sunterra market, keynote

terrible experience. needed help when i walked in. asked what i assume was the manager for help and was followed and accosted by security and the perhaps manager until i put down my groceries and left.sunterrais very overpriced. they’re trying to be like whole foods without the selection or the customer service.

sunterra only understands one flavor: salt. if it weren't for the pounds of salt they pack in each dish, the dishes would be completely bland. i am not normally averse to salt, except for the ridiculous quantities thatsunterrauses.

sunterra offers a fresh market of delicious wholesome food, and the keynote location is no exception. the developers have a created an eatery here that highlights the design element of the dining experience, emphasizing the use of natural lighting and wooden furnishings. one of my go-to's forsunterrais the chicken pesto panini. each bite offers a crisp piece of toasted focaccia along with a generous amount of tender chicken, finished with a savoury pesto sauce that carries the balance of the overall sandwich. definitely a great place to grab a quick bite to go, or spend the lunch hour with others!

who doesn’t like breakfast food, and some days you don’t want to make breakfast at home. diners & other popular breakfast places are usually really busy on a weekend. this is when marketbar bysunterracomes in. i was not aware that thesunterrakeynote had this. my girlfriend suggested this place & it was like finding a hidden gem (maybe it was just us).  it has a big sitting area and very fancy inside. when you walk in you see the bar to your right & a dining room setting to the left. as you go further in, it gets brighter and more of a cafe setting (self seating on both sides).  they also have an outdoor patio, which we couldn’t experience as it was gloomy and windy. the service was quick & efficient. order, pay, receive a table number for your order which they will bring out to you.

probably one of the most disappointingsunterraexperiences i've had, that meaning i've had more than one bad experience. i could go on and on about the inconsistencies, lack of quality and deception thatsunterramarket never fails to offer.

in the year 2010 they advertised their infamous yogurt cups as having fresh fruit, despite the fact that they were and are currently using frozen fruit in all yogurt cups. the trick? the fruit dethaws by the time an unaware customer decides to purchase it. this is straight up propaganda at its finest.

every single thing you buy in the deli is made days in advance. if you think that $10.00 precooked bbq chicken breast is going to taste delicious and fresh, then you have no idea what delicious and fresh is.

so what is fresh at sunterra? technically everything, they just don't serve everything to you fresh that day. it's a marketing ploy that many are unaware of and unfortunately when employed bysunterramarket in 2009, i was subject to many situations where clientele questioned the freshness of sunterra's product and i was basically told to flat out lie. for example when a woman approaches the deli and asks if it was fresh made today, i was informed to always tell her yes (even if the product i'd be selling her was made 4 days ago). so what's the catch? they make everything fresh daily but they serve it at a later date. so although everything in the deli was being made fresh daily, the product being sold was not the fresh product made on that day. following me?

anyways let's talk about my disatisfying experience i encountered today after buying a few groceries and eating in the market bar upstairs (which was nothing spectacular... i had the turkey dinner tonight and parts of my turkey were pink). i thought it would be nice to treat myself to something from the bakery. i saw a lovely looking dessert with a cream of some sort (possibly a mousse) sitting behind the glass in a chocolate cup. i asked the girl working what was inside the chocolate cup, and she said it was whip cream. i mean clearly it was not whip cream, it was a coffee color and there's no way a bakery would use perfectly good chocolate cups and fill it with only whipping cream. i was a little taken back. and then a gentlemen beside me asked the same woman "i'm trying to lose weight is there anything in here that would be good for me to have?" and she said "you can have anything in here, it's all ok" and he replied "no way all these are ok, you're lying to me" and then walked away with his wife. 2 sales lost in 1 minute of her time.

a couple minutes later i was able to find the manager, or supervisor (i'm unsure of his rank) however he was a short bald man (wearing more business attire ie: white collar shirt and tie) who when asked to speak with a supervisor, took it upon himself to help. i never got his name so i can only assume he was a superior.

when i explained what had happened, he basically acted like he didn't care. i'm telling him about how his staff behind the bakery are unknowledgeable and he tells me "well they aren't trained in knowing weight loss products" and i said "they clearly aren't trained in any of the products you have for sale". either way, i pointed out the dessert to him and he told me it was a tiramisu mousse, further proving the fact that his staff lacks knowledge in product, and he just still didn't care.

first of all, if i am running an establishment that deals with food, i'm going to want my staff to know about what they are selling, and if not, i'd hope there would be tools available for these employees to know what they are selling (a sign for example in the front of the case distinguishing what dessert it was would've been perfect). if staff are really lying to customers about what's in a product it could result in serious problems. for example, let's say i bought the chocolate cup with what she told me was whip cream, took it home and ate it and died from an allergic reaction all because i thought it was just whip cream when in fact is was a tiramisu mousse the whole time?

but let's face it, the real icing on the cake is the fact that the manager of keynotesunterrastraight up didn't care at all about the lack of knowledge his staff has, he wasn't apologetic for the treatment i received, and above all his lack of care for serious potential liabilities is outrageous. he is puttingsunterramarket at a serious risk by not hiring thorough and competent staff, but overall it reflects more about him and his lack of care for his career.

who doesn’t like breakfast food, and some days you don’t want to make breakfast at home. diners & other popular breakfast places are usually really busy on a weekend. this is when marketbar bysunterracomes in. i was not aware that thesunterrakeynote had this. my girlfriend suggested this place & it was like finding a hidden gem (maybe it was just us). it has a big sitting area and very fancy inside. when you walk in you see the bar to your right & a dining room setting to the left. as you go further in, it gets brighter and more of a cafe setting (self seating on both sides). they also have an outdoor patio, which we couldn't experience as it was gloomy and windy. the service was quick & efficient. order, pay, receive a table number for your order which they will bring out to you.
absolutely loved the experience here at marketbar, & i can’t wait to go back to try more. hopefully next time we will be able to sit on the patio.

check out my blog for full review & pictures

patio umbrella disaster. i went to eat on the patio of the marketbar during the summer of 2013. i chose a table with the umbrella already open. a gust of wind turned my table over, spilling coffee and red pasta sauce on me and my handbag. there were some helpful customers nearby, but none of the staff came out to help me (hold the table down or clean up). also, the staff did not offer me a coffee replacement because my coffee cup was still full before it toppled over. thankfully, a customer brought me a wet cloth. i was out there for an ample amount of time wiping the front and back of my pants, handbag, and cake container, and even some of the table and chair. i had maxed out that cloth, and i then noticed my white shirt was also stained and had to go inside to ask for another cloth, and then go to the washroom to wet it because the dry one he gave me was doing nothing for it. i was so distraught that i forgot another errand i had planned to do afterward. i had been waiting so long to be in the area to do this errand, so i was even more annoyed.

i'm surprised that this could happen at such a nice looking place. however, my friend, who’s been there multiple times was not surprised. their tables seem too lightweight to be held down with wind on the open umbrellas. i doubt this is the first time that it’s happened because a staff member did not seem phased when i courteously informed him about the mess out there. (he just said not to worry because it’ll be cleaned up eventually. i was flabbergasted because it was a disaster zone around that table because the full cup of coffee had spread out more than imaginable over the table and floor, not to mention the pasta that also spilled.) shortly after, i e-mailedsunterraabout it in case they wanted to make it right before posting a review about it, but i never got a response.

when i went there in probably 2017, they charged me more than the price on the board for pasta. the staff member told me that the price had changed a long time ago.

i absolutely lovesunterramarket. if you are in the area and are looking for some of the best, most affordable food around at any time of day, check outsunterramarket!

now thatsunterrais just around the corner, there’s a closer place to pick up everyday goodies; and a hangout where you can eat and enjoy the food we all love. on the top floor, there is a self-serve cafeteria-style, but they have also included the two large tandoori/woks for the curries and asian/thai dishes.

terrible. i had the misfortune of working forsunterraat this location. i have never seen such a disorganized place, they will hire anyone with a heart beat so the staff rarely knows what is going on. it's nice as a shopping experience but the two kitchens there are absolutely terrible.

wonderful market and delicious food. guided here by a friend who works downtown, my love began as i explored the market on the ground level. this is the onlysunterramarket that i've been to, so the whole experience was quite exciting. with so many people bustling about trying to grab a healthy bite, i immediately noticed the plethora of fresh items surrounding me. i could have easily grabbed something pre-made here and been content, but the smell of more food from the second floor kept me walking.

the restaurant on the second floor is an open concept, illuminated by sunshine through their many windows. sauntering past the rows of food being cooked, i was immediately confused as to how one went about ordering. after asking around, i finally settled on their garlic clove chicken on a bed of brown rice (other choices included white rice, spinach, and pasta). the servers were very friendly and helpful, and the portions were quite large.

when ladling the stew atop my rice, the servers make sure you get the most meat and veggies as possible. the chicken was tender, the veggies cooked to a perfect texture, and the overall flavours just perfect. my dessert was a delicious chocolate chip muffin. my whole meal was under $10, which i feel is an excellent deal.

in conclusion, my perfect world would have me living in one of the condos that towers above this market, thus giving me full access to sunterra's food at all times. alas, this is not yet possible, so i must therefore make as many excuses as possible to return. a myriad of healthy, fresh food choices for a truly magnificent price: i am at peace.

not quite as efficient as the other sunterras. i've stopped by the newsunterrarestaurant three times since it has opened, since it is close to home and fairly convenient. the food is fresh and quite good, but the ordering process is quite convoluted, even for the staff. trying to get your order can be quite cumbersome, since those that are supposed to take your order don't pay much attention to the customers. overall, i find that they take about twice as much time as the other sunterras to make your food. i will be avoiding the restaurant for now and just stick with the market downstairs. hopefully, they will eventually sort out their logistical issues in the restaurant.