Summary:
Service - extremely poor
Food - good
Ambiance - good
I brought my family to Montreal for the first time and we decided to go to Atma for dinner. We made online reservations for 8 pm for a party of 6 people. We arrived at the restaurant promptly at 7:55 pm and were told by the owner that it was a busy night and we would have to wait 20 minutes to be seated. 25 minutes passed and I asked the owner/attendant for an update. He said it would be another 10 minutes. I advised him that our reservation was for 8 pm and he just told me its a busy night and he can't 'ask people to leave'. We contemplated on going to a different restaurant, but thought 'let's just wait another 10 minutes or so'.
By the time we were seated, it was 8:50 pm, and it was 9:05 by the time someone took our order. We ordered appetizers and mains. We noticed that two other tables which were seated after us had already started receiving their food. At 9:45 I asked the owner why our food is taking long, and just said it's a busy night. Only when he went to the kitchen area and asked about our appetizers, is when they brought out all the food at once.
So by now it's almost 2 hours since our reservation was made and we are just starting to eat now. Not only did they bring the food all at once, they also forgot a side which we had ordered.
This was by far one of the most unpleasant experiences at a restaurant that I have had. The owner not once took ownership of the fact that he had taken on more reservations than he could handle. He also was to occupied socializing with regulars and paying very little attention to other customers.
As for feedback for the owner:
-Please try to be as honest as possible when advising customers on how long a table will take.
-be cognisant of how many reservations you can handle
-show compassion and sincerity when an error has been made on your part
Though the food was good, the service left a bad taste in my mouth. At the end of the night, they offered us complimentary dessert, however at that point it was too little too late. My family and I were pretty upset with this being our first dining experience in Montreal. I would not recommend this place to my friends or family.