Mother Tongue Asian Bistro & Cocktail Bar - Blue Mountain — Restaurant in The Blue Mountains

A group of 8 of us went out a few weeks ago, the server informed us right away the restaurants policy for groups 6+ is automatic gratuity and one bill, we said not a problem. We got our first round of drinks and we sat for a while, wondering where she was as we were hungry and wanted to order. Tables around us that came in around the same time were already eating. After we ordered our main courses, we wanted to order a bottle of wine and more water, couldn't find our server, so we flagged down another server and asked if we can order through her. Once the main courses showed up, all of us finished our drinks and no server. Food was amazing (for the record). My friend said, "where is our server, she hasn't been around all night and I would have loved to order a drink." I suggested I would speak to the manager, my friend said "wait, give her a chance, she's outside now, maybe she'll come to us," but she didn't. I decided to go in to speak to the manager. I too am a manager of fine dining restaurant and I understand how the industry works, but this restaurant was not full or super busy. Upon entering the restaurant, staff was inside standing around the bar (staff that could have assisted our server if she was overwhelmed).

I spoke to the manager, Jason, told him the situation, mentioned it was our friend's birthday we were celebrating. It didn't seem like he was paying attention to what I was saying or really caring. He said "what do you want me to do?" I didn't feel it was my job to tell him what to do, I said "I want you to say I'm so sorry this is the experience you've experienced, that this is not the standard this restaurant normally offers, that you will speak to the server." After realizing the conversation wasn't going anywhere, I said I would like for you to clear the dirty plates that have been sitting there for over 40 minutes and bring us the bill. Jason came outside with the bill and told me, he removed the gratuity. Of course we were still going to tip, whether she deserved the full % or not. Considering I had just mentioned it was my friend's birthday, a nice touch that wouldn't have cost the restaurant much would have been to 1) clear our plates which no one did 2) bring out a nice dessert on the house. If he had done that and asked the group if we wanted dessert, likely we would have spent even more money, got desserts and more drinks. Our bill was $700 for the record. He did nothing.

I called the next day as I wanted to speak to someone higher up, but was told I could not get their name/email/phone number but only Jason could give them mine. Jason told me he would do so but told me this person is very busy and he doesn't know when I will hear from him. I said, I understand him being busy but I will be following up. I called three more times after that and to be 100% honest, the impression I got from Jason is that he did not care at all and simply wanted me to give up and go away. If the owner in fact does not and can't return a phone call after 2 weeks of me waiting that speaks volumes to customer service and how little they do care. I never write reviews for the record, I never complain because of my background in this industry, but I also feel incredibly ignored. This situation was completely mishandled. I also told Jason, I understand that you guys are busy being in Blue Mountain with a lot of tourists, but our group frequently goes to Blue Mountain throughout the year.

Jason told me he could not at this point give us a refund of any kind, that he does not have the ability to do, which as a manager of a restaurant, I have done multiple times. He did not offer a gift card for us to come up and all of this is because he does not care for us to return.

Last point, none of this was to get anything for free, it was always about the principle. Customer service, acknowledging what we are saying and showing you care.

With that said, we will...

Response to Jason:

I get it was an asian salad. The restaurant was asian. But when asked which is better, she clearly said the fries because the salad is "asian" with a negative frown. It’s was very clear what her intentions were .

the experience wasn’t the best at the start when you came outside but that did not deter our mood when we got in and sat down. This only added to the so many items that it made it to the list in the end. When so many things go wrong, it only adds to the pile.

there was no accountability that was taken. The hospitality and restaurant industry is not for the weak. You, Jason were not able to apologize or make it right when we were there. You simply walked away, defending yourself only and then avoiding us, making yourself look busy even though the restaurant was empty. Unfortunately your response doesn’t make you look good at all. Being accountable and taking action would’ve turned the entire experience around and this was not done.

1 star. My five girlfriends and I had dinner at Mother Tongue in Blue Mountain this past Saturday, and unfortunately, our experience was incredibly disappointing from start to finish.

We had a reservation and arrived about 25 minutes early. We checked in with the hostess, who kindly told us it would be just a 5-minute wait. Totally fine. While waiting on their empty patio at one of their unused tables, a man in a dress shirt (Jason, manager) came outside and asked—rather hesitantly—if we needed anything. The vibe felt like he assumed we were loitering, not guests. We let him know we had a reservation and were waiting as advised. He went back inside.

Once seated, we started with drinks. Two of us ordered espresso martinis—one with tequila. The server clarified they couldn’t serve straight espresso, but they could make espresso martinis, which was exactly what we wanted. When the drinks came, they were served to the wrong people, and when we swapped and tasted them, they were awful—light brown, frothy, and tasted like powdered hot chocolate. Clearly, no espresso. We told the server, who took them away without any apology. She later returned with two “new” ones, but they were the exact same. We pulled aside the manager (same man from earlier), and told him we didn’t ask for replacements. His only response: “She just wanted to correct the mistake.” No apology, no offer of alternative drinks—nothing.

Next, when one of us asked whether the burger was better with fries or salad, the server said, “Fries, because the salad is… Asian.” Excuse me? There were two Asian women at the table. There are many ways to express a preference, but dismissing something because it’s “Asian” is incredibly inappropriate. It came across as ignorant at best, and racist at worst.

When the food arrived, things somehow got worse. Everything was either cold or just poorly made. The juicy dumplings were cold. The green curry chicken was bland and tasted like it came from a can—I’ve made better at home with store-bought ingredients. And while the restaurant was nearly empty (only about three tables occupied), we had to get up ourselves to bring our empty water jug to the bar for a refill. Zero attentiveness.

When the bill came, it was all on one tab with an automatic 18% gratuity. We felt the service was subpar at best and asked to speak to the manager, Jason again. Instead of listening or offering to make things right, he kept interrupting, focused on defending himself and asking, “What did I do wrong?” even as I tried to explain the situation and the server’s offensive comment.

The entire staff—from server to manager, Jason—needs serious training. There was no apology, no accountability, and no sense of how to handle customers with basic respect or care.

Please save your time and money. The food and service here are absolutely...

Bad experience with management. Multiple families from my child's school booked a last minute trip to Blue Mountain. When we arrived at our 6:15 reservation, we saw two other families from my friend's school there. This was not planned. We all happen to be South Asian families.

Upon check in, we asked if it were possible for us to be seated close to each other given our kids are school friends. The assistant manager seemed very irritated at this request. She said that large parties needed to be booked separately with advanced notice and accused us of making multiple small reservations for a large family. (We are not related). She said that she would accomodate us as a large party of 12 if we shared one bill with an 18 per cent grat. When we declined the large party seating offer, she seemed very irritated with us. She then told the host to seat us as far apart from each other as possible and referred to us as 'those people.' We didn't want to create confusion on a busy long weekend, so we politely smiled and said whatever you can do is fine.

When we were seated, we were in the same dining room as my son's best friend from school. Both tables beside them were empty and all of the tables in our server's section that were around them were empty. There was hardly anyone there. When we asked our server if we could move closer to our son's friend, she said yes of course. It was empty! But then she came back and said management instructed her that because we were trying to 'break the rules' she could not move us anywhere.

When the assistant manager came out to speak to us, she repeated tropes of us being related and trying to book a large party as separate bookings (like what?! We just wanted the kindergarten friends to be closer if possible). She had no explanation as to why we couldn't move to an empty table in the same section. She just shrugged her shoulders. She did not apologize or offer any explanation that made any sense.

I have never been to a restaurant where management goes out of their way to try to negatively impact your experience and do whatever they can do to prove a point when it's well with in their control to create a better experience. At best, the manager was mean spirited or frustrated and took it out on us and my kids. More likely, she holds racial bias towards South Asians and this irritation over rule breaking and then subsequent over policing, instructing the staff not to move us etc is microaggression. Regardless it is egregious behaviour for anyone in the service industry.

The food was decent. The server was really nice. We tipped well despite the terrible experience because we didn't want to add to the trope that people that look like us are cheap or don't tip. But we will never come back here again, nor should anyone South Asian unless the assistant manager does some implicit bias/customer service training. Clearly they didn't offer it during her diploma from Georgian college.

Pic below of just some of the empty tables in the section we could not be moved to because we are...