| rev:text
| - The Toronto food scene is an ever evolving and growing being. I remember when I was a wee lad that "Chinese buffets" (ex Mandarin) were all the rage. These days, there are Italian, Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern, Brunch, Korean and of course Japanese buffets. And even amongst these ethnic groups there are countless variations.
Under the Chinese category, now comes the "first vegetarian" buffet. I must preface this review by saying that I am not vegan, nor vegetarian so I may hold a bit of bias.
This restaurant seems to have opened up with the exact same decor and set up as its previous life as a dim sum venue (Richlane Chinese Cuisine). In fact, even on the bill it still says Richlane Chinese Cuisine then Blossom Vegetarian underneath.
When you first enter you are expected to pay up front before being seated.
NOTE: 12% TIP IS ALREADY PART OF THE BILL
After paying, you basically grab a seat where ever and there is someone that very loosely will sort of point you in a general direction where to sit.
Water is self serve, at a "filtered water station" right by the cashier in the front.
No one bothered to ask whether we wanted anything to drink at any point in time, even though there was a drink menu on the table. It also took them forever to get us any cultery.
The food itself was quite decent. I have been to a few Chinese vegitarian places and this place felt like most of their dishes would do well in a sit down restaurant style.
What this place does lose out on though is the service and set up.
As mentioned this place took over a previous dim sum venue. And it looks like this current incarnation did zero renovations. The food stations are all temporary. For example, they used hot plates to keep some food in pots warm, as well as table top trays to house their food. They also seemed to have very little staff keeping things in order.
So unfortunately by the end of the lunch hour things quickly degenerated into chaos. Food stations were missing utensils. Some stations had utensils from a different station causing cross contamination in food. Food came out quite sparsely and inconsistently. There was a few dishes I tried that I liked and wanted to get seconds, but when I came back it was a totally different dish!
It definitely felt a lot more like a "pot luck" style lunch, rather then a restaurant.
I didnt feel at any point in time that anyone was keeping things in order. The Mandarin buffet they absolutely have someone patrolling making sure every food has its own serving spoon. This place there were some people that picked up the spoon and walked off with it.
So given the chaotic set up, this is what tainted our over all experience the most.
Dont get me wrong, the food over all was decent. But the experience and service was extremely lacking.
I would like to give this place another try some day, but I dont see that happening anytime soon.
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