My family and I went to M dumpling for the first time to celebrate a family member's birthday. The first five minutes pretty much set the tone for how the dining experience at M Dumpling went: stressful.
Since it was our first time visiting, we did not know that the only way to order at the restaurant was through scanning a QR code on the table. When we asked for a printed menu, the waitress rudely told us to order using the QR code. This was weird, because we saw another table with printed menus.
We eventually did manage to order using the QR code. It took an exceptionally long time for the food to arrive - around 20 minutes for the first dish, and 30 minutes for the last dish. While the place was a bit busy, it wasn't packed. Therefore, we felt like it took way too long for our food to come out.
Whenever the waitress would bring our food over, she would toss the food on our table with an attitude. It was like she didn't want to serve us, but only did because that was the only way for the business (and her) to make money.
Now, while I have established that the customer service has been sub-par so far, I am also a firm believer in acknowledging the positives. Let's pause for a moment and talk about what was good. The food was actually really good! We had ordered the M Dumpling Special Combo, and the shrimp fried rice. (For the M Dumpling Special Combo, we ordered Pork Soup Dumpling; Pan Fried Pork Bun; and Salted Egg Custard Buns). Everything was very tasty, and I was actually impressed with the flavor. For a small business, the taste of the food failed to disappoint.
Okay, now let's shift back to the customer service, as we had more interactions with the waitress that were less than positive. When the time came for us to pay for the food (which happens when the server comes with a card reader), we requested to purchase a bag of frozen dumplings. So, the waitress brought out the bag of frozen dumplings and edited the list of items on the card reader to accurately reflect the amount to charge. One of us then tapped our credit card on the reader to pay, after which the reader prompted us to provide a tip.
Of course, due to the sub-par customer service, we didn't want to tip a lot. However, the waitress stood there (close to us), and stared at us - as if she wanted to badger us to give her more. Reluctantly, (because we didn't want to make things even more awkward), we tipped more than we wanted to.
After this, we asked the waitress for the receipt, as we weren't provided one. The waitress at first told us (of course, with an attitude), that they didn't do receipts, but then brought one to us. However, this first receipt only had the food items that we ordered PRIOR to purchasing the bag of frozen dumplings. So, we requested for a second receipt with ALL of the items we ordered, including the bag of frozen dumplings. At first, the waitress tried to make an excuse as to why she couldn't get us that second receipt, but suddenly walked away and reluctantly got us the second receipt. Then, we left.
It was quite unfortunate that this had to be our experience, especially since it was for a family member's birthday dinner. We are for sure not coming back to this place again. It's a shame, because the food actually tasted amazing. However, there really is no point in trying to enjoy good food when you have to interact with rude staff. It ruins the entire experience. read more