Borealis Grille & Bar (Kitchener) — Restaurant in Kitchener

We tried this place a few years ago and had a terrible experience with the food, but really wanted to try it again as I don’t believe that any place should be defined by a single experience.

My wife and I want to lead this by saying that our waiter, Luigi, really played a major factor in our overall experience. He was attentive, helpful, fair, and full of energy. Luigi is worth the trip regardless of the rest of the review.

That’s being said, there were issues with our dining experience. The over arching theme was the food was flat, mainly because it was all under seasoned. The quality of the ingredients are very good, but they need to be seasoned much better. The Spinach Ricotta dip didn’t come with any caramelized onions as it was advertised, which we didn’t realize until we got home looking at the menu for this review. Our dip was just ricotta and spinach.

We ordered a Strawberry mojito, which was absolutely delicious, and my wife ordered from the blood orange margarita from the special menu. When it came to the table, the margarita was a canned drink, not made in house, which wasn’t disclosed on the menu and was $13. Thankfully, Luigi was incredibly understanding and brought out a strawberry mojito for my wife which we were very grateful for and she very much enjoyed.

For Entrees, my wife ordered the fish and chips and I ordered the prime rib. The fish was battered well, but the coleslaw portion was incredibly skimpy and very flat. I believe it was an oil based slaw, but lacked the vinegar to balance it so it didn’t balance as nicely with the fish as we had hoped. The dill tartar sauce was delicious though.

The prime rib was cooked to perfection. An absolutely perfect medium rare which was amazing. The horseradish was also fantastic, which sounds weird to say, but I found myself loading more and more on as it didn’t have the intense nostril sting I typically get from horseradish. Despite the perfect cook and delicious horseradish, I still found the prime rib was heavily under seasoned and so were the vegetables, but the mash potatoes were very good and fairly well seasoned. The ingredients they use for their food are top quality and it’s very obvious when you get your food, but they need to be more generous with seasoning.

Dessert was delicious. We got the Apple crumble and it was exactly what we wanted from it. The apples were very well spiced, the texture from the oatmeal was great, and the vanilla ice cream was just right. We were very happy with our sweet treat.

After coming back to try Borealis again, it’s hard to justify coming back after spending $150 on our bill and the food being underwhelming despite the potential. This place has all the right ingredients (pun intended) to be the real deal. High quality service, high quality ingredients, but falls short of its potential. I want to like this restaurant so badly but the food is the most important thing for me for that reason it’ll be a while before we decide to...

Borealis, regarded as a higher-end dining establishment, set certain expectations for our special Mother’s Day breakfast. Unfortunately, the experience fell short.

We had carefully orchestrated our day to accommodate a reservation as soon as the restaurant opened, given our other commitments. Upon arrival, we entered a venue that boasted a pleasant atmosphere. Despite the restaurant not being overly busy at this point, there was a noticeable delay in service. Our waitstaff took an unexpectedly long period to engage with us, beginning with a simple drink order. Basic amenities, such as water at the table, were absent, and the delay in delivering our beverages—a couple of coffees and a chocolate milk—was excessive.

Service missteps continued with incomplete place settings; my spouse was left without silverware. Our granddaughter was provided an activity placemat, yet when she politely requested crayons, the server's response—"Oh, you actually want the crayons?"—was remarkably dismissive, particularly considering she is eight years old.

Upon finally placing our orders, which included Eggs Benedict, Dulce De Leche French toast, and eggs with bacon for our granddaughter, we encountered further disappointment. The meals arrived lukewarm to cold. The poached eggs in the Benedict were competently prepared but decidedly cold, accompanied by a hollandaise sauce that was unfortunately congealed. My French toast suffered from temperature neglect; the bread seemed stale and was difficult to cut. While the maple syrup was flavourful, the scant amount provided did not suffice.

Given Borealis' reputation, our expectations were high, yet the overall experience was decidedly underwhelming. A letdown for the occasion, this visit to Borealis has left us reassessing its stature as a premier...

We visited Borealis with a small group of friends on a Saturday evening and the experience was disappointing. We've been coming here for years, but this time poor management tainted our experience.

They were hosting a wedding which would place significant demand on the kitchen, especially on a Saturday; but then someone in management allowed a children's hockey team (approximately 25-30 10ish year old boys and their parents) to also book in. The restaurant was so loud we couldn't hear each other; the children were banging the tables with utensils and throwing food at one point. Not at all what customers expect from Borealis. Management should have known better and never taken the team's reservation.

The staff apologized profusely and were clearly unhappy with the chaos and noise (who could blame them??), and thankfully offered us an empty table down in the bar. Whoever took that reservation should be grateful for staff who cared a lot more about the customer experience than evidently they did.

Service was very friendly and personable but the kitchen was extremely slow. Our meal took 3 hours. It's no wonder, though, when one kitchen was trying to serve a wedding, manage Saturday night service, and feed a bunch of rowdy hockey players and their parents all at once.

Management needs to decide what they want to be: a place that hosts weddings or a place that feeds 30+ hockey boys on a Saturday. The staff worked hard to make it a good night for our table of 6, but how could they overcome the logistical mess and incredible noise that management had orchestrated?

My suggestion to management: Less greed. More care for the customer experience, restaurant ambiance, and your kitchen & wait staff.

We are not likely to return...