Tangerine Asian Cuisine — Restaurant in Whitby

Visited Tangerine Restaurant on July 1st around 7:30–8:00 PM with my family, including my two young kids (5 months and almost 3 years old) and my parents. We initially decided to order takeout because dining out with little ones can be chaotic. We informed the waitress while ordering that we wanted the food to-go, and my dad paid—without leaving a tip, under the impression that tipping isn’t expected for takeout.

However, while waiting, my toddler really wanted to sit and eat in the restaurant. Once our food was ready, we changed our minds and decided to dine in after all. The table we were initially sitting at before ordering, we had already touched all the cutlery, drank the water and touched the plates, so we thought it would be okay to stay and eat. We opened our packaging and began to eat at the table. That’s when a male (Asian) waiter approached us and said we weren’t allowed to eat inside since it was takeout, citing packaging waste as the reason. We were caught off guard but ready to leave, but my toddler insisted she was going to be a good girl and sit and eat, so we stayed. He returned and said, “You’re not supposed to eat here, but we’ll allow it this one time.”

I asked if he had young kids—because if he did, maybe he’d understand the challenge of dining out with them. After finishing my meal quickly, I approached the same man at the counter and asked if he was the owner. He said he knows the owner, I asked what his position is at the restaurant and he said he was the manager- although it seemed like he might be lying about his managerial position. I let him know that his customer service was lacking. I explained we were taking the containers with us, so no packaging was being wasted. I also told him that empathy and kindness go a long way, especially toward parents trying their best.

He then brought up that we hadn’t tipped, which shocked me. We hadn’t even left the restaurant yet. I explained that tips are often left in cash at the table, and we very well could’ve still done that. My dad usually does tip—but after this poor interaction, we decided not to. No staff checked on us, refilled drinks, or offered any service after we sat down to eat. So why would a tip be left for such poor service.

The food was okay—not great—but the customer service left a really bad impression. I rarely leave negative reviews, but this experience genuinely upset us. A little understanding can make a big difference, especially for families with small children. Unfortunately, we won’t...

I wish I could give a negative star if there ever was one! We phoned the whitby location to place an order for the pick-up. We were rendered extremely abhorrent phone-customer service over a small request we had asked for. The girl who was on the phone had the audacity to even call us rude when we tried to question why it was an issue for them to accommodate our petty request (which the other restaurant did take care of after we decided not to give tangerine our business). When asked to speak to someone else who could understand what we were asking for, the phone was handed over to a guy who was equally rude from the word go! after having such a horrid time talking to the girl and then the guy, on asking about their names so that we could escalate the matter to the owner/manager, the guy bluntly said that he could not reveal their names (as if they were CIA agents sent on a mission in Palastine), all this while I thought restaurant waitors/server normally wear name tags so revealing names would not have been an issue. Anyway, when I asked if I could speak to the owner, the guy said that we can call markham location to speak to the owner. Lo and Behold! the lady owner, name is Cathy, had the same rude approach in her way of communication with us. When I told her about the issue with the staff at whitby location, she started started going off on a tangent about us asking them to serve us uncooked food (which was clearly not the point of discussion, since we have eaten hakka chinese food innumerable times) and also saying that her staff cannot give us free food as in she was accusing us that we were trying to get a freebie from them, EXTREMELY RUDE AND DISHONEST CLAIM on her behalf. So all in all, all i can say is that tangerine restaurant with the manners the lady owner, Cathy, and her staff displayed was nothing short of UTTERLY UNPROFESSIONAL, RUDE AND DISRESPECTFUL TO THE CUSTOMERS! Good is nothing to boast about and to top it off, the ATROCIOUS ATTITUDE BY OWNER, CATHY, AND HER STAFF does not warrant anyone who spend their hard-earned money on such a HORRIBLE RESTAURANT, when hakka chinese restaurants are present on dime-a-dozen basis! THE OWNER CATHY IS EXTEREMLY ILL-BEHAVED, IMPOLITE, CALLS HER CUSTOMERS RUDE, DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO HANDLE CRITICISM! AVOID AVOID AVOID TANGERINE ALL LOCATIONS because the OFFENSIVE AND INSULTING BEHAVIOR TOWARDS CUSTOMERS TRICKLE DOWN TO STAFF FROM THE...

Warning: NOT HALAL.

We called them ahead of time and ordered some food, it says on their menu it is Halal. When I stopped to pick up the food, I asked again if the food is Halal, and ordered some food, and asked the owner if he has a Halal certificate and he rudely told me, he does not have one. Since I already placed the order and it was almost ready, I went to talk to my wife and she told me to ask him more questions. So, I went in there and he said: 'their supplier assured them meat is Halal and if they want the certificate, he would have to charge them $500 more per month'. This does not seem like somebody is getting halal meat, no Muslim supplier would charge for a Halal certificate. I also asked him: if any of his cooks are Muslims, and he replied no. How this place is halal? Just getting halal meat does not make food halal. So we end up trashing the food.

Anywho, they were not fond of my line of questioning. The scary-looking girl was rolling her eyes, and I almost blurted out: 'seriously, after this COVID-19, you think dietary laws that prevent you from eating anything is more problematic than you lying?', but being a polite person, I held it back.

I see this trend popping up everywhere in Canada, where Chinese are running "HALAL" Hakka joints, which traditionally were run by Indians. and often Halal. These restaurants have no Muslim cook, and no understanding of what makes food Halal, except for fake, photocopied, certificate, and that is often replaced with excuses. I advise Muslims, who care about what they put in their bodies to be careful and ask questions, call their suppliers, and hold them accountable. I am planning on taking this restaurant to account, as far as I can.

Advise to the "owner"/manager: New CFIA rules require halal label include name of organization or individual who certified the product. Please carry a certificate that you can presents to your customer. I have reported you to Health...