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| - Let me start by saying first and foremost, that a restaurant's experience is often judged on multiple fronts. From the food to the ambience, to the experience of the staff. When you look at Sometime Cafe, while it exceeds in one area, it lacks in another. Here's my thoughts.
What this restaurant shines primary is the food itself. In my years of visiting downtown Chinatown, there is not one restaurant that can match the authenticity of this restaurant's Szechuan menu, and that's something this city sorrowfully needs. The menu is vibrant with classic dishes such as spicy boiled fish, Yu-Xiang pork, and Mapo Tofu, all of which were delicious. The food is liberally seasoned and packs a punch with the authentic ma-la spicy flavour that Szehcuan food is known for. Service was just as good, with all the dishes arriving one after another in a quick succession.
But here's where the restaurant starts to show it's downsides. The decor and lighting of the place reminded me of those 'fly' restaurants in Chengdu, China, where the walls are cement bricks, and boxes of ingredients placed everywhere. Perhaps they were going through a renovation, but it certainly looked grim. The washroom is also in serious need of lighting, it was dirty and incredibly dim and a feeling of unease. The overall ambience is not even representative of a normal Chinese restaurant. Instead, it's feels hard to enjoy their deliciously cooked food in such a tacky environment.
They also implemented a VIP system, a gift card of sorts, which offers you lower price on most items if you use the reloadable card. While it is a good incentive for people to return, it offered more confusion than value. Stick with one menu price and price aggressively.
TL;DR Finally a restaurant true to Szechuan cooking with delicious foods and offerings. But the confusion of the VIP system, and the tacky decor speaks volume to the restaurant's infancy and seriousness.
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