SugarKane — Restaurant in Toronto

My two work/school colleagues and I went there on Sept 14, 2023 for dinner. It was our first time at this restaurant, so needless to say, we were excited. My friends arrived after I did so we proceeded to order drinks, appetizers and our entrees. I had the Strawberry Pineapple Mojito... $13. it had very little alcohol in it, but I let it slide and drank it. The appetizers were good Cod Fish Cakes $15, and the Pimento Spinach Dip $18. (We couldn't taste any Pimento, it was ok to eat.) We were enjoying each other's company as we hadn't seen each other in a long while. Our Entrees arrived, Jambalaya with rice (mine), Oxtail fusion, and Blackened Salmon were my friends' orders. I took one full fork seving of my Jambalaya and immediately I said oh my gosh, something is not right wth this. It's not tasty at all, blandish, a little burnt taste. My friend tried a little of it and felt the same as I. I called our male server and told him that I Could not eat this as it had no taste, something was missing. He told me that I may be charged a 30% charge of the meal because of the ingredients in the food. I said to him, what ingredients? I asked him to get the manager. The manager/owner arrived several minutes later. She didn't even tell us her name. I explained that my meal was inedible and it had no taste, and I couldn't eat it at all. She said sorry, but I will have to charge you a 30% of the cost of the meal ($26×30%). I asked her why, she simply stated that when the food leaves the kitchen that was it. Of course, I took the high road after realizing that she wouldn't budge and was showing us a bit of attitude. Incidentally, I noticed that she paid more attention to other non-black clientele than she did to the black clientele. I know what I am saying because I was there a little while before my friends arrived. My friends and I are legal justice professionals. She, the manager, then proceeded to tell me that I can take Home the not tasty, slightly burnt, bland Jambalaya. Why would I do that if I couldn't even eat two forks full. They took it back to the kitchen. So I ordered the currygoat. It was ok, but yet again, not tasty at all. Wasn't this a Caribbean and Cajun cuisine restaurant? Where were the spices, taste and ummm effect after eating Caribbean food? It was disappointing. At this point another male server/bartender walked by at least twice and specifically looked at my bowl to see if I was eating. All during this time, the other servers at the back of the room by the kitchen were looking at us and talking, laughing as the manager was talking to them about our interaction and disappointment with my meal. I ate 2 pieces of the plantains, and coleslaw and basically picked at my tasteless currygoat. After about 10-15 mins our original male server came by wth the Jambalaya in a plastic bag. I told him to, take it back to the kitchen, I don't want it. I asked him to bring me a paper bag as I noticed that every other person that had take away containers were provided with a nice handled paper bag. I mean, the rudeness and lack of customer service skills! The server did not come at any point while we were eating the appetizers to inquire how we were, seeing that he knew it was our first time there. Seeing as how I was given the bag, we took it we were being told to leave. We obliged because the atmosphere was quite Unprofessional and Toxic. They showed no ethics or professionalism. It was intolerable as one of the female worker in the back snickered and laughed when I told the male server to take back the plastic bag with the Jambalaya in it. I have been to high, and middle end restaurants and I have Never been required to pay a 30% charge if my food was not palatable. They simply took it back and acted with class. The lack of customer service skills, or professional ethics are missing in this establishment when they are challenged about the taste of their food. I am so upset at the treatment we received. It was so disconcerting at our treatment there. Disgusted to...

Really wanted to love this place as I heard such good things about it but I probably won’t be going back.

Sat down to join friends that had arrived earlier and was immediately pressured to order because our table was needed for a following reservation at 7 pm. I arrived to the table about 5:50pm. The waiter made it seem like I didn’t have time to order anything and eat it if I didn’t order in the next two mins. So I asked how long it would take to prepare a main and he said 20mins so I said cool that’s plenty of time. Regardless I ordered a main, app to go, and a drink. We were also repeatedly asked if we needed anything else in very curt and hustled tone because it had to be in now. Mind you the other guest had long ordered and meals were arriving. We were also pressured to give dessert orders due to time. We were rushed for or dessert order only for the waiter to come back 35mins later and tell us they had no more… of their special monthly dessert at 6:30pm for your dinner service…on a Saturday! Why rush us if you weren’t going to put it in right away. Tbh I think he just wanted us up and lied. My food came I had plenty of time to eat. Salmon with green beans and honey sriracha wings were tasty. Didn’t enjoy the mash potatoes they were cold. At 6:50 he came with bills and rushing us with urgency. I’ve been to many restaurants who are up front with seating limits and have never had any issue. I can respect it. There is a way to provide quick service that is timely and not dismissive. We paid and I asked to sit at the bar to finish our drinks and free up the the table that was so urgently needed. I really wish I had not tipped by the end of the night.

We sat down the with drinks and our take away boxes. Mind you I asked to sit here since the table was needed with such urgency. The bartender asked if we moved from a table or just arrived. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt that she didn’t see us sitting right across from her before but again the tone was… “great you moved from the table and are taking up my bar seats. I saw you pay your bill and I won’t be making tips off of you.” I answered politely they needed our table and we are sitting here to free it up. She brought us a drink menu and never came back… we had intended to order more but hey.

While we were at the bar many side conversations about our transition to the bar were taking place but no one said anything to us directly. It’s about 7:30pm now and our table which were rushed through ordering and service is still empty. Instead of speaking directly to us… a table he just served. Our waiter went to one of the owners to let her know that people wanted to sit at the bar to eat. Again, talk to us don’t have conversations about people in front of people. Our table is still sitting empty. Someone then came over to ask us to get up and say we could go back to the table we were just swiftly vacated from. I said no thanks we will be leaving. The vibe was gone and it was just disrespectful. We didn’t need to move or rush in the first place.

We spoke briefly to one of the owners. She looked up the table and there wasn’t a reservation on that table till 8pm so we were rushed, dismissed, and served poorly for no reason. Our waiter lied to us about the following reservation timing. She didn’t understand why we were moved but also seemed quite indifferent and did not offer an apology.

I made note to our waiter on the way out how disappointed it was for us to be moved, when our table then sat empty for over 45mins, we ask to sit a the bar and now your asking us to get up from here instead of seating these new customers at the empty table…. He smiled… Said a quick sorry and rushed off. Again dismissive and insincere. We paid our bills so we were dispensable. Not a fan of this type of service environment. It is not welcoming nor does it generate repeat customers. We spent hundreds of dollars on this place for mediocre beverages and terrible service.

My friends and I are not...

1st visit - the fish fritters were under cooked. 2nd visit was for our 30th anniversary which I regretted going there. We got there on time for our reservation. We ordered our appetizer, drinks and meals at the same time to eliminate wasted time. It took an hour to get our appetizer; approx. 15 mins. later we received our meal. Prior to receiving our appetizer, it took 30 mins to receive our drink. The server brought one drink; she then asked if I had ordered something to drink for myself, I told her 'yes'. She then said, 'oh yes, the water'. I said no, I ordered a pineapple drink - that took another 20 mins. before I got it. Before we finished our meal and before I got the desert that I had ordered, the server came to our table and politely told us that there is a reservation for the table that we were sitting at and it is needed. I was in shock. I asked to speak to the owner/mgr and she came over. She repeated to me what the server had told me (that there is a reservation for the table that I was sitting at). So I had to then point out to her how long it took for us to be served which she then tried to explain that they were busy. After a few minutes of pointing out the service (or the lack thereof) that we received, she then said that they would try to make other arrangement. I was appalled. An evening that should have been an enjoyable one became sour. There was a similar table with some white people and they were not being asked to give up their table who were seated shortly after we were seated, they were also served before we were. Needless to say, I will never go back. I am tired of black people who own/operate businesses who belittle the value of their black clients. You all are high and mighty now when business is going good but you continue on the same trend and you will fall like others have failed.' Word of mouth' can be the best and worst for businesses like yours. I will certainly spread the word in my circles to stay away from your establishment. Nicky, you are nothing but a BARE FACE LIAR! You very well know what the conversation was and there was definitely no misunderstanding because when you came to speak to me, you repeated exactly what the server said, which was that the table was needed for another reservation. I will not contact you as I will not be wasting anymore of my time communicating with someone that has no morals. Stating that you recall a 'completely' different conversation between us is a gross misrepresentation of the truth. I would have preferred for you to ignore my review instead of responding with deceit. I hope that people who deal with you will be cognisant of the fact that you are not trustworthy. You...