$12 In – Shanghai

Wow, I was starting to think I'd never post another tip jar submission ever. It's been a very long time – thankfully. But tonight, well, tonight could not go unnoticed.

We used to go to Shanghai quite often. I've always really enjoyed it there. My favourite dishes – Shanghai dumplings, pad thai, and coconut curry shrimp. I don't know what happened tonight though, food was good as usual, service – non-existent.

- 20 minutes+ before getting our first drink, 1 hour for the app, another hour for the main (some apps didn't even come with the others and snuck their way in just before the main), over an hour for the bill.

- My friend got the wrong app, and my husband got the wrong main. Unfortunately at this point he was so hungry he couldn't bare the thought of waiting another hour for a new dish so ate the ginger beef he was served. Oh, and he's really not a fan of ginger.

- Our server spilled my friend's beer into his dinner. Her response: “Oh, now it's going to taste like beer. Do you want me to do something about that?” Nothing was done.

My friend Gina said it beautifully – there's a way to give bad service well (having been in the industry). A few apologies, even a fake excuse, anything would have made me feel somewhat better. But she was clueless. And I don't think she had any idea that anything was going wrong.

To make matters worse, after about 40 minutes of waiting for our bill, even after having asked our server to bring it, approximately 50 people piled through the doors in about 10 minutes. Our chances of getting a bill now were hopeless. Another 20 minutes or more go by. We shuffle through the people to get to the bar, begging for our bill. No success, Don who was working behind the bar had to get the bill from our server. We waited some more, and the live act that had just started (a strip spelling bee) began. His first words: “I know there's still people eating here - so you should finish and leave.” Oh trust me, we want to! We wanted to an hour ago. We finally got our bill, our server still with no idea anything was even wrong, no apology, nothing.

I don't think the evening could have ended any more poorly. So sad. I really did used to love this place. So there you have it, $12 tip now in my empty little jar, waiting patiently for the next outing we have with impeccable service!

Side note: if you have an event going on that's going to box in your guests and pretty much reduce the service to nothing, warn them when they call for a reservation – at least.

Shanghai

651 Somerset Street West

Ottawa, Ontario

613-233-4001

$7 In – Bside Bistro

This is probably the most shocking post for me. Benitz and Bsides have always been in my book, the restaurants with some of the best service in Ottawa. In fact, Benitz received one of my tip jar submissions because the service was so good. It kind of kills me to post this because I know, had I had another server, I would have been very happy with the service. To top it off, I found our meal last night to be so much better than the first time we went. Had the service been just as good, I would have re-rated this restaurant under a higher star number. Unfortunately, the woman who served us last night did not fit the bill. From the minute we got there I felt like we were not wanted. Like we were that extra table she just wished she didn't have. I watched her at the other tables, they seemed to get more attention than we did. I also watched the other waiter and wished he were ours. The service i've come to expect at this restaurant had not changed in his books. He was giving those tables impeccable service. The wait to order a drink when we first arrived was a little longer than it should have been. That's ok. But the wait to order, or to try and get her attention for a glass of water was not acceptable. She didn't smile. When asked a question about something she didn't know, she tried to make it like the person asking the question was the dumb one. She forgot one of my friend's main course. And the topper, she asked us if we wanted dessert, a couple of us asked for the menu. When she returned, my original thought to not have dessert changed, I began to ask her a question about the menu and she quickly cut me off – Wait! Do any of you drive a such and such and are parked in the back? It was a rude cut-off, there are many nicer ways to ask. It wasn't our vehicle, but she never returned to answer my question, she just stormed off. Another friend of mine, who felt they hadn't had enough to eat previously and who was very excited to have some dessert lost interest. As did I. When she finally did return, a very long time afterward, we just wanted to leave. We did not order dessert, coffee, port, or anything. At first I thought perhaps I was just being a snot about it all. But I consulted the others after we left and they agreed, the service was just plain bad. I tipped more than I wanted to, but less than 15%. I gave her 10%. She probably deserved about 5. All that to say, here's $7 to add to the tip jar.

$15 Out – Benitz Bistro

$$$

I've eaten here once before, closer to when they first opened. Although I wasn't in awe by the food, it was still very good and the service was amazing. I thought that now, having been open for a while the food would be outstanding. So when I received a gift certificate from a friend at Christmas time, I was excited to try it again. All the hype the chef gets and delicious sounding meals on the menu, I expected to be wowed by the flavour of the food. Unfortunately I was not. I found a lot of what I ate to be more bland than I had anticipated. I started off with the Hot Soup, a white asparagus and potato bisque. It was ok. For my main I ordered the Seasonal Taster from the dinner specials. Foie gras terrine with apricot coulis, lamb flank topped with olive and tomato ragout, cajun prawn over a pear and cucumber salsa and beer battered cod with sweet potato chips. Sounds absolutely fabulous doesn't it? The only thing that thrilled my taste buds on the plate was the foie gras. Despite the fact the olive and tomato ragout was tasty, the lamb flank was a little on the tough side. The cajun prawns were ok, nothing to celebrate, and the beer battered cod was pretty greasy. My husband ordered the Beet Salad – cast iron roasted and sliced local beets, candied pecans, green onion, honey mustard vinaigrette and crispy panko crusted Ferme Floralpe goat cheese croquettes, and the Beef Tenderloin with garlic mash, swiss chard, foie gras butter and caramelized onion jam for his main. Overall, everything was good, not great. Not for the price you're paying. Apps range between $7 and $14 and mains between $21 and $28. What was exceptional however, was the service. The first time I went I found it so refreshing to have such wonderful service in Ottawa. And that did not change. The wait staff is extremely professional and do everything they're supposed to without you even realizing it. The service is what brought my rating to 2 stars over 1. It's also what made me give out my first tip jar reward – which was very exciting for me. I had $15 accumulated so I added this to our server's regular tip. Despite the food not meeting my expectations, we had a fabulous evening, but will likely spend our money elsewhere at our next restaurant outing.

www.benitzbistro.com

$12 In – Bun NYC

Well, here it is, my second tip jar submission. I really hate to put this restaurant in this category because the food was so delicious. But the service, oh the service, it just plain sucked. And it probably seemed worse because we were so famished and because the time of day was really unusual (3pm). Before I go any further, I will start with the positive points of this restaurant, it's a really great Vietnamese restaurant in the heart of Soho that has the most unique Vietnamese dishes i've ever seen and a really nice atmosphere. The food itself would have gotten 4 stars had it not been for the service. I started off with the Shrimp Roll – shrimp, Berkshire pork belly, bun, lettuce, mint and supposed to be served with peanut sauce but came with fish sauce. 

Then I tried the Mini Cakes my husband ordered, also delicious, made with diced pork, mushroom and green bean. Then for my main I had the Bun Nem Lamb which was an extremely flavourful dish of lamb balls, spring roll, pickled shaved papaya and herbs. All very impressive. Now for the not so good points. Our food took a long time. My husband's appetizer arrived once my friend and I had completed ours, long after. Then they forgot to make my friend's main course. She finally got it after we finished ours. I also overheard another table asking about a dish of theirs that they forgot to make. We ordered some Vietnamese coffee at the beginning as well, but those were forgotten and eventually came after we reminded our server. I could understand if it was swamped in there and they were short on staff, but our server spent a lot of time casually chatting with other patrons and people who worked there. We did not receive one apology for the poor service or late arrival of food. The temperature in the restaurant was also very cold. Now, all that being said, I would recommend this restaurant. It has a lot of great reviews and the food is definitely worth it. I think we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

www.bunsohonyc.com

$3 In – Café Soup‘Herbe

Well, it took a while, but i've finally gotten my first Tip Jar submission. I'm sad to say the culprit is Café Soup‘Herbe. I've now removed them from my favorite places to eat right now list. I still love the food. And I will go again. But I couldn't for the life of me tip our server today. We arrived and were greeted by a girl who looked like she had arrived from a different planet and had no idea how to do her job. We asked how long it would be for a table and her reaction was like we had asked her to drop her pants. Ok, maybe i'm exaggerating a little. We decided to sit outside where there were some tables available and then that was it, they forgot about us. One of us decided to remind them we were there. It took a while but we finally got our order. After going inside to get our napkins, cutlery and everything else we needed we had to find our server yet again to get some bread and water. I had had a late breakfast so I only ordered the Peanut Curry Soup, which was delicious, so that, along with my drink and half of my friend's lunch cost (it's day 2 of her birthday) came to $20. It didn't even seem worth it to tip 10%. So 15% has now been added to the Tip Jar.

The Tip Jar

I've always found that service is parallel to the food experience. So i've decided to start a tip jar. I always tip 15% for good service. Great service I tip 20 or more. Less than good service will receive less than 15 or even nothing at all (this one was extremely hard to do the first time - but why should anyone pay for bad service?) There's nothing I hate more than discussing how terrible the service is over dinner. So I am going to give where it's deserved. 

When I receive less than 15% service, the difference will go into this jar. I'll keep track of this on my blog and the minute I get really great service, that person will receive the amount accumulated in the jar as well as their regular tip.