After looking at the website and seeing the menu and the pictures of the restaurant, I had high hopes for this place. I should have known better than to judge a book (or a restaurant, in this case) by its cover. They present the image of a trendy, high-end restaurant in Downtown Markham. The décor, menu and price point suggests this. The quality of food and service suggests otherwise. I ordered the truffle pizza, but it felt more like an unsuccessful attempt at any truffle or pizza. It was a mash/paste with just a drop of truffle oil, smeared on a toasted store-bought naan. Without any chew to the "dough", it was all crunch like a thick piece of cracker. The paste and cheese were mushy, no stringy texture to the cheese as one would expect with pizza.
Although the hostess and servers were pleasant, it was apparent they were not friendly and were simply going through the motions of their duties. Upon being seated, the restaurant was nearly empty with only 1 other table of diners. However, the place felt busy (like at dim sum on a weekend) if you closed your eyes, as the bar area was occupied by the staff (looked like the management team, according to the profile pictures on the website). Judging by what they were saying it was clear that they were simply chatting amongst themselves, but at the expense of ruining what would have been a pleasant ambiance.
The oddest thing was when the hostess came over to our table, at the end of our meal, to scrape crumbs off the table. Only it was not with a crumb scrapper, but with a towel and brushing off crumbs that were not there, off of the place mats. That was about as successful as using a broom to clean carpet.
Unless things change quickly, it will only be a matter of time before they start offering deals via Groupon. I don't think I would return to this restaurant - even if the prices were slashed by half.
A high note of this restaurant is its beautiful décor and location. Unfortunately, this does not overcome the flaws in its food and service. read more