Vanilla Cafe — Restaurant in Philadelphia

We just went in for a Mother’s Day brunch. The service was fine in the beginning but then it became super slow at the end. The apps and food came at the same time which I thought it was weird. I got the turkey panini and it was (barely) a slice of American cheese (like the plastic ones). My sister and friend got the eggs Benedict and the eggs were overcooked and not runny like it’s supposed to be. The calamari tasted very very fishy and not good. My stomach was hurting afterwards so I stopped eating it. The service took forever after we got the food. We were waiting to order our coffee and desserts and we had to get our waiters attention many times. I know it was busy because it was Mother’s Day but the place is small and there should be more attention on your customers than anything else. We ordered our coffee and desserts and we waited like 15 minutes for them even though it was literally right there. The waiter asked many times if the food was good and we said yeah it was fine. Maybe she got the vibes that we weren’t enjoying it. After we were enjoying our desserts and coffee, even after waiting a while, our waiter came over to us to say that we need to leave bc the table wait is only 1-1/2 hour. Even though there was a table right next to us that was there before us and they did not get the same speech. We didn’t want to argue with them but we left right after they told us. In conclusion, the food wasn’t good. The service was absolutely horrible. It was my first time going and probably my last time. I don’t know if it’s because it was busy and the cooks didn’t care about the food that much but I was disappointed. My sister raved about this place and said how good it was and then I left really disappointed. Hopefully they learn to adjust to a busy time and fix this issue up!

Edit: one of their plates were also dirty which was strange. I guess that was...

Before I came to this establishment I did read the menu and the reviews. The menu was interesting, ( in a good way) but I didn’t know what to expect with some of the reviews of the customer service. As I entered threw the door, 1st great sign the place is packed with patrons. Wall to wall people , I sat down and ordered a large cappuccino and some French toast. It did take a few moments for the order to come out, but that would be expected by how busy this place was. The cappuccino was good, but after looking at some other tables I think I’m going to try there tea next time I go. The French toast was FABULOUS! Just look at the picture, you can’t say that don’t look good, with some condensed milk drizzled on there, love a twist on things. 😋 And crushed pistachios, who would have thought. I can’t wait to try something else from there, the food looks like art. I have no idea what these other reviewers are talking about the staff being rude or staring at them. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The staring thing, I would put that down as the Waiter/waitress being attentive to your needs as a patron. How many times have you gone somewhere, Where’s are waitress, add a drink add food etc. just to see them playing on there phone, or not come back for many minutes. The staff was pleasant, talkative, the chef even came out and introduced himself, we chatted for a few, his concept was French/Russian. Definitely hit a home run with that concept. When he see new faces in his restaurants, mention he had 3 , he likes to great them and welcome them, which makes this place feel even more inviting. Also I was not the only one that was greeted, I watched him greet someone else’s earlier while I was sitting there. As for the prices, worth...

As I'm sure many have mentioned, this place is very aesthetic and the atmosphere is nice, including the music. It would surprise you how many places just play any music now - classic steak houses playing mumble rap. Anyway, we got the chicken fricassee, the Shaffle Waffle, a flavored tea, and the Mirage(dessert) and Medovik(dessert). The tea set was very cute, with a tea light warmer underneath, but I wasn't a fan of the tea - my boyfriend ordered some sort of lemongrass tea. The chicken part of the fricassee itself was great, but the rice was dry, almost like it was reheated from the previous day. A slice of bread to wipe up the remainder of the yummy sauce would've been nice. The waffle was also dry - like they made a big batch and just reheated to serve - which is fine when done correctly but in this instance was tough and chewy - maybe cover it so it remains moist? The desserts were okay, nothing memorable but decent. Portion sizes were on the small side but we were still full by the time the meal was done. I wouldn't mind coming here again with my girls for the experience but it won't be my main spot. The vision is there, it just needs some tweaking.

Edit: I changed this from 3 to 4 stars because looking back at other reviews, they handle the negatives with grace and do seem to make efforts to rectify things people have had issues with. One person mentioned that they weren't very attentive, but today they were so it seems to me that they do put the effort in to review themselves and...