Hidden pleasure: a delectable Cantonese dining experience that’s off the foodie radar

By Renée Suen | August 10, 2009

By Renée Suen | 08/10/2009

It’s easy to see why John’s Chinese Barbecue Restaurant has remained off the foodie radar: it’s hidden in a Richmond Hill strip mall and has a non-descript English name. Most come for the Chinese rotisserie—a joy in itself—but adventurous diners tend to order John’s Cantonese fare. Several notches above the usual cloying sauces and greasy batter of take-out Chinese, we dig into expertly rendered versions of chow mein and stir fry, as well as Guangdong delicacies like braised sea cucumbers, Peking duck and dried abalone (dining with a Chinese-reading companion helps decipher the specials and menu). In this slideshow, we tour an authentic Cantonese meal that’s worth a drive north of the 407.

John’s Chinese Barbecue Restaurant, Unit 10, Chalmers Gate 11, 328 Hwy. 7 E., Richmond Hill, 905-881-3333.

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Been there the second time. Overall conclusion = Horrible service + obnoxious attitude. No Integrity.

I had a debate whether I should give this place I try given the overall rating is 3 but decided to go given certain recent comments are pretty decent. I understand for Chinese restaurants, even if you made reservations, if there are many people waiting, 10 to 30 minutes wait is reasonable depending on how many people are in line. Totally understandable. But how this place handles the reservation and the obnoxious attitude toward their customers, it completely unbearable. If you like to be treated like shit, please definitely visit this place. They will be able to give you the shittiest experience thta you will ever want.

Story:

I called well in advance at noon to reserve a dinner table for 6:30pm. The manager/owner (an old lady) told me the reservation at 6:30pm is no problem, but maybe better to come at 6pm. It should mean that the if you come at 6:30pm you will have a table, but if you can come earlier, that will be great.

I arrived at 6:10pm and she told us we need to wait for a bit. Another table is almost done and ready to pay the bill. That’s fine. We were early and were willing to wait for a bit. At that time, there is one big table already empty (fit 10 ppl). It is probably for another reservation so we won’t blame them on that. By the time it is 6:30pm, there is still no table. In fact, I don’t see any table that is ready to leave. Everyone seems to just order their food and well in the way eating. I don’t see a table that she referred “will leave soon”. So i asked again. She told “yes, you will have a table soon.” I called to reserve a table but no table is reserved. what kind of reservation system is this?

Then we finally saw another table paying off their bill and thinking this is the table she referred to so many times that they are waiting for them to pay the bill. The customers left and the table was clear. She still didn’t ask us to sit in. She said that table is not for us. There is no one waiting at the restaurants except us. I don’t understand why she didn’t give us that table. So I try to calm down and be reasonable thinking we only have 4 people and the table can probably fit 6 to 8, that’s probably why they didn’t want to give it to us, although the group who just sitting at that table had 5 people, including 1 kid.

10 minutes after, another table left and she told us again we will have out seat soon and pointing at that table that this is ours. I was thinking, finally we have a table. People are leaving and cleaning up. When it is done, she told us that this table is not for us AGAIN. No one is waiting for any table in this place except for us the whole time. She kept telling us we will have a table numerous time and even pointing at the last table that it will be ours, but lied when the table is ready.

We ended up waiting for 50 minutes and although there are THREE EMPTY tables the whole time, they did not ask us to sit in the place and kept telling us the next table is ours. I do not understand this logic at all.

Their attitude is terrible. The owner/manager even yelled at me saying those tables are not for us when there are clearly empty tables. Their service is terrible. They don’t treat customers with respect at all. I don’t understand why people would go to this place to pay them to let them yell at you and treated with no respect.

I normally let bad service restaurants go and typically a patient and reasonable person, but this owner’s way of doing business is extremely horrible that I have to leave a comment. Thanks for reading this story and I hope you get something out of this.

3 thoughts on “Hidden pleasure: a delectable Cantonese dining experience that’s off the foodie radar”

aser says:

August 10, 2009 at 7:38 pm

Toronto Life continually mines chowhound for stories. At least more gwailos will know about it now.
eatereater123 says:

August 18, 2009 at 10:13 am

Would you please include the dish names as they appear on the menu and price approximations? Would be helpful to recreate the visual experience.
Amber M says:

June 22, 2015 at 12:11 am

Been there the second time. Overall conclusion = Horrible service + obnoxious attitude. No Integrity.

I had a debate whether I should give this place I try given the overall rating is 3 but decided to go given certain recent comments are pretty decent. I understand for Chinese restaurants, even if you made reservations, if there are many people waiting, 10 to 30 minutes wait is reasonable depending on how many people are in line. Totally understandable. But how this place handles the reservation and the obnoxious attitude toward their customers, it completely unbearable. If you like to be treated like shit, please definitely visit this place. They will be able to give you the shittiest experience thta you will ever want.

Story:

I called well in advance at noon to reserve a dinner table for 6:30pm. The manager/owner (an old lady) told me the reservation at 6:30pm is no problem, but maybe better to come at 6pm. It should mean that the if you come at 6:30pm you will have a table, but if you can come earlier, that will be great.

I arrived at 6:10pm and she told us we need to wait for a bit. Another table is almost done and ready to pay the bill. That’s fine. We were early and were willing to wait for a bit. At that time, there is one big table already empty (fit 10 ppl). It is probably for another reservation so we won’t blame them on that. By the time it is 6:30pm, there is still no table. In fact, I don’t see any table that is ready to leave. Everyone seems to just order their food and well in the way eating. I don’t see a table that she referred “will leave soon”. So i asked again. She told “yes, you will have a table soon.” I called to reserve a table but no table is reserved. what kind of reservation system is this?

Then we finally saw another table paying off their bill and thinking this is the table she referred to so many times that they are waiting for them to pay the bill. The customers left and the table was clear. She still didn’t ask us to sit in. She said that table is not for us. There is no one waiting at the restaurants except us. I don’t understand why she didn’t give us that table. So I try to calm down and be reasonable thinking we only have 4 people and the table can probably fit 6 to 8, that’s probably why they didn’t want to give it to us, although the group who just sitting at that table had 5 people, including 1 kid.

10 minutes after, another table left and she told us again we will have out seat soon and pointing at that table that this is ours. I was thinking, finally we have a table. People are leaving and cleaning up. When it is done, she told us that this table is not for us AGAIN. No one is waiting for any table in this place except for us the whole time. She kept telling us we will have a table numerous time and even pointing at the last table that it will be ours, but lied when the table is ready.

We ended up waiting for 50 minutes and although there are THREE EMPTY tables the whole time, they did not ask us to sit in the place and kept telling us the next table is ours. I do not understand this logic at all.

Their attitude is terrible. The owner/manager even yelled at me saying those tables are not for us when there are clearly empty tables. Their service is terrible. They don’t treat customers with respect at all. I don’t understand why people would go to this place to pay them to let them yell at you and treated with no respect.

I normally let bad service restaurants go and typically a patient and reasonable person, but this owner’s way of doing business is extremely horrible that I have to leave a comment. Thanks for reading this story and I hope you get something out of this.