Congrats Café — Restaurant in Da'an District

Not the most pleasant experience, but for reasons of culture and principal perhaps more personal to me as a restauranteur and cafe owner.

Congrats cafe is like the speakeasy of cafes. A hidden hideout. The place has a very cosy decor, using old furnitures mixed with some modern elements. A great first impression which made me think of how I could recommend it to my airbnb guests, as I run quite a few around the area.

I went to order a dessert and a single origin coffee to share with my wife. The staff then asked quite rudely, “what about your other drink?” Surprised, I then said we would just like to order a dessert and coffee. Waiter responded quite firmly that we must order one drink per person. This came as a surprise to me as the single origin coffee I ordered was already 180nt, and the dessert also around 180nt

I then politely responded that I have no issue with a minimum order fee per person, but forcing customers to order something when they don’t is not okay, at least not where I’m from (I run a cafe in Australia, along with hospitality businesses in Thailand, Taipei , London).

My wife did not want to have any drink (having just had plenty of drink during our earlier dinner), it was late and I wanted a quiet coffee and dessert to share with my girl. The cafe only had 3 or 4 others customers, it was quiet. Why not just make a minimum order per customer, why force guests to order something they don’t want?

I understand this is their policy, and the waiter was simply following procedure. But this does not make it right. The culture of forcing customers to order something when they clearly don’t want is not okay and I don’t think it should be supported.

I did not end up giving the cafe my business and enjoyed a dessert elsewhere.

From what I observed the cafe was nice, cosy and served quality drinks. I would be happy to come back when we all want a drink; but I felt it important to leave a review. As a hospitality professional this kind of culture where honest customers are forced to order something they do not want is not cool. Just make a minimum order.

I left feeling annoyed and flabbergasted that a venue like this - such a cosy down to earth atmosphere at such a quiet time of business - force a customer to order something they do not want. They lost a solid order with plenty of margin (dessert and coffee, and probably a second coffee as I usually order more over the course of my sitting ); but on principal I could not give them my business. Especially given the waiter’s attitude

“what about your other drink?”.

Buddy, I finished saying my order in finality. Even if you’re enforcing your rules, a better way of saying is

“Hey, really sorry sir, but the ongoing policy for this cafe is a drink per customer. Would you like to pick something from our menu, I highly recommend x y or z from our specials. The y is quite popular recently“.

This would have been a far more eloquent and polite way to ease the tension. In fact should I have received a better attitude I may have still gave my business. Don’t tell a customer “what about your other drink?” as if the customer was too dumb to know their rule. It was also clear my Chinese was poor and I could not read the menu, so the fact he would speak in such a presumptuous way made matters worse.

I would like to try these guys when I do have a guest with me that would also like a drink, but for now, the venue has left a bitter feeling in my heart.

Rating of my experience

Service: 2/5 Ambiance: 4/5 Taste: NA Value: NA

Overall (not an...

This review is in response to the less than good review posted below by the customer below. I was with him.

Having been to this cafe a few times, I can vouch that it delivers good quality drinks and that the decor is cosy and intimate. I recommend it for these reasons. Keep up the good work.

However when I did come this time, it was perhaps the waiter’s attitude that really got on mine and this customer’s nerves.

First the customer asked in broken Chinese/English what were the house desserts. The waiter then without saying a word, walked off to the fridge and looked inside. We were not sure if he was ignoring us or doing something else. He then walked back and proceeded to point very insincerely at the black board “we have these”. He waved his hand up and down in a lazy way. Not explaining them. It should be obvious by now that the customer could not speak Chinese or read well, so why act in this way? By now we were already very annoyed at the waiter’s unfriendly and nonchalant attitude.

We finally finished saying our order and the waiter then said quite rudely “what about your other drink?”.

With all due respect, we finished making the order, but don’t treat the customer as stupid assuming they should know your one drink per person rule, especially if they don’t speak the local language and are from abroad.

I have come here before and have had good experiences, and hoped for a good quiet time. But I was embarrassed to my partner who was not treated with much respect and given a very poor service attitude.

This feedback comes from experience and from a good place. We are both owners of hospitality businesses around Asia, Australia and London - and this was not up to standard. We hope it improves. :)

Treat customers with a smile and a friendly attitude. They will return with the same and bring...

Good beer, beautiful place, good location... But terrible and not care service. They don't care about clients I forgot my bag there. I went back to another city. I call them next day morning. They told me that they will talk to the waiters of the next turn. I gave them my ohene. Nothing. I called them afternoon. They told me that they will call me in case they find it. Nothing. I call them next day. They told me the same. Nothing After one week, a friend went to the place. The bag was there, on the floor, on the same place that I forgot it. Do I need to care about my own things?, of course. Can I trust about this people?.ñ Naaaaaaa Good place, good drinks... But they just care about the business. If you need some help, if you need they just go to look over the place where you sit the day before to check about something you forgot, they just don't care about it. I prefer a friendly place. I will not go...