I am a regular at Swish by Han – the wait staff know me and greet me. What happened on Friday night when I went to dine with my adult daughter was inexcusable. To be clear – the food is palatable and the music is ear shattering. The wait staff do not like customers, in fact they think being rude and out and out lying is good customer service.

My daughter cannot have spice and there is spice in some of the food. She inquired about the potstickers from a ‘new’ waitress – the lady who always wears a white top (she is related to the chef and the owner) did not take our order. She was assured there is no spice. This is not something I have ever ordered so I didn’t know.

The dish arrives in a sea of soy sauce and chili oil. We call the waitress over – this time we get the ‘lady in white’ – the one who is always there – the one related to the owner. My daughter explains the problem – she can’t have spice, she asked before ordering, this has spice, she cannot eat it – what can be done. Here the comes the unbelievable part – and I am paraphrasing but very close to what is actually said -

1. Oh! – the other waitress should have told you – I will go let her know that she made a mistake. She is new here and doesn’t know the menu I guess.

2. It isn’t that spicy – you can eat it anyway – NOTE: at this point we told her that chili oil makes my daughter ill –

3. The chef is particular about his food and he makes no allowances for guest allergies, you get it the way he wants it and if it isn’t what you can eat that is your problem.

We ate quickly and got the bill. I live next door to this place and am fond of it, so I went back to see this was just some sort of misunderstanding. I get ‘lady in white’ – I am just a waitress I just work here it isn’t my job to deal with upset customers’ I ask where is the manager, there is nobody here to talk to. Shortly afterwards another lady appears claiming to be ‘the manager’. She listens to me. I ask her isn’t the ‘lady in white’ part of the ownership – yes she assures me she is. She will pass on my comments.

No the bill was not adjusted – yes it was $7 and I paid for the dish, but that wasn’t the point.

No-one apologized – the final suggestion as we were leaving – we should ‘order’ more carefully in the future. If we can’t eat something don’t order it.

Okay folks – this is not acceptable by any means at any class of restaurant.