1 Filtered Review of Ba Bo Jai Chinese and Vegetarian Cuisine - downtown
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Alex V.
Points +6
money better spent elsewhere! - Edit
My mom and I come here often. We were frequent patrons of the old Bo Kong and decided to try the new owners. It started off well but with the disappearance of most of the old staff, the experience has steadily declined. The service and overall food value ($20 for pea tips, are you kidding me?) over the last year and especially the last two times we were there is what has prompted me to write this review.
Read moreLast weekend, six of us went for dim sum. Not only was the service slow and erratic, but the server that took our order argued with us and told us that one of the items we received is what we ordered. We were shocked that he would argue with us considering we took five minutes to explain to him what we wanted prior to it being brought out and him confirming that he understood what we wanted. I guess that should have been our first clue.
Tonight, my mom and I went for dinner. We ordered an appetizer, a soup, and three entrees. The soup came first, then two of the entrees, then the appy, and finally the last entree. We had the same issue as before. The appy we received was not what we ordered and so we had to argue with another server to get the one we wanted. The service was non-existent except for the occasional removal of an empty dish. The food was average. At the end of the meal, we had to wave down someone to finish clearing our table, to pack our leftovers, and to get the bill. During our whole meal and to the very end, we did not see the same server that took our original order. My mom does not believe in tipping for no service (hence the acronym TIPS). As we were leaving the server that originally took our order came up to us and very aggressively told us to tip. He said that he gave us 30% off (they are having an anniversary special on their food) and that because we got a discount, we need to tip. His voice was raised; he was jabbing at the bill and was overall very confrontational. I must admit that I was caught completely off guard! Then he had the gall to say that every time we come in we never tip! This was the same server that argued with our party the prior weekend and still received a rather healthy tip! My mother politely explained to him that tipping was optional and at her discretion. It is not mandatory and certainly not for poor service.
Needless to say, we were left feeling abused and unsatisfied. We will never go there again nor can we recommend this restaurant to anyone anymore.
Cons: poor service, average food, expensive for what you get
trufflepiggy
hello alex,
Read morei'm interested in finding out which server you're talking about. there are two male servers that i know of at whole veg resto (unfortunately, it seems that both george and man no longer work there - they were so friendly and nice). one of the current male servers is always happy, smiley, and pleasant (with us, at least, so i'm hoping that your review isn't in reference to him; that would be disappointing for me).
the other male server most certainly isn't pleasant; in fact, i've often wondered what size bamboo chopstick he has up his butt to make him so damn snooty and unpleasant. he used to work at the richmond bo kong, and was rude and less than professional toward me on more than two occasions. i used to get really steamed because we'd order soup and he wouldn't ladle the soup into our bowls, yet if a chinese family ordered soup, he'd patiently stand there and serve each one of them.
a couple of weeks ago when we were in there, we asked for a little dish of sesame oil for our brown rice; his reaction to our request was a near sneer (he said, "sesame oil?!", but the way it came across was "and what are YOU going to do with sesame oil?"). we were a bit taken aback by his reaction, but whatever; he brought us our sesame oil, and we shrugged it off.
also, if you're talking about the same server i'm thinking it could be, he always makes sure to hand me the interac terminal with the 'tip' option screen up when i'm paying for my takeaway. generally, i don't tip for takeaway, as there's no table or waiting service involved. in fact, the women who work there always hand me the debit terminal with the tip option screen bypassed, yet he stands there and watches me as i pay my bill (and no, i don't tip him at all when i pick up my food).
if you have time, please let me know to which male server you're referring. i'm so hoping it's not the one who i think is the 'nice' one!
take care.
Guest