rev:text
| - I spent close to a $1k for a family dinner for 14 people, I expect a lot more for this amount of money in a competitive restaurant scene where. Sadly, the only thing that saved the night was the our waitress who was excellent throughout the evening who I learned will be returning to school this summer, so really I can think of no reason to come here.
First of all, I usually enjoy a glass of wine with dinner when I'm eating out. Typically when my family gathers for a meal for special occasions like these, we can easily finish 4 bottles, but unfortunately the wine list here was just not up to par. Mediocre wine list paired with a ridiculous mark up. While many of the restaurants I frequent do have a rather large mark up on their wine, their wine list is usually more refined and curated. The wine choices and prices simply don't pair up with the expected quality of food based on prices of similar restaurants.
Unfortunately my family was quite blunt about the quality of their meals when I polled them after. The oysters were okay which is the least we expect since this is where they've earned their name. We had pretty much tried all their apps (ie. crab cakes, squid, various salads, two mussel dishes), ordered a whole lobster, surf and turf, pasta, paella, fish etc. The only memorable dish was the paella, we were otherwise disappointed in the dishes. In fact, my aunt felt that the seafood did not taste fresh. Everything else was very mediocre or below expectations.
Lastly, beware of the 15% mandatory gratuity for large size parties. The 15% is calculated based on the total bill including taxes. They are charging 15% on HST (which is not part of the goods or services provided, but a remittance collected on behalf of the govt) when they should really be charging 15% on the subtotal for food and drinks BEFORE tax. This is undoubtedly dishonest. We didn't dispute the charge as we felt that the waitress had earned the full amount based on her service alone. I would give zero for food and wine.
Through their grocery store, Diana's has built a brand for themselves and it feels like they simply don't care for your business anymore.
|