松屋 Pine House Cafe - Steeles — Restaurant in Toronto

This restaurant is a typlical HK style 西餐廳/茶餐廳. To be fair, the food itself was kinda ok. We ordered 2 afternoon tea sets: fried fish and fries + hot milk tea, and french toast with peanut butter + iced milk tea/coffee. We approved the taste, but after this meal I had mild diarrhea for 2 days. My mom was fine though. So I guess it depends on what you ordered.

However, there's 2 reasons why I'll never come back here again:

The servers were EXTREMELY LOUD. By loud I mean literally screaming right next to our ears, screaming across the whole floor, and screaming from inside the kitchen. I'm very used to servers chatting in the restaurants. For some reasons, it's very common in HK restaurants. I don't like it but as long as they're in moderation and not too loud to interrupt our conversation, I can live with that. But when we're at Pine House Cafe, the servers were talking loud the whole time. A full hour of non-stop talking, yelling, screaming and laughing. Also they like to slam cabinet doors. My ears literally hurt after each slam. The noise was horrible. I could barely chat with my mom. We both agreed it was the worst we've ever encountered, not only in North America, but also including our years in HK.

There's some sort of questionable smell in the restaurant. I'd describe it as a mixed of old urine and fermented food. However, when I used their restroom I didn't smell anything bad. Why the seating area has urine smell but restroom has not. It's a million dollar question.

For me a 40+ yr old person who were born and raised in HK, lived in Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po many years growing up, I'm very used to all kinds of low-end eateries, cafes and restaurants. That being said, this restaurant still managed to surprise me even with my already low standard.

So, if you ever wanna try Pine House Cafe, please...

I don’t even know where to start with Pine House Café, but let me just say this: avoid this place like the plague. This was hands down one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had.

First off, the café is ridiculously small and cramped. There’s no room to breathe, and navigating through the tables feels like an obstacle course. To make matters worse, the crowd here is incredibly rude—mostly older Hong Kong patrons who act like they own the place. I was pushed by someone, and the staff just stood there and watched, completely indifferent. Not a single apology or acknowledgment.

Speaking of the staff, they are by far the worst people in customer service I’ve ever encountered. They have the most disgusting attitudes, acting like they’re doing you a favor just by taking your order. I paid for my food, and yet I was treated with nothing but hostility. No smiles, no politeness, and when I asked for help with something, they rolled their eyes and muttered under their breath. It’s as if they hate their jobs and are taking it out on the customers.

It’s shocking that management hasn’t done anything about this because the staff should absolutely be fired. They don’t care about you, your experience, or even basic human decency. Honestly, I don’t know why this place is still open.

Save yourself the headache and go literally anywhere else. Pine House Cafe is an absolute disaster of a restaurant and...

We had come to this plaza with the intention of going to a different restaurant for lunch but my friend, who's been here many times, suggested I try this place. I'm always open to trying new places so why not?

We got there just in time to get the last table. It was busy! After looking over the menus, we ordered Pork Ribs with Bitter Melon and Black Bean sauce, served over white rice, and Rice Noodles with Beef and Bean Sprouts. Both dishes included a bowl of soup and a warm beverage. Almost every dish on the menu was under ten dollars so it was a very good value.

The soups arrived first - a Chinese herbal broth and Russian borscht. Huh? Russian borscht? In a Chinese restaurant? Whatever. They were good. I tasted both but had the borscht and enjoyed it!

The other dishes showed up shortly after and they both looked good! They tasted good, too! The servings were very generous, enough to take home for dinner.

Unfortunately, while eating the leftovers for dinner, I encountered a problem, a potentially very big problem! I was chewing and felt something tough. At first I thought it may have been a piece of dried noodle but when I spat it out, it was a piece of stainless steel scouring pad! I could have swallowed it! Needles to say, I lost my appetite.

As much as I enjoyed the food from this place, this experience has turned me off from giving them another...