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| - I've been going to karaoke ever since I was little with my parents in Asia, so these Asian-style karaoke venues were what I always considered to be "karaoke" but I realized that here in Canada people often assume karaoke is done in public in front of an audience at a bar or a pub which I actually think is kinda unnerving. Asian karaoke is usually in private rooms with just your friends, and you'll find that with enough encouragement and a bit of alcohol, most people will come out of their shells and join in on the singing. It's a great way to bond.
As a karaoke enthusiast this is my go-to karaoke place in downtown Toronto. This is pretty much the only one you'll find near the Eaton Centre as all the other ones are clustered by Chinatown and Koreatown. The pricing system for Chinese and Korean karaokes typically differ in that Chinese ones usually require you to spend a minimum price on drinks and food depending on the size of the room while you essentially get the room for "free". Korean karaoke pricing system is usually just by the hour and there's no requirement for you to purchase drinks or food. If you're going to order a lot of drinks and/or food anyway and if you plan on singing for a very long time then you'll likely save money going to Chinatown, but I've always preferred the Korean karaoke system over the Chinese karaoke system as the Korean system typically has a better selection of English songs (and Korean and Japanese songs) while the Chinese karaoke system has a wider selection of Chinese songs.
Bar+ is one of the few karaoke establishments aside from Twister at Yonge & Finch that actually utilizes a dual system. They usually default you to the English karaoke system but you can actually switch to the Korean system with a simple switch. You'll have to ask for the remote for the other system, but it's perfect for me because I like to sing a bunch of songs in different languages and while the English system does have a few Asian songs here and there, the Korean system has a much wider selection of Asian songs. It is a good way to balance both and it's probably Bar+'s biggest advantage over the other systems.
The service here is actually quite good considering it is a karaoke joint. Usually Asian karaoke places have sort of a meh vibe when it comes to service, but this one is quite friendly while also being efficient. Drinks always come. Food always come. We always get what we ordered and they always come when we call for help. This doesn't always happen at other karaoke places because they tend to be understaffed and honestly sometimes a bit lazy (working in such a loud environment with very drunk people for prolonged periods can be draining I'm sure), but this venue has no such issues.
The prices of the drinks and food are fair and what you'd expect to pay at any other bar, and it's even cheaper with their VIP card on weekdays. It's worth getting the VIP card if you plan on going to karaoke on a weekday, as the card gets you 50% off the room rate and a bit of a discount on food and drinks. Not very useful for the weekend, but these days this place has become so popular that if you come here without a reservation on a weekend, you likely won't get a room. They do not take reservations for small rooms but they do get taken fairly quickly.
The sound system is average, and the walls are quite thin but these are fairly minor points for me as you can only expect so much in a fairly small venue. Because the rooms tend to be a bit smaller, there is often an audio feedback issue but you can easily solve that by changing your position. Sometimes the songs are just the music videos and not actually karaoke (you can't turn off the original vocals), but this only happens for a few songs and it's a common issue in a lot of other karaoke joints. Overall I'm just appreciative to be able to go a decent karaoke place in walking distance from my house and I'm sure with the lack of space in downtown Toronto, Bar+ will be the place to go for quite some time.
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