Hart House Restaurant — Restaurant in Burnaby

I booked a Sunday lunch to enjoy their Dine Out Vancouver menu and noted the reason for my visit in the reservation. Before I arrived, I received no communication indicating there would be an issue. However, when I got there, I was told the Dine Out Vancouver menu is only available for lunch on weekdays and during dinner. They mentioned this was on their website, but I pointed out it wasn't. The site had information about a different two-course dine-out menu, not the Dine Out Vancouver menu. As a result, my reservation was changed to dinner. Before leaving, I checked the website on my phone and saw I was right. However, the desktop version showed different information. Since many customers look up restaurant details on their phones, this highlights part one of their communication problems.

In the bathroom and inside the dining room, clearly visible is black mold and grime on both the bathroom floors and windowsills. It is shocking that they neglect the cleanliness of their restrooms. Regrettably, the bathrooms were not the sole concern; I was seated adjacent to an air conditioning unit, which exhibited dust and black mold within the vents. Additionally, there were remnants of old food atop the vent, clearly visible and indicative of a lack of attention to cleanliness. This raises concerns about the overall hygiene standards, leading one to ponder the condition of the kitchen.

Images depicting the presence of grime, black mold, and food remnants are included in the accompanying photographs alongside the food photos.

When ordering, I had made the server aware of my allergies to beets and pineapple, both of which can trigger anaphylaxis. Upon returning from a restroom break, I was surprised to find a plate that appeared to contain beets. When I next encountered the server, he confirmed it was indeed beets. The restaurant is fortunate that I did not accidentally consume the beets, as this could have resulted in potential legal ramifications. For individuals with allergies, I would advise against dining here.

As someone who frequently indulges in fine dining, particularly European fare, I was taken aback by the excessive saltiness present in many dishes.

EDIT: In light of their response, I had to remove certain sections from my initial review. Screenshots of the original review are included in the attached photographs.

Reply Response I did not utilize a flashlight for any inspections; rather, I employed my phone camera to record a video of the establishment. The flashlight is an outright lie. The information displayed on desktop and mobile websites varies based on the platform utilized. It would've taken merely thirty seconds for them to contact me and clarify the menu situation, a task they seemingly could not be bothered to undertake. Instead, they attempted to persuade me to dine during brunch hours, which features a more expensive menu. There was no misunderstanding on my end; the issue lies with the website's communication. While I appreciate the gesture and recognize the intent of the wine, I found it to be misleading and manipulative in both its presentation and delivery. The presence of black mold and grime is evident in the attached photographs. While they may choose to have a "professional conduct an inspection", this does not equate to the visual evidence provided in the photos before their response. To claim that such issues are nonexistent, despite the attached images, is simply manipulative and deceitful. Throughout this interaction, my demeanor remained positive. I was consistently kind, respectful, and polite. It is unacceptable to attribute blame to someone with tangible evidence for your own shortcomings. As for the matter of tipping, I find it unnecessary to elaborate on whether I left a tip. It is underhanded to bring this up in your response. Your approach suggests it is an expectation while simultaneously framing it as if it is not, which is quite calculating...

Came here for valentines with my partner this year, and while Hart House provides a dining experience, the company I came with and service far outshone any of the food on offer.

The amuse bouche was a lovely little ceviche on a cornbread cracker. It was bright, tasty, and blended its textural elements perfectly. Unfortunately this one inch square was one of the highlights of the meal. 4.5/5

For an appetizer I selected the beet tartare, which was a reasonable approximation of a similar beef dish served with an egg yolk sauce and toasted sliced bread chips. This would've been better as beef, and the fact that it included egg and wasn't a vegan dish made it come across as this was either a cost saving measure or an experiment by the kitchen, either way a solid 4/5. My partner selected what ended up being a thick, lukewarm soup with fried sunchoke (similar to artichoke) chips in it. Imagine pea soup with less flavour. 2/5. Appetizer course gets a 3/5 on average.

We were delighted to see there was a shrimp and dungeoness crab cannelloni as the meal's next course, but how wrong we were. What was failed to be described was that the cannelloni was made of some kind of rubbery, fishy flesh that had been bound together into a sheet and then wrapped around the crab meat. The resulting product was like chewing on a car tire that smelled and tasted like day old fish. If I had to do it again we'd skip this entire course and move on. 0/5

The palette cleanser was much needed and a highlight of the meal. This shaved ice strongly flavoured with lemon juice helped wash away the memory of what we'd just eaten. 4/5

The main was reasonable but not great, ribeye steaks with grilled mushrooms and a carrot puree. The ribeyes were okay, under-seasoned and the temperature of a dish that's been under a heat lamp waiting to be served. The mushrooms were pretty good, but the carrots were the consistency of baby food. Good enough, but not worth the price tag. 3/5

Finally for dessert we were served a blood orange tart, a chocolate and coffee wafer dish, and what we were told was a smore. I say we were told it was a smore because it was a square of something resembling marshmallow with a piped on heart of chocolate mixed with some flavouring served on a fried wonton wrapper. Just call it what it is guys, don't pull a bait and switch. Anyone who's seen The Menu and gone to fine dining soon after would maybe consider this a tongue in cheek reference, but I don't consider this restaurant to have enough self awareness to make that kind of joke through their food. The coffee wafer was decent enough, although I made a mess dividing it up, and the blood orange tart was flavourful with a lovely little crust similar to what you'd find in a cheesecake. Dessert was a solid 3/5 but had we only been given the blood orange tart it would've been a 4.5.

Hart House has a reputation that it strives to live up to, but it seems like the kind of place that was the pinnacle of dining in its region twenty years ago and never advanced with the time. It's stagnant, and values aesthetic over taste and texture. We won't be returning anytime soon, as the price tag of $275 without any wine or other drinks for the level of quality you receive isn't something to be valued. Management should take a good long look at what they're prioritizing and delivering to...

This review is long overdue but these thoughts pop into my head everytime I hear of this venue so here it is. My husband and I got married here in 2014, and we booked the venue the year before that in 2013. Right from the get go we got the vibe that we weren't good enough or had enough money to get married here. The wedding coordinator seemed rather shocked that we arrived with a deposit. I had my heart set on this venue so we were going to do whatever it took to make it work. There wasn't too much input from Sonja about anything. She was short with her responses and didn't seem like she wanted to go above and beyond for someone like me. Skip to the wedding day, I was furious when the wedding party snacks were put out before we got there and somehow other people managed to eat the entire thing. When I expressed my frustration to my then fiancé, Sonja appeared and said "looks like you guys need a drink" She brought out 2 drinks, 1 for my husband and 1 for my dad. Which we ended up seeing on the bill later and it was the most expensive drink on the menu. As the night went on we heard over and over from our guests that drinks were disappearing! Then before we knew it, I heard the bartender yell to everyone "open bar is almost over, come get it while you can". People were walking away with 3 or 4 drinks in hand. Which should not be allowed!!! We were shocked to hear that because from our 130 guests, 45 of them don't drink. We had made sure that roughly 10 grand was there for drinks. And that was all gone before speeches started. That left our guests scrambling to find rides to bank machines to continue paying for drinks that they were not expecting to pay for. I was so embarrassed. The rest if the night the bartender played his own music, the staff complained how tired they were and they couldn't wait to leave. When it came time to cut the cake I declined because I didn't want to pay the $3 per person cake cutting fee. I was so done. At the end of the night, after everything was cleaned up, 2 of my bridesmaids said their bags were missing. The staff said they were not there but I never saw anyone actually look. I checked the hotel and everywhere else in between. days later the bags turned up at the venue. They were clearly rummaged through and my veil was also missing. After being told we were all squared up for the bill, we came home to a lovely bill of $200 ish dollars for God knows what and we never paid it. Still to this day we have people telling us that the full drinks were cleared and this is a usual practice to up the bill. What a way to take advantage of a newly married couple. I will never eat here or recommend any to get...