Noah B.
Google
I will preface this by stating that I was incredibly excited to try AniMare. After hearing rave reviews from hotel staff, fellow travellers, and food guides, my expectations were understandably high. Unfortunately, AniMare fell so far short.
Service throughout was SLOW; abysmally so. Not once throughout the entire two-and-a-half hour meal, did anyone come to check in on us. However, most of the staff we spoke with were friendly, despite the below-mediocre level of attention. Normally, I'd excuse part of this lack-luster service as a symptom of the evening rush, but during our meal, there were only ~6-8 tables occupied, with a number of wait staff comparable to the number of patrons.
We began with the steak tartare, which was quite good, and I have no complaints there. For mains, we chose the seafood casserole and the tuna steak. While the casserole was good (not great), the tuna was disgusting. Despite ordering it rare, it came out closer to medium-well, and was by far the toughest piece of fish I've ever had. It was paired with a series of odd accompaniments that attempted (poorly) to mesh sweet, salty, and savory flavours together. Safe to say, it looked a LOT prettier than it tasted.
When we brought the issues with the tuna up to staff, we were told something along the lines of: "Yeah, I know; I thought I had told you!" (neither of us remember being 'warned').
I will note, however, that our waitress was kind and empathetic throughout, and I wish her the absolute best. Furthermore, staff did comp the tuna dish, which was a kind gesture that helped to make up for the faux-pas.
Nevertheless, to me, this represents a blatant lack of care for the menu. Despite the fact that staff were aware of these issues, there seemed to be no attempt to rectify them. Eventually, a manager gifted us a dessert, after having said something to a similar tune as what our waitress had told us previously. Still, I left with a poor taste in my mouth (both literally and metaphorically).
A brief note on drinks: We had a glass of the house red, which was decent, and an absolutely OUTSTANDING cocktail that I would classify as the highlight of our dinner.
In short, the ambiance here is quite nice, but both the food and the passion are in desperate need of a reignition. AniMare didn't come close to our expectations; our evening did lead to us reconsidering our reservation at their sister restaurant, Alma, the following night.
In a city with countless outstanding culinary experiences, AniMare just doesn't stand up to the competition. Hopefully, with some more passion from the team, this'll improve soon.
