Rai S.
Yelp
FYI: I left a review prior, deleted it as the manager called me after I left it and attempted to reconcile the situation. I am politely declining and moving forward because the overall situation I think needs to be addressed regardless as a "just in case"
I needed some time away to think before coming back, but the entire interaction just made me uncomfortable. I'm adding an extra star for the first person I spoke to and that's about it. 3 to most people is "average" and this wasn't an average experience for me.
I ordered online last November, the 5 spice tofu and shiitake. The first person I spoke too on the phone was nice and helpful, I stated I had allergies and he wrote them down, and even noted to remove mushroom as I was sensitive to gluten. When I received the order, it still had mushroom so I double checked with the person on the phone, as I gave benefit of the doubt maybe they gave me a different kind of mushroom -- no. He apologized and said they messed up and gave me the regular marinated mushrooms, and they offered to send another one. I was already nervous about this, but they reassured it would be fine.
The second plate I received had the second item I was allergic to which is garlic. Garlic is one of those things you can SEE and SMELL. I even took a photo to show the staff, keep this in mind for later.
So I called back to tell them the second order they sent had garlic. I ended up giving this to a friend because of course I couldn't eat that either. By this time I was upset because 2 orders were messed up and I was getting hangry. The second person on the phone pretty much got the burnt end of this and he seemed flustered on the phone, he tried to scramble and rectify the situation himself, but after waiting he told me that the cooks on the phone told him the did NOT put garlic in my food. I took a photo and offered to send to them, because I found it astounding that they were indirectly accusing me of lying when the proof was there. They blatantly refused to listen to this, and the guy ended up handing the phone to the manager later. I explained the situation on the phone to the manager who initially seemed unsure of what to do with the situation and just offered to refund me. I just accepted the refund, but I was annoyed with the fact the kitchen staff tried to gaslight me when I offered to show proof. Not something I would recommend doing, unless you want legal trouble.
Again, the restaurant ended up calling me /after/ I left a review about this experience, I think they were not expecting the honest truth on a public forum. However, I will not be returning due to this situation. It left a really bad taste in my mouth, no pun intended. I felt humiliated and exhausted.
Please take this into consideration for the next person who addresses food allergies. And for the love of god, please *don't* call me, just take this as a lesson and heavy honest feedback. This is an issue with a lot of NYC restaurants I've noticed. I think unless someone goes into anaphylactic shock, and/or dies, it won't be taken as seriously unfortunately.