Le Forum — Restaurant in Gatineau

“Review based on Latin night in the basement of The Forum.” Four of us attended The Forum on a Saturday night for its Latin night in the basement club. Upon entry your padded down & frisked as if your attending a risky establishment. Lots of young, unfriendly bouncers stationed all over which made me very uneasy. The two waitresses were quite friendly, however, we immediately learnt if you need to buy a beer or anything less than a bottle of hard liquor at $180 (eg., Bacardi), you had to go to the bar where it’s lined with men lurking. They do not except credit card, but have a bank machine that charges a fee for withdrawal. And, this is where we totally felt this place needed some welcoming to the real world: “if you don’t buy a bottle of hard liquor you cannot sit at any table in the entire establishment. Every table had a reserve tag on it.” It’s the strangest restriction we’ve ever experienced, even though we wanted to party but stick to just beers. And, why bother charge us $15 per person cover charge with these limitations. So, it was difficult to party and enjoy yourself, you couldn’t rest your beer or handbag anywhere even though the waitresses selectively served beer to people they knew who were having only beers. Charging a cover to patronize your business; then not being allowed to sit at any table or any where for that matter. Doesn’t except credit card, bouncers all over? Wouldn’t recommend and wouldn’t...

We had an event planned here in the early fall. The event space that they rent out upstairs is phenomenal. They really catered everything for us, made the event so much easier than we imagined. They had great staff that were really attentive to our guests, fun bartender for everyone, and an amazing chef that helped put together an elegant meal for our event. They helped set everything up and took care of so much. The new owner is very attentive to this place and cares in it's success, and that shows.

On separate occasions we went there to eat diner, meet the staff, have a few drinks, so that we could check the place out before our event. Each time we went the food was fantastic (slow cooked ribs for me were fall off the bone delicious), we tested the drink menu and the knowledge of the beer selection, and the staff knew the menu, made some awesome cocktails and did great even on a busy Friday night. And how could I forget to mention that sitting on the riverside patio while the sun is going down in the summer with a cold beer makes this place feel like home.

I really look forward to returning here for years to come....

We have gone several times and we had not had any problems before the pandemic but yesterday we saw how clearly this place had changed administrators. We were at a night event and the organizers were impeccable with their presentations but I saw how the administration of the disco has no idea of customer service. the bartender literally demanded a tip to the point that he threatened customers with not serving anymore if they didn't tip her. The waitresses argued over tables ownership and customers, the administrator came out of the office in shorts many times and flip-flops only to demand that the waitresses to move clients away from tables and put reserved signs for imaginary customers. They literally require you to consume a 200 bottle or get up from a table even if you are drinking beer with a 20CAD cover paid. We were going to consume and spend without problem but the client should not be required or pressured and tips are earned not required. I no longer recommend this site. Gatineau and Ottawa need...