Jerusalem Restaurant — Restaurant in Toronto

I'm writing this review because of our experience last night. We have been customers of the restaurant for over 20 years, and we will not be returning - not for dine-in or takeout/delivery.

The food was fine (not great, but fine). That's not my beef. It was the poor service and lack of caring by management that motivate me to write this review.

We ordered delivery from a service. Among other things, we ordered 6 pita breads and a medium-sized hummus. In the notes, we added," please send hot sauce".

When the bag arrived, it contained a little container of hot sauce (as requested and expected), but instead of the medium-sized hummus, we got a medium-sized container full of hot sauce... So, now we have a ridiculous amount of hot sauce, but no hummus, for which we paid $10.

I called the restaurant. The young woman working the phone explained that they had interpreted "please send hot sauce" as "please replace the $10 hummus with a huge vat of hot sauce to supplement the free one they're already giving us". I tried to explain that her interpretation of my request was entirely unreasonable and that, if she wasn't clear on the request, then they could have called, as many other restaurants do.

I explained that we wanted the hummus delivered to us for dinner that night. We live 4km away. It would have been little effort to send it via uber or taxi to us. She couldn't offer that - just a store credit for a hummus the next time I'm in. Not good enough. If I were dining in the restaurant, this problem would have been fixed on the spot. For takeout/delivery, I'm charged the same in-restaurant prices with no accountability or service if there's a mistake. I told her all this and asked to speak to the manager.

After a 4-minute wait, the same woman came back on the line to tell me that the manager won't talk to me, and the best they can do is a credit for a hummus the next time I'm in. I told the young woman to tell the manager that this mistake and their refusal to make it right cost them a 20-year customer. I guess, to this manager, a loyal longtime customer is not worth the $6 Uber charge it would have cost them to make it right.

I know restaurants where the manager themselves get in a car to correct errors like this. Why would they do something like that? Because it shows the full-price paying delivery customers that you actually care about providing good service. Those customers will appreciate the gesture, keep ordering and will visit and dine in-person with you as well. Jerusalem's management would be wise to focus on the quality of the food and customer satisfaction on the takeout side, not just the dining room. One impacts the other, as their evening manager now hopefully understands.

I patronize restaurants that respect and value my business. I will not be giving Jerusalem Restaurant my business any longer....

This one really hurts to write because these are my people, and I truly love the kind of food they’re trying to serve here — but there are some major problems with how it’s being done.

I went on a Sat night for 2nd dinner.

Let’s start with the bill: I paid $486.64, tax and a forced tip included — I wasn’t even given an option to adjust or choose it myself. But honestly, that’s not even the biggest issue.

I went there to celebrate Easter and was excited, especially after a long fast. Unfortunately, the food was a big disappointment. For my first plate, I picked the Kofta Kabab and the Chicken Kabab right beside it. I was excited to finally eat, but halfway through my plate, it felt like I got punched in the gut. The chicken was dry like cardboard, and the meat had so much bread filler in it that it lost all its moisture and flavor.

I figured I’d move on and try the seafood section. I grabbed a piece of white fish that looked amazing and a few shrimp to go with it. When I got back to the table, I split the fish with my wife — I thought it had no taste at all, while she said it tasted muddy. The shrimp was way overcooked, probably from sitting in hot water for too long. To make it worse, my brother-in-law pointed out that all the shrimp still had their intestines intact — full of stuff you really don’t want to be eating.

As for the atmosphere, it’s decent but definitely showing its age at this point. The dancer was great, though, and definitely appreciated.

It’s hard for me to say this, but after this experience, it would be tough to...

Although we’ve lived in this neighborhood for the last 10 years it was our first time at Jerusalem. The moment you enter the dining room you can smell freshly baked bread which they bring right to your table. The restaurant ambience is really nice and the staff is highly professional. As our first time going to a Mediterranean buffet we had no clue what to expect so here is just an idea of the spread for lunch buffet if you are looking to try it out. There was a wide array of salads like chickpea, tabouleh, chicken pasta salad crab salad and Greek & a variety of dips and condiments including (but not limited to) labneh, hummus, garlic dip and tahini, olives, sundried tomatoes etc… Lots of variety for vegetarians like potatoes, eggplant, okra, lentils and for the meat lovers - beef stew, chicken curry, chicken wings, roast chicken, kebabs and seafood wise, they had mussels and 2 types of whole fried fish. They had a little section for pizza (cheese, pepperoni and za’atar). I particularly enjoyed their falafels which were fresh and crisp on the outside and soft on the inside as well as their pizza with za’atar. Incredibly delicious!!! From what we were told, they serve roast lamb for weekend dinners and switch up on seafood with calamari and shrimps. Their dessert section had 2 types of pudding, banana bread, lots of fruits-fresh strawberries, tangerines, dates, grapes etc and some other cookies and Arabic halva. All in all the food was fresh and flavourful and we highly recommend this restaurant based on our...