The Hart House

I recently celebrated my birthday at a restaurant, and I must say the server was outstanding - knowledgeable, polite, and attentive. The rest of the staff were equally friendly. The food was excellent; we opted for the Dine-Out menu, and the recommended drinks paired perfectly. I'll definitely be returning for another visit. I also enjoyed a complimentary pastry, which was absolutely delightful.

I made reservations, in November, for Christmas dinner. I was excited about going to the Hart House because of your good reputation, and was taking my sister, who has not spend Christmas with me for years. It was to be a very special occasion. This is our experience: We arrived and were seated promptly. We ordered a champagne cocktail each, they were delivered right away, with a basket of bread. After a very long time, we finally spotted our waiter again, and signalled him to come and take our dinner orders. He came over eventually, with a 2nd basket of bread. At this time, 2 tables of 4 each were seated - you will see why I mention this later. We ordered our dinners, my sister the Beef Short Ribs, and I, the White Bean Cassoulet. We each ordered the soup, and a glass of sparkling white wine. The wine came, and the 2 tables behind us had eaten, right down to finishing dessert and and a bottle wine, before our soup arrived - luke warm - we had to track our waiter down again, to ask for fresh ground pepper. Then we waited, and waited and waited - the waiter come by with more bread - 3rd basket, which we refused - we wanted our dinner!!! He knew we were finally getting upset (we probably should have been raging by now, but we wanted to have a nice Christmas dinner). Our meals arrived - my sisters ribs looked like a black mess - no veggies visible, and what she found the ribs consisted of were fat and two huge bones, no meat....and believe me, the plate looked like an oil spill. My cassoulet was the texture and flavour of porridge, and luke warm. We got up to leave......and we told we only had to pay our bar bill, which included the supposed free glasses, for making us wait so long. In the end, and I think only because other diners could hear our complaint, we did not have to pay the bar bill either. This is not about the money - I would have willingly paid double the price for a Christmas dinner that was edible with service that actually brought a meal that could have been eaten in a correct amount of time. I just want to express my great disappointment and embarrassment of inviting my sister to join me in such an awful evening. We will not be returning to the Hart House, and we will not be recommending anyone to do so either. .

It was a really good choice for a special family...

It was a really good choice for a special family dinner. Food was fantastic and the atmosphere was grand. We strolled down the lake after dinner and enjoyed the sunset.