Le Jardin Rose — Restaurant in Ellicott City

Edition, after 2 years of my first review. 5/6/2024

Remember when I said, I won't come to this place... well, a friend of mine happened to like a pastry here, so I told him about my experience and he said to me, "well, that was long ago".

What i noticed changed, the menu. It has more options, still pricy. Coffee is still average, i had a chicken chipotle sandwich, and, it was okay. I won't say this was the best, but average. I'd possibly give 1 more star, since the service is kind of better.

Review from 2 years ago (below)

I really don't know how this place has so many 5 starts, anyway, this is how I spent my time in this unworthy place "for me and my family". Starting for the menu, I came when the place was recently opened, and I asked for 2 items in the menu and they didn't have them. Then, I asked for a sandwich and they told me, that item couldn't be sold at that time so I have to wait until lunch, I mean, I get it, some businesses don't serve entries at breakfast, but gosh, that was a simple sandwich... I ended up not ordering anything. Then, I decided to give the place a 2nd chance, so I decided to have breakfast. First, the place was a mess, all tables were dirty, with rest of crumbs, and even dishes, I had to clean at least where I was sitting and no one was taking care of cleaning the tables. I asked for coffee, cheesecake and a ham, egg, cheese sandwich. First, coffee was not hot, it was boiling! So, I burnt my tongue :( , then the cheesecake was flavorless and mushy, they say it is NY style, but maybe they don't know what that means. Lastly, the sandwich came in a croissant bread (instead of wheat or white bread), kinda dry and over toasted, no flavor, no dressing... no condiments at all and they don't have a condiments bar to add them, but this wasn't the worst part. It was brought by a kid who just tossed the plate with the sandwich on the table, super rude! No napkins, and they don't provide cutlery, they have these plastic forks in the back and only that... So, this was a really bad experience, not coming again, and I'm sure there are a lot of people saying this is a great place, well, I don't see what is great about it. Menu is average, as well as the drinks. Kinda expensive also. There are much better places here in OEC with highest quality, better manners and definitely better...

ABSOLUTELY AWFUL SERVICE

It's almost as if no person in there knew what they were doing, except the customers. First step in and you are hit with a delicious smell, only to be overburdened by the lack of any foot space. Literally three other people in line and the shop is overcrowded.

When you do finally get to the counter (which takes a while, even with only three people in line) the cashiers are helpful, but unfriendly and confused when asking about certain items.

Then comes the waiting......you will wait over 40 minutes for a simple sandwich, and God help you if you get anything more complicated. It feels like the chef only uses one burner at a time. Not to mention the cook walks out to chat while others wait for food. And even when food did arrive, I had to ask for a forgotten item, which was never given to me, almost as if the servers are clueless.

The atmosphere is just cramped, cramped, cramped with every chair being so close together, you struggle to get in and out. I wasn't even able to enter my seat without bumping someone who gave me all the space possible. And the decor is tacky with things like Starry Night by Van Gogh or a coveted "Live, Laugh, Love" sign.

And the worst offender: the food. Constant problems. When ordering, there are at least 10 different menus plastered around with dozen of items each. That's too many options, especially for a small "grassroots" cafe. Besides that, they don't have most of the popular items, such as fries or tuna. How do you run out of fries? Poor management. But even worse is when the server comes out 30 minutes into waiting to say "oops, we don't have the food to make your order." Infuriating. But what really irks me the most is the fact that I explicitly said "no chipotle sauce" multiple times, and it comes out with what looks to be lathered in the sauce. Turned a 9/10 sandwich into a quick 3/10. And if you want another sandwich, DONE RIGHT, get ready for another hour wait. Ridiculous.

Oh, and the food will cost a pretty penny. Crab cake BLT? $30 alone. And they justify hiking their prices by over $3 with "price increases."

For a small business cafe, possibly even a grassroots startup, it is entirely unacceptable to have THIS many problems. Awful service; wouldn't recommend to my...

I agree with another reviewer here about the coffee. Stay away. But the problem here is apparently not just with the coffee. It's about trust.

I asked the young lady behind the counter for decaf coffee. While I went to the other room to grab some sugar, she began to fill my coffee from the canister. When I arrived back, I saw her using the hot water dispenser to fill my cup with water.

When she handed me my coffee cup, I asked her why she was adding water to my coffee. She stammered like she did not know what to say, then she said, "Because you ordered decaf."

"Is the coffee itself decaf?" I asked, utterly confused. She nodded. "Then why would you feel the need to add water?" She just stared at me. I could only assume the real answer was within reach but she could not tell me.

I asked for my money back, but instead she insisted that she start over with a new cup. It took an inordinate amount of time for her to fill the cup, whereupon I realized why she had likely filled my cup with water. The dispenser had been too slow. Not wanting to wait, she decided to "help it along" by diluting the coffee with water.

She handed me the cup and I left. But I couldn't drink the coffee. How did I know it was in fact decaf when she had just tried to deceive me? I took the coffee back and requested my money back. Wordlessly, she opened the cash drawer and handed me the money - $2.50.

I forgive the girl. I have committed acts of deception and am not better than her. Yet I doubt I would want to eat there now, fearful of what may be in my food or drink that I did...