Darling — Restaurant in Greater Strathcona

I had brunch reservations at 11:30am today for my husband’s birthday and I get a call at 11:22am to tell me that they were having technical difficulties with their fan hood and had to either push back my reservation or cancel it for today. I told him that I had wished he called sooner as I was almost there (3mins away). His instant response was “there’s nothing I can do”. He had the repairman in since this morning and has been pushing or cancelling people’s resos since they open at 10am this morning. I felt like he didn’t understand my frustration. It wasn’t as though I was expecting to keep my resos as I do understand things happen and it is beyond his control that the equipment is not working. All I expected was more notice as it takes me 30mins to get there. It would have given me more time to find another brunch alternative. I have 2 little children ages 4 and 2 with me. We only gave them a light breakfast as I didn’t want them too full for brunch. He had plenty of time to notify as they opened at 10am this morning and my resos wasn’t until 1.5hr later. It wasn’t like the fan hood stopped working last minute and he had to cancel on me last minute. I tried to explain my frustration that I wished for more notice, and he basically cuts me off to give me the same explanation of how it’s beyond his control and they are trying to fix the fan-hood. At this point, I felt as though he wasn’t understanding the point of my feedback. It left me quite upset and extremely disappointed in the customer service.

I was looking forward in trying this place out as I heard great things about this restaurant. I work in the customer service industry, and if there are any issues, we try to let people know at least an hour before their appointment, not 8mins before.

Edit: When you had initially called and notified me of the technical issue, the only option you provided was you can either cancel my reservation or push it back to an indefinite time. When I said I wished I had been given more notice the response was “there’s nothing I can do”. The option of providing me another brunch alternative was never once brought up. The reason for me hanging up is because your response that followed after was very insincere. I felt that our conversation was going nowhere. I felt it was unprofessional and I don’t believe that you tried to notify all your customers as quickly as possible. From what I remember you telling me was that your repair man was in the kitchen since 8am. My resos was at 11:30am. I think you were trying to hold onto as many resos without losing business and just letting us know as it approached closer to the reso time. Regardless this issue was handled very poorly. I truely believe that your response isn’t completely true about finding customers alternative. If a customer was upset you would think to quickly bring up that you have an alternative. But the response was “There’s nothing I can do”. Also I still feel like you don’t under stand the point of my frustration. It’s not that my reso was cancelled short notice. It’s that you had all the time that morning knowing that your equipment malfunctioned but choose to notify your customers on such...

Disclaimer: I went to this restaurant with Time Left, a social media company that specializes in bringing strangers together and helping people make friends by setting up curated dinners with a small group of people.

I paid for all food from my own pocket in addition to Time Left's curation fee.

This restaurant is great but someone but I am definitely not their target customer. The menu is very narrow and changes seasonally and therefore not great for those who have dietary restrictions. One of my table mates, for example, only eats halal food, so his choice for a main dish was narrowed to just fish. I do not have any bona fide dietary restrictions. However, this style of cuisine is not my favourite, so I ended up ordering essentially bread and butter (which was very good by the way).

For Time Left's part, a boutique wine bar seems like a poor choice for people who have a variety of dietary needs, may not consume alcohol, and are expecting to be able to consume a standard restaurant portion. Shareable small plates is not the ideal set up for a group of strangers who will all be paying separately. Having the Time Left group at this restaurant is a bad idea for the restaurant too as no one in the group ordered wine, half of us ordered the appetizer equivalent, and all of us were generally dissatisfied with the experience. I feel bad for the Darling staff because I do not think it was your fault.

As for Darling itself, I think it's a good restaurant for what it is, a boutique wine bar. The other patrons really embraced the atmosphere and enjoyed their food between sips of wine. Darling provides an intimate atmosphere for thoughtful conversations and connections. It's about the atmosphere and experience more than the sustenance of the food itself. This is definitely a restaurant for people who already know each other rather than first dates or acquaintances. Keeping in mind your appetite and usual portion sizes, I wouldn't come here hungry. If you are the type of person to take half of your food to go at the end of a meal, these portions will be just right. I cannot speak to the quality of the wine as I do not drink, but everyone at the other tables seemed to enjoy what they ordered.

I would not return unless I was with a friend who really enjoyed wine bars. However, I believe it would be a high quality experience for the target demographic.

I just feel it is a poor choice for a social meet up app and think that for the benefit of both your restaurant and the people paying for this curated social connection service that it would be best if you end this partnership for your business' sake. Unless there are enough people using Time Left as a service to send you groups of ideal customers, I feel like it is only wasting space in your restaurant for people to leave unsatisfied, which is never a desired outcome, when the seats could be filled with wine lovers who order the top dollar wine and food options, thoroughly enjoying both.

Everything in this review I say as constructive feedback and I hope that you will...

Highly instagrammable (if you're there during daylight) with an emphasis on interesting flavour combos and sharing.

This place was a mixed bag for me, as I'm starting to learn all tapas places are. We got off-menu scallops, a rye pasta dish, cod, a drink, and two desserts.

The drink was amazing. It's sad they only have 3 cocktails because I'd say that was one of two highlights. It was a wine spritzer that came with olives in it. The olives perfectly paired with the bright, puckered bitterness of the wine.

The scallops were raw and fresh, mandolin shaved, in a bath of oat milk and cirtrussy acid. Paired with dill each bite was a pleasant mix of bright and creamy.

The pasta dish was amazing. I could have eaten two, and I wish I did. The pasta itself was rye, rolled and small. They were dense and their dark flavour paired perfectly with the fresh peas, mint, and dollops of soft cheese. This dish had the same green acid element as the scallops. It was a nice through line for the meal and very smart on the part of the chef. This is the dish I'd recommend.

The fish was... odd. It came to the table on a cloud of fish smell. The fish itself was cooked perfectly--extremely moist and flaky--to the point that it was almost uncomfortable. It's flavours didn't seem as well married together as the other two. The radicchio was bitter, the sauce muddled, and my partner felt the fish salty. I enjoyed eating the radicchio slathered in sauce with basil, but not with the fish.

The desserts were the almond creme and the chocolate semi freedo. The chocolate was a really cool texture, fluffy, creamy, and yet heavy. It was a little overwhelming with all ita toppings bur it was made better by how much I didn't like the almond creme. It shouldn't have cream in the title. It's a foam and it's a slushy. Very much antithetical to cream. It tasted like odd cereal with its foam and its crunchy almond flakes.

The service was good if not a little over the top. They kept filling our water over us, and it became sortof awkward. At the end I admitted to not liking the creme dessert, and they were aghast that I didn't let them know before we paid so they could take it off. I appreciated this, but I don't think it's appropriate. If everyone could take things off their bill they didn't like at a tapas place, everyone would be getting half-off deals.

The vibe was cute, it's very pretty inside. But it's small and they crammed tables in and BOY does it get loud. They'll want to put something soft up if they want to encourage conversation that drives spending.

I would come back to try brunch but only if I could get...