STUDIO EAST Asian Gastropub — Restaurant in Halifax

My husband and I dined at Studio East last evening. We went out to dine with an aim to support our local restaurants which have felt the economic brunt of public health restrictions. Because of that , it especially saddens us to have to write this review, but we felt an obligation to given the restaurant's blatant and unrepentant violation of COVID safety rules that evening - rules that are in place to protect patrons and to limit the spread of COVID. (there are some pluses at the end).

We were eventually seated by the hostess at the front by the window with an empty table immediately behind us. While most of the restaurant had plexi barriers between them, these two did not and so it was safe to assume the other table would be left empty to adhere to the province's pandemic legal requirement of 6 feet of physical distance between people at different tables.

Midway through our meal, the hostess seated a female couple at the table directly behind us - so close that the backs of our chairs were touching with ZERO inches of separation. We tried to shift our table away but was sandwiched by the restaurant's fridge behind my husband. We anxiously scanned the room looking for another free table so that we could request the hostess to reseat the women but the restaurant appeared to be completely packed.

We have dined out on average 2-3x per week since the beginning of COVID to support our local restaurants and NOT ONCE have we ever felt UNSAFE at any of the city's restaurants - that is, UNTIL last night. It was dangerously unsafe. And illegal. To make things worse, the ventilation was so poor that the smoke alarm went off (our clothes today STILL smell like we were at a Korean BBQ restaurant).

The women behind us were clearly happy and excited to be dining out and so, with no other options and not wanting to ruin their evening for a situation that was clearly not of their doing, we quickly asked for the bill and wolfed down the rest of our mains so that we could leave an unsafe situation.

On our way out the door, we PRIVATELY informed the hostess that legally the restaurant needed at minimum to have a barrier between the two back-to-back window tables. The hostess, in a heavily sarcastic and condescending voice, barked 'THANK YOU for the FEEDBACK'. We won't forget the look of the young male server that was standing beside her when she said that.

There were several PLUSES to the dining experience however, worthy of the bump up to a 2-star. The prosecco came out bubbly and crisp (its shocking how many other restos in HRM try to serve half-flat sparkling wine). Our waitress was very cheery, courteous, and friendly. The bartender fellow was also incredible attentive and had even noticed that the (same) front-door hostess had left us waiting to be seated for our booked reservation at the door for over ten minutes (without once even looking up from her tablet just to say 'we'll be right with you' before proceeding to deal with take-out deliveries that had lined up behind us) and so he offered us happy hour-priced drinks to match our arrival time. The appetizer cauliflower + brussel sprouts was delicious with just enough sauce+spice, and unique enough to differentiate itself from the same appy at nearby Eliot&Vine, Morris East, and Agricola Street Brasserie. Although we found my husband's general tso chicken burger to be overly fried, their milder take on char siu pork tenderloin was cooked perfectly (folks expecting a stronger 'Sam Woo BBQ'-style char siu will need to look elsewhere however).

So - we would love to someday come back to support Studio East again, but the way this restaurant operated last night was clearly UNSAFE and a violation of the current physical distancing measures. We have never experienced this at ANY other restaurant in HRM in our 22 months of pandemic dining out and were given the impression by the hostess that no changes will be made. We believe that a respectful restaurant should place the safety of its patrons over its own profits, and so we cannot recommend dining at...

Have dined here multiple times due to proximity and consistent food however the customer service at this restaurant is horrendous. The first time, our waitress was unbelievably rude from the moment we got there for our birthday reservation, till the moment we left, with refusal of things like us buying a shot for the birthday girl as "we don't and can't do shots here". Continued to still order take out after the negative dining experience instead, and until Thursday had no issue with picking up. Mother visiting for just one night and so I wanted her to try Studio. We were 20 minutes passed the PICKUP TIME, with not even so much as an apology while we waited pushed up against the wall in the entrance of their restaurant as people came and went. After attending to seating others he almost surprised, says "oh yes I'll go get your food".. the worst part is that this order was for someone celiac and it written as such on the order note. The duck comes completely gluten contaminated with a big fried egg roll sitting on top the noodles and protein. Once home seeing this, we are concerned the wings and calamari were also not made safely and our requirement completely disregarded with this very serious sensitivity so we wait to eat and I physically run down to the restaurant since I call 6 times and it goes to voicemail with no message option. Once there, I tell the man (who is one of the owners!?!) who I had previously just dealt with my concerns and what had happened, to which he offers no apology, is snippy saying "yeah well it's just the egg roll" to which I say yes but it's touching everything so therefor cross contamination..? And he goes " well yes that would mean cross contamination" ...and the begins offering excuses of being very understaffed etc and they will just make me another one.. after the previous one taking an hour after ordering I said I would rather do something else if he's able then, and even say to him "whatever you think is best" (thinking the logical option would be a gift card since that is what we always did at my restaurant and my now limited food I can eat is sitting at home cold because of this inconvenience). This prompts him to say he will give me a refund and be back, to which he puts exact change for the duck dish in my hand and moves on to the next patron. I was very surprised by this behaviour from an owner of an establishment to a customer who has supported this business throughout all the Halifax lockdowns by ordering take out all the time from them rather than skip the dishes or more affordable eateries so I am extremely disappointed and will no longer recommend, not when there are so many great places in the city that are both tasty, kind and customer...

What a terrible customer service experience we received for dinner party of 4. Two of us arrived early and we decided to sit in the bar. The hostess pointed out our table for dinner and followed us to the bar with a menu. The bartender completely ignored us, didn't look in our direction and at one point walked away from the bar. It was unbelievable for a bartender, we were not impressed at all. It wasn't busy , no one at the bar. We had to call him over for a cocktail. When we decided we wanted another drink same thing happened. No eye contact, no greeting, no conversation and we had to flag him down. He looked miserable. Then another bartender arrived and he had dark hair and was quite nice and friendly. As we were sitting at the bar we saw the hostess take people from the table she told us was going to be ours for dinner and put them at the table right by the kitchen. She then came over and said our table was ready and took us to that very same table. She then told us we had till 7:15pm to eat as thats when the next reservation was coming. Is she kidding me?!?!?! I have NEVER in the 40 plus years of dining out have had anyone ever say that. My husband and I retiring from the hospitality industry were in shock! Our 4th person was running a bit late due to parking. When are very awkward waitress came over and asked us if we wanted to order anything she also mentioned that the table was booked for 7:15pm. I mean what is going on?!?!?! We ordered appetizers and our 4th person arrived. The waitress after bringing out appetizers approached us and yet again mentioned the next reservation that was happening after us and she suggested we order our mains. Well our 4th person ordered a few appetizers as did my husband and we decided we didn't have enough time to order the mains. We have dined all over Halifax, Da Maurizio, II Mercato, Salt & Ash , The Bicycle Thief just to name a few and have never been told that we need to move it along as there is another reservation after you. And not only once were we told that 3 times! It was awkward, uncomfortable and very unprofessional. How were the appetizers? They were okay. But the service was terrible and the dinner ruined as we couldn't relax and enjoy a dinner with our friends. Will we return? Not likely! There are two many fantastic restaurants in town that have great food and service then bother with...