The Boreal Diner — Restaurant in Bonavista

Atmosphere was cute, but we were seated right next to a used book shelf, where people were staring at us as we waited for food. The service was lacking, with the waiter not filling our water glasses and instead providing a mason jar to fill our own- this always tends to drip and is not elegant. We were only provided with a fork and knife, to be used for the entire three course meal, which is a bit odd at this price scale. The servers were friendly, but missed details like who ordered what at our table of two. These details are expected at this type of restaurant. Bread provided to the table was not enough for the long wait for food, we only got once slice cut in 4 small squares to share.The appetizers were disappointing, my chanterelle tart was ice cold in the centre as if it has been stored in the fridge, and because of this the pastry was rock hard. My wife's scallops were overcooked and were finished with FAR too much salt to the point I heard her crunching on it loudly. The main dishes were not better- my wife's Kimchi noodle bowl was good but not spectacular- cheap places in town make it much better for $12 rather than $36 here. Also if we did not get three courses, the portion size would have been extremely small. The pork belly was completely soft and chewy. My duck pasta dish was also no better. I got dry duck breast shredded on top of bland pesto pasta that was quite chewy. The parmesan was added beforehand and had no taste. We were not offered pepper, salt or additional parmesan on our main dishes. The desserts had to be the worst of all. My molasses custard pie had no garnish or ice cream, and was bland with a bad texture- it tasted and felt like pumpkin pie without any spices and was most certainly not custard. My wife's green tea-peach cake tasted not of green tea, nor peach. It was quite bland and also was not presented more than being put on a plate. We love Bonavista very much and come each year to celebrate our anniversary, however this will be our first and last time eating at Boreal Diner. $165 later and we had to go for ice cream at Little Dairy King to actually be satisfied. I agree with other reviews that this is a blatant tourist trap, and being local I felt especially ripped off. I could not recommend this...

The whole experience was somewhat a nightmare from the time we got in until the time we left. From our placement at the table to our meals order, the meals itself (so not worth the price), the cleanliness (Hair in one of our plates) no appologies for it (despite the owner being in the premise) the staff accused us to place the hair in our plate and still wanted us to pay for that specic plate (even the owner doubted us) total lack of respect from most of the staff (except for our server, she was great) one of the cook told us to take the door and leave since we were trying to understand their explanations and listening to their non-sense. No one was wearing headnetting and they had the audacity to tell us that they had nothing to do with it. We had the best time in Bonavista, NL, met incredible people but never expected to be threated that way, shame on them for what they did or didn't do in that case. This restaurant is a tourist trap (all about money, they couldn't care less about the customers's experience). Not...

I hyped myself up for this place because I read the reviews about how it’s a great place for special occasions with an amazing fine dining experience (some even say it’s Michelin star worthy). I tried so hard to like this place but the aftertaste here is worse than the scallops they served me. Even a month later I am writing this review just to warn others about how bad it truly is.

If you’re coming from a big city, this place is not even close to what you could get from a Michelin guide restaurant. And the staff is hilariously undertrained. Go here if you want an overpriced meal while children scream downstairs and the waiter asks what you need and then dismisses your request to bring the side dish you ordered. They charge fine dining prices and make unique dishes but their seafood quality is extremely lacking while their steaks are sous vide to mush. Enjoy your special occasion here because I’ll never forget...