Modern Steak Southport — Restaurant in Calgary

We had dinner at Modern Steak tonight for my wife's birthday and I left slightly disappointed.

Things started off with a pre-dinner cocktail and those were great. I had an old fashioned and my wife had the Empress gin cocktail. Both were balanced.

Next was the bottle of wine. We ordered a bottle of red that we thought would pair well with the steak. Unfortunately it took a while and we were then informed that they were out of the one we ordered and the server just picked a different one.

Shrimp toast was our choice of appetizer and we were pleasantly surprised. The Asian theme was nice. It is something I definitely would eat again.

The Caesar salad was decent. It wasn't something I would write home about, but it wasn't bad at all. Nothing about it was elevated.

The biggest disappointment had to be the tomahawk steak. For a $200 steak, it wasn't nearly up to par. First of all, anyone who cooks knows you let a steak warm before you grill it. If you don't, you end up with a very unevenly cooked piece of meat and that is what happened. We ended up with a 2-3 inch ring of well done steak on the outside and pink towards the middle. Was it terrible? No. It just wasn't properly cooked. It really detracted from the experience for having a supposed exclusive steak to Modern Steak that was dry aged. Would I order it again? Probably not. We ate it and didn't complain

For sides we had mashed potatoes and mushrooms. Both were great.

Lastly for dessert, we shared a creme brule and I had a cognac. The cognac I ordered wasn't available. The server again just replaced it with one they chose. The brule was also over cooked and the consistency was too firm. The flavor was good, but it just wasn't quite to the level expected.

Overall, the dinner wasn't horrible, but it just didn't live up to expectations. It really is a toss up if we go back or just choose a more inexpensive option that can provide a better executed meal despite the reputation....

Please stop serving popcorn 🍿 .doesn’t make the restaurant stand out but lower its quality and brand. Atmosphere is good..service is good but y’all ruin it with the popcorn. The popcorn really just ruins the appetite. You could create your own bread with fun shapes or something ..popcorn is low. I would hope this isn’t the case anymore since I last visited. I am visiting again soon. Thanks. 🙏

Edit: Thank you for your response and for engaging in this conversation. I like your commitment to maintaining your tradition, even if it means disagreeing with certain customer perspectives.

However, in today's ever-evolving business landscape, adaptability and openness to feedback are often key factors in success. While I respect your dedication to your long-standing practices, I also believe that embracing change can lead to growth and improvement. I have seen fine dining restaurants constantly change or enhance their welcome snacks, to retain old loyal customers and attract new customers, but if you haven’t changed yours in decades like you stated, that implies you don’t like changes. It's 2024, and businesses thrive on opinions, lol.

Businesses thrive on opinions, and customer satisfaction plays a crucial role in that equation. While I may not be returning to your restaurant for future dining experiences, I hope that you will continue to listen to your customers' voices and consider making adjustments when and wherever necessary.

My preference are establishments that prioritize customer feedback and create a welcoming environment.

But as the saying goes, "That dog which is doomed to be lost, will be deaf to the...

I took my husband here for his birthday! The food was phenomenal and the service was great! They support local ranches which is incredible. Flavor wise things were great! I do feel some items were priced kinda high or not enough value was given. Out of what we ordered the Octupus starter was great, we got the Kansas city sharable plate, the steak was incredible with the salt tastings, and the beef talow potato were incredible. The broccolini sounds great on the menu but I felt they were a bit underdone like they were just barley cooked but maybe that's just my preference, also it was bland, the crisps that came with it salted it up but if you didn't eat one with the broccolini it was not the greatest. The bearnaise sauce was good but definitely needed more if the broccolini is going out not seasoned. For dessert we got the baked Alaska, and the hot chocolate cake. Flavor wise they were super good but I felt like seeing the value and experience you get with the baked Alaska that the chocolate cake is definitely lacking. Even a bigger portion, you literally get 1.5 TPSP of ice cream with the cake and the baked Alaska has about a cup of ice cream inside of it. The baked Alaska was very good but the ice cream has a very stutle flavor and the lemon curd is super powerful! All in all it was very good. The sparkling water was very delightful. I would go back again to try more stuff for a different occasion. For 2 people put Bill was $210. Expect to spend at least $100/person when...