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Not living in Canada, my siblings visited Casa Victoria restaurant (紫爵金宴) in Toronto for lunch. Everything went swimmingly until they saw this on their bill:

SAUCE 芥 6.00

They were never notified of this charge, not written anywhere on the menus or dim sum sheet. They never requested any sauces. So they requested a manager, and a man in a business suit came. They don't speak a word of Chinese, and this dialogue followed:

Manager: This is for table covers, sauces, preparation.

Siblings: Why would we be charged for these? They're standard in any restaurant.

Manager: This is standard policy. It's in many restaurants. Have you never been to Chinese restaurants?

Siblings: Can we have your name please?

Manager: Sorry. I'm not allowed to give names.

Siblings: It's not fair to charge us for something that was never agreed. Will you please waive and remove this charge?

Manager: Sorry. I cannot. This is policy.

Siblings: Sorry. We don't like hidden charges. They're very unfair. Is there anything you can do to help?

Manager: Sorry. No. This is owner's policy.

Siblings: Is there someone else who can help with this?

Manager: I'm the only manager. Anyway, you have to pay it. If you don't, I report you.

Weary and frightened by this threat, my siblings paid the bill, but without the standard tip of 15%.

I base the titled question on ethics, not money, as suing for $6 CAD is obviously senseless.

Further research

Googling "chinese restaurant" invoice "cover charge" yields other restaurants that charge this. Legend Chinese Restaurant in Thornhill, ON:

Park Chinois Restaurant at 17 Berkeley St, London:

Miss Ene explains how these charges stunned her:

Anyhoo, the point of this entry is not to rave about the food at Chin Lee. Instead, I would like to draw your attention to a little unknown cost. Well, it was pretty unknown to me until today.

Now, we all know that restaurants charge for the wet napkins and peanuts/pickles that the place on your table at the start of each meal. I don’t have a problem paying for it because I am sure it all adds to their operating costs. However, I was pretty appalled that we (4 pax) paid $10 (excluding 7% GST) for “cover charge” and 2 plates of “pickles”. They were steamed peanuts, by the way.

(for the future)

Pay and report the restaurant to the ontario's consummer protection board;

https://www.ontario.ca/page/filing-consumer-complaint

You need to pay and you should pay with a card so that there is paper trail of the paiement.

Make certain you take pictures of the menus, bill, and anything that could/should state or not if there is a cover charge or extra charge; try to take the picture of the menus with your bill next to it, again, to show that it is the proper menu.

If there is a cover charge, it should be plainly written on the menu.

For better or worse, it is quite standard for dim sum/yum cha places worldwide to charge cover charges, often mildly disguised as fees for peanuts, napkins, tea, sauces, which are all brought to your table without asking. I've seen this in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, etc, which are notably all also places where cover charges in restaurants are not the norm.

The rationale is simple enough: eating dim sum requires an extraordinary array of little plates, sauces and utensils, and people tend to make an event of it, sitting around for much longer than (say) your average noodle place. So the cover charge is the restaurant's way of ensuring they make a modicum of profit from everybody at the table, even if they only nibble on one dumpling over two hours.

Yes, the restaurant was at fault for not making the charge clear in advance; but no, you should not feel like you, personally, were targeted in some kind of scam. And if your meal cost more than $40 or so, stiffing them on more than $6 of tips in response is really not cool -- it's the owner's policy, not the waitstaff's.

Why not simple decline to pay (that part of the bill)? Whom would they report you to?

If they call the police, you can make your argument there, and you would potentially win. And whom else would they report you to?