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| - I really wanted to love Julie's, but as the setting of this year's birthday dinner, she barely cut it. First off the bat, I arrived early to a full front dining room and was not greeted for a very long time. Standing there awkwardly amongst the tightly fitted tables of glowing diners while wondering what happened to my reservation for six, I looked toward the two busy servers in the back and smiled, only to be met with frazzled glances and not even a nod. Finally, a third lady came out from the kitchen and showed me to the slightly less atmospheric back room where there was a table all set up for us.
Between this lady who had an owner-like air and a scatterbrained male server, our overall service was hurried but in slow motion. Our drinks were delivered to the wrong table (when there were only two parties in the room), settings were taken away when I assured them that everyone was coming, dishes were delivered to the wrong people (without any attempts at confirmation), and the bill took ages to arrive.
As I had been fairly warned by fellow Yelpers, the considerably high prices are unjustified. (I had originally justified them by comparing them with the prices of the menus on Ossington - where all the restaurants had already been fully booked.) It's all true though: the quality and care in preparation is not on the same level. The mojitos were refreshingly not too sweet, but was chock full of ice. We weren't quite sure what to make of the big show that was made of the litre of sangria being transferred from one jug to another as part of the presentation. Why wasn't it just brought in that second jug? Maybe this process aerates the wine, but we may never find out.
The shrimp with spicy tomato sauce on rice that a couple of us got was reported to be okay, not spectacular. The tapas that the rest of us shared were similarly underwhelming. The ceviche was far too limey. The daily special of taro and sweet potato fritters were over cooked and didn't have even a hint of sweetness that one would expect from that combination. The artichoke heart salad was as fine as canned artichokes on a bed of lettuce could be.
I absolutely adore the look and idea of Julie's, but that will only get me through their doors once.
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