The Mansion House Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Georgina

We went to the Mansion House restaurant tonight for the first time since it re-opened. We had high expectations and we had a really good time. But there were some things that could have gone better.

Highlights:

Our waitress tonight was fantastic. We really enjoyed her. She was new but enthusiastic, friendly, and really patient with our large party. I'd give her a five stars for her personal touch. She put a warmth into the restaurant that was a little lacking.

Those of us who ordered the steak, lamb, mussels, and salmon found them to be very-good to excellent. The garlic mashed potatoes were quite good, not having too much garlic.

The menu is limited and simple. In a small restaurant advertising "farm to table" this should be a good thing. This showed up in the mains--most of the dishes were a base of garlic mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables. I actually like this because it is an opportunity to get a few things very right.

Lowlights:

The Hunters Chicken was not very good. It was too salty and lacked chicken.

The baked potatoes were a little undercooked. They were sold as "all-dressed" but were really lightly cheesy with some ham or bacon. I think I would have preferred them plain with the side of sour cream or with a lot more on top.

The biggest disappointment of the evening were the grilled veggies.I am pretty sure they were frozen. Mine were cold, wet and tasteless. This really took away from the overall dinner. Maybe keep it simple--one vegetable, freshly-sourced, and steamed with butter.

The drinks could have been better. They were quite basic and more typical of what I might get at the back of house bar, rather than a steak house. However, the premium red wine was quite tasty!

We didn't see the desert menu choices. Maybe bring in the Moetarts from right across the street and some vanilla ice cream! Yum.

Other Comments:

Our waitress was brilliant, but you could tell the team that was backing her up wasn't on top of their game tonight. The drink service was really slow (40 minutes). Our caesar salads showed up mid-way through the dinner service. Our mains all came out one at a time and more than an hour after we had arrived. The first person served was completely finished their dinner before the last person even received hers. We were one of two tables in the restaurant for most of the evening, otherwise I would have blamed this on our party of 8.

I also have to comment on the decor. The refresh is nice, but I would consider white table clothes. I would also clean the windows. The biggest challenge is the lighting. When they did the renovation, they used the wrong color lights. They are too blue distorting colors and making the restaurant feel a little clinical. I'd recommend replacing them, and if that is not feasible, try dimming them and adding candles to the tables. Actually add the candles anyway. It will completely change the vibe inside.

Finally, the menu. I would recommend taking out a few more items to pare it back a bit, and use a bigger font. It was all but impossible to read the text regarding the grill finish on the steaks.

Comments to the Owner:

As I was starting this review, I did read some of the others. I found the your commentary a little unusual. I can imagine that you have put their heart and wallets into this restaurant, and for that I want to thank you for investing in Sutton, and I really want you to succeed. But trying something new requires being open to feedback. People want to cheer for the underdog and anyone that is taking the time to provide a review is making an investment to help you succeed. Feedback is a gift. Take it and act on it, rather than beating up the person offering it.

Thank you to our Waitress:

I'll leave this review by saying "thank you" to our waitress. We're a group of long-time friends up at our cottages and we had a nice evening. While we wanted a great dining experience, our waitresses attitude, good nature, and just all-around caring about us really made up for a lot. For that, I appreciate her and her great...

Updating my review. Heard it was under new ownership so we thought we would give it a try. Went for a late lunch on Saturday. The service was 1000% better. Thanks to Krissy for the amazing service. The food was also great. My nephew has the wings and fries, I had the chicken parm sandwich and my wife had the quesadillas. We were quite happy with the quality and portions for the price. Would now recommend under its current ownership. The bar could still use some updating, but the overall service and food was great! Will definitely be back. ————————————————————————————— We had gone in August for the first time, even after reading the reviews. The place was nearly empty, however we were slow getting our drinks or for someone to take our order. I have allergies so ordered a burger without much on it, but got it fully dressed. The waitress appeared frazzled, and then another woman came out, who we later found out was one of the owners, and completely threw the waitress under the bus (turns out she had only been there two weeks). Anyways, get the right burger, everything is fine. We go to leave and the waitress is getting off and we wanted to be kind and let her know she did an ok job, and she was completely rude to us. So we never went back.

Fast forward to Saturday. We decide to order take out and I decide to give them the benefit of the doubt and order from the Mansion House. I ordered the burger with nothing on it and it again came full dressed. So my spouse gave me their meal of chicken tenders. My spouse and I ate the same things all day, with the exception of our meal from the Mansion House. Later during the night I woke up with food poisoning.

I never wrote a review after our initial experience but undercooked chicken is very dangerous and a restaurant that serves it needs to be held accountable. I wanted to ensure potential customers were aware of this. Would not recommend for eating...

I am a member of The Ladies Supper Club in Newmarket. We have over 1,000 local members. Myself and friends attended the High Tea today at Mansion House. We had reservations for 3:30 and arrived on time. We were kept waiting 2 1/2 hours. There were empty tables, but were not seated until 5pm. We then waited another 40 minutes for tea, hors d'oeuvres and sandwiches. By that time I was feeling faint. Food was subpar. We politely expressed our concerns to both managers/ owners, a husband/wife couple. Husband was very rude. Wife was dismissive. Neither could provide a logical explanation as to why the unreasonable wait time. The lack of hospitality and organization was unacceptable. No amends or resolution was offered. In fact at one point, one of my companions told the wife that we did not receive the king crab sandwiches on the menu. She replied "you did". After our insistence that we indeed did not, she said "I'll see what I can do". She never returned. The entire event was a fiasco. I will not recommend this establishment. These people should not be in the restaurant business. I certainly will not return. FYI. I noticed on a previous poor review that owner replied back to customers review saying why post here and not talk to me first? Well, I did speak to you on more than occasion today and was met with...