Lyne on March 14, 2009 at 11:01 PM

Well let me start with, I just got kicked out about an hour ago. But wait.... I guess I should start with the fact that I made reservations three weeks ago. No one said there was a time limit. In fact I thought I was being overzealous in making a reservation. Dinner was fine. Food was average at best and certainly not "French bistro" quality. However, when I ordered coffee and was told that my party and I had to leave, I was utterly horrified. I have never, in my life, been asked to leave a restaurant -- even when maybe I should have been. Apparently, Tati is so busy these days that they are offering two seatings on the weekends and there is a time limit.

Unfortunately, no one told me about it -- when I made the reservation or when I showed up this evening. Nor, quite frankly, did they schedule their meal service in such a way that after two hours they had any right to ask me to leave. I had enjoyed the standard three courses and was getting ready for coffee when I was told it was time to go. It is not like my party was loitering after having ordered water and breadsticks. This, to me, is utterly unacceptable. If they want to turn their tables and offer two seatings, then they had better orchestrate their meal service in such a way as to move the evening along so that diners can enjoy a leisurely meal and not acutally be asked to leave because the table is double booked.

To add insult to injury, after the poor clueless waitress was sacrificed to be the bearer of bad tidings, I asked to speak to the manager who actually turned hostile. That was impressive for its sheer gaul. She then said that she would get the owner, but apparently he was too busy to come and discuss the matter -- information that was conveyed by the sacrificial waitress who offered me a business card and told me to call someone named Wayne tomorrow morning. Yeah, I am about to do that. I might call him at home in a few hours and tell him his restaurant is an embarassment, but that's about it.

My advice to anyone who has made it this far in my tale of woe is to avoid this dump like the plague. If there is any justice in the universe it will be gone in a few months and we can all enjoy the falafel place that takes its spot. Seriously, people, it's a recession and you are kicking people out of your restaurant on a Saturday in March....? Well, I will pray for you Wayne. Repeat after me..."would you like fries with that...?" See you in a few months!

xox Lyne (a Montrealer who knows what French bistro is supposed to look and taste like!)

Michelin Man on April 4, 2009 at 4:59 PM

Thanks for your warnings. I wish more people would write about their bad experiences at Toronto's eateries to balance the often overblown praise they receive.

I have also had bad experiences at restaurants where arrogance, incompetence, rudeness, overprice, etc., are evident and have also been "invited" to leave too when I complained. Two, which I have written about, are Sopra/Mistura (on Davenport Ave.): http://www.menuism.com/restaurants/dd4DjERmCr26FeabBlKsEs-mistura-restaurant-toronto-on and Messis (on Harbord St.): http://www.menuism.com/restaurants/b0tysCRmur26FeabBlKsEs-messis-toronto-on
They are not the only restaurants I have had unsatisfactory to awful experiences at, there are others including: Matignon (St. Nicholas St.) owner went ballistic after I rejected a bottle of wine he recommended and gauranteed I would love; Gamelle (College St.) same issue as at Matignon; Vesuvios (Dundas St. W.) wife got food poisoning from sea food; Pangea (Bay St.) I go food poisoning from dessert; Amuse-Bouche (96 Tecumseth St.) burnt steak as retaliation for complaining about huge markup on wines. There are others but that's enough for now. I have had consistently good meals at Bistro Tournesol (Dupont St.); Ferro (St. Clair Ave.); Splendido (Harbord St.); The Fifth (Richmond St. W.); Le Paradis (Bedford Rd.); Scaramouche (Benvenuto Pl.); Pastis (Yonge St.).

guy on September 14, 2009 at 10:42 PM

This so called "bistro" is not worth a single penny! They hike up the price and the service is so-so...Please don't waste your money and time on this less than average joint.