.

The service quality definitely is lacking in some areas and is not matching with the rather high price of the menu. For example, Almost every diner, restaurant or food business in north america offers you cold water as soon as you sit down without even asking for it.

But for some unknown reason either the staff have not been trained on this or there is some hesitancy to give you that glass of water! There was one time where I had to ask for water and to our suprise the waitress only came back with just one glass of water for me and not for the rest of the table!

Same goes for offering enough napkins, doing table check-backs and so on...

Aside from this, as a usual theme with persian food businesses the place seems a bit understaffed. Let's be honest 2 waitresses cannot support 50 people dining at the same time. It's just math.

If you choose a seat by the windows you are guaranteed to be frozen by the very cold air coming from the above in those area. And at the times where we asked the staff to lower the coldness they were like 🤷‍♀️. Sorry nothing we can do.

The quality of silverware etc doesn't go with the price range for the food items.

There is some historical hardship with just being able to scan the QR codes in this place. Previously there was some combo of triple QR codes offered on the table, and people had to guess which one is instagram,google or the actual menu. I myself got super confused the first time, but also saw many people in person (in other tables) getting confused on why really there should be 3 different QR codes on the table (not to mention some outdoor tables just didn't have QR codes on them at all).

Lately we went to Senso and noticed that they probably understood the issue and switched to only a single QR code. But hilariously the QR badge is only on one edge of the table, (which sometimes there isn't even a seat behind it). So for a party of 4 guests should all stretch their hand across each other and bend a long way into each other one at a time to just scan the menu!

Things should be simple, people want to order, get food, pay quickly and get out.

Would be nice if calory amount is included on the menu. Most of the food (and drink) items are very calory heavy so it's only fair to include them to help people with dietary and health restrictions.

Also special request to the owners if you read this: Please add some paninies to...

I recently visited this café with a group of 12 friends, and while there were some positive aspects, the overall experience was disappointing due to several issues.

The Good😊 The café itself is beautiful, with a modern and stylish design that makes it an inviting place to relax and enjoy a meal. The atmosphere was cozy and aesthetically pleasing, which made for a pleasant environment to spend time in. The staff were friendly and professional, which was another highlight of our visit. Every item, from food to drinks, was served in lovely plates and cups, adding a nice touch to the experience. I made sure to check with all of my friends, and overall, the taste of the food, coffee, and tea was good.

The Not-So-Good😐 However, there were a few major issues that took away from what could have been a great experience. The café operates on a first-come, first-served basis, and there is no reservation system. This meant that we had to wait in our cars for more than 15 min for a pager to notify us when our table was ready, which felt disorganized and inconvenient, especially for a large group.

Another issue was the pricing, which felt excessive. For example, I paid the same price for a small serving of Halim that I could have bought in a store for double the size. The food and drinks were definitely on the pricier side for what they offered.

One of the most disappointing moments came when we received our bills. Each family paid separately, but when we tried to settle the bill, the staff informed us that, because our group was larger than 10, an automatic 18% tip was added to the total. While tips are common, this felt a bit excessive without prior notice or the option to adjust it based on the service.

To top it off, when I asked for honey instead of sugar with my drink (since I don’t consume sugar), I was charged $2 for what amounted to just two teaspoons of honey. When I addressed the charge with the manager, his response was unbelievable. He explained that since the café paid for the honey, they had to charge me for it, which felt completely unreasonable. I felt taken advantage of, especially since the rest of my group had already paid extra for being a larger party.

Overall, the beautiful café and good service were overshadowed by the overpriced items, cramped space, and unprofessional handling of simple requests. The boss’s dismissive attitude and unreasonable charges left a bad taste in my mouth, and after this experience, none of my 12 friends or I will be returning.

I hope the management reconsiders their approach to pricing, customer service, and transparency, as this café has potential. However, until these issues are addressed, it’s hard to...

I like to support local business, so I was excited for Sunday brunch here with an old friend., who drove in from another city to join me. I had never been to a Persian cafe so I really wanted to check it out. This was my first time patronizing this local cafe and it didn’t meet my expectations. We booked our spot and the place was inviting when we arrived. The female waitresses had a very uniformed and poised look. Too bad the customer service was not pretty though, other than pointing us to our seats. Sadly, we noticed that other patrons got better service than us two who happened to be noticeably non-Persian. Never once did the waitress come back to the table after taking our initial order for tea. We were there from 10:30 am to 12:00. And while we noticed that the waitress checked in on the next table FIVE times, never once did she or anyone else circle back to us. That left a sour taste in my mouth. The only thing that kept me there was the saffron tea ($7.99) that I was drinking and the great convo I was having with my old friend; though the cafe was a bit noisy. But the cafe was packed as we got closer to 12 pm. Then out of the blue there was this super loud music that drowned out every other sound. It seemed to be some sort of celebration as the staff was clapping along with some customers. For the rest of us, it was excruciatingly loud. When the person at cash was asked about the sound being too loud, she replied that the music was ok. The music continued blasting loud for a bit longer before it was lowered. If it was a night club, maybe I would understand, but a Sunday morning brunch to hear super loud music without warning is not inky startling but it definitely a vibe killer. By then it was 12 and we still didn’t get to order a bite, so we paid for the two teas and left. For such a nice spot, they Gotto up the customer service and recognize ALL paying customers equally. If there was something that the customer needs to do for ordering a meal, then that needs to be clear. I hope the establishment will take this as an honest, constructive feedback. This place has the potential to be great, if the customer service can...