Nina K.
Yelp
Food: 3/5
Service: -1000/5
atmosphere: 3/5
Food:
Oysters- The appropriate way to give oysters, is to tell the guests what region the oysters are from. Which of course, No one did...They literally could have been picked out of a dumpster for all I know ... They were not fresh at all. The only notable part of this "dish" was the horseradish 0/5
Biff's Charcuterie: There was no cheese ... this was not charcuterie, it was random pieces of cured meat with whole grain mustard which was rather watery and about 4 tiny pickles 2/5.
Tagliatelle- This was a delicious entrée. It was very creamy and the truffle flavor was prominent. 5/5
Beef Bourguignon- I only had a bite, but it was very rich and flavorful. 5/5
Creme Brûlée- It was descent, nothing to brag about. 3/5
Bon Voyage- Fresh cocktail, I've had significantly better but was descent. I have not had Dillon's Gin before, so that was "exciting" 4/5
Manhattan- It was a manhattan, nothing special 4/5
Bertrand Syrah- A $20 bottle of wine sold for $60.
The cocktail list is not sensational and they have a very limited wine list- as expected of an O&R establishment.
Service:
I did not anticipate that I would be writing this review for Maison Selby. Unfortunately the entire experience was by far, the worst I have had in at least 5-6 years. I had made reservations on opentable for a Saturday night at 8:45pm, where I had very clearly indicated that this was a special occasion. I had written in the notes section that this was a birthday celebration and whatever dessert was ordered, for a candle to be placed on the dessert. I had also called ahead of time to confirm this.
We walk in at 8:45 but do not get seated until 8:55. We were greeted right away and our drink order was taken. I was slightly annoyed at the location where we were seated, which was the dining area immediately to the right of the entrance. This particular dining area was quite loud with bigger groups and very casual. Our drinks did not arrive until 9:30- literally 35 minutes after they were ordered. Once the waitress placed my drink (Bon Voyage) on the table, she noted that this would be the only bon voyage I could have, as they no longer have the ingredients to make the drink again for the night. Fantastic ...
We ordered our food at 9:30 but our meals did not arrive until 10:20!!! There was ZERO acknowledgment of the delayed service. The waitress was kind, but incredibly inattentive. We had gotten oysters, which after we were finished we them, she SPILLED all over my seat. Thankfully I was in the restroom at this point and the damage was only to their seat cushions and not me. It turns out, she had not even realized that she had spilled the oyster juice (yuck) until she was told by someone else. They relocated us. Fine ...
I should add, this dining area only had 6 tables at the time, until a significantly larger group was seated (12 people), and as you can imagine, we were even further neglected. Excellent...
We ordered the dessert and who knows when that came out, and if you've made it this far to this review, congratulations- you must have guessed (correctly), that there was no candle on the dessert. This was truly the straw that broke the camel's back. Creme de la creme of the evening ...
I'm shocked that this is an O&B restaurant, as they advertise themselves (on their company website, IG, literally everywhere online) as "one of Canada's leading hospitality companies". And in general, their restaurants are well managed and the food is descent if not fantastic depending on the restaurant. However, this experience has completely changed my point of view on them. Unfortunately, they completely ruined what was supposed to be a very special evening and I will never return, nor will I recommend this to anyone... unless they are looking to ruin someone's evening. In fact, this would likely be the best breakup restaurant, as the horrendous service would completely overshadow the breakup itself.
Atmosphere:
Im sure there are other sections of this establishment that are "nicer", but we were seated in what i can only describe as the rowdy area. Again, had they read the reservation, they would have known that this was a birthday dinner for 2, and we did not need to be seated where all other guests were in large groups.