Barking Forest Eatery and Pub — Restaurant in Lambton Shores

Response to Owner....

To the Owner and the friends they have paid to do a review. My statements below this response hold 100%

You do treat people differently depending on their class in life. I watched how badly you treated your customers. Sweetie, my opinion carries more weight than you can EVER imagine, which you will find out when the review comes out and your amount of patrons dwindle down faster than a speeding train.

Your response to my assessment/ dining experience should be, "We are so sorry for the severely disappointing experience you had, and what you witnessed as that is not how we want to be precieved as an establishment, and we are mortified that your review was a 1 star." Your next words should be, "Please please don't make this public to cottage country. We are so sorry for forcing you to come forward to point out our short comings and overall lack of responsibility we aren't taking in our response to your genuine concerns."

You should be also be stating that you are offering all patrons for the month of August and September, "We will feed anyone brave enough to walk through our doors for FREE so we can show our community that Forest residents and cottagers are our #1 priority."

Now, there is time to fix your mess. I'm sending in another group of residents and cottagers in who will also write their own review so you can see that it is integral that you need to change your treatment of staff, patrons, cooks, and your overall community.

I must of hit a nerve as your reply was reactive instead of being proactive. I guess ignorance is bliss for you. (The owner not the staff) I shouldn't HAVE HAD to put you in your place. I know the truth hurts. I would suggest that you take a good hard look at your practices, and change your methodology. The health unit will be stopping by when you least expect it.

You should have given everyone their money back on that day. If you have no sense of smell or taste, and don't mind overpriced food then this restaurant is DEFINITELY for you!!!

Clearly you need to look up the course Crucial Conversations and management could definitely learn a few things. You really should switch with the food truck by the gas station and give them your space and you take theirs instead. Their food is phenomenal and definitely worth the price.

Your next inspection is before the end of October. Be on your toes. I just read your reactive response so YOU need to realize that there ARE people who absolutely expect exemplary service, food, and for you to fix your mistakes immediately. If they aren't pointed out to you then how do you improve before your next review? Chew on that one!!!

Original accurate review:

This is the worst restaurant I've ever been at in my entire life, as the prices were disgustingly high and portion sizes were pathetic.

I realize you didn't know who I was when I was in your restaurant for the first time. I think if you knew you would have done your very best, but that's the point finding out what type of restaurant and service is provided. It's unfortunate since the review goes out to thousands of reader's.

The ONLY thing good about the place were the kind waitresses who I felt bad for as they apologized over and over as they looked so embarrassed as food dish after dlsh HAD to be sent back.

This restaurant is only good for people who like 0 spices in it., bland, and boring presentation. The meal was served with minimal food on the plate. Those who wrote positive reviews must have spent the day at the bar or were family. So fellow cottagers and Londoners I would suggest a place like Groggs instead, food trucks, Kings buffet or...

I come here somewhat regularly for a late lunch, the food is always top notch and the staff are super friendly. I've had a number of the fish dishes and their homemade smash burgers, all of which are delicious and high quality. I've also had just about every dish with the 40 creek sauce - the chicken wrap, the burger, and the flatbread, it's all great. I find this place isn't as dive bar-ish as skeeters, the prices are about the same but the food is better quality.

EDIT [Dec 20th 2024]: Just wanted to address the point I originally made below; They seem to not do this anymore. The last couple of times I've been in there, they've played similar music (i.e., Classic rock), but it's not the radio station. So I have nothing now to complain about!

My only, very minor and subjective gripe (not significant enough to remove a star) is that the play K106.3, which I don't really care for. Would be great if they got a better music lineup without...

Just finished an amazing dinner with my parents here, they had roast beef sandwiches on special and I upgraded to mexi fries and was very impressed, they do not cheap out, the portion sizes were great and the ingredients were all high quality. Amazing staff and management definitely made the experience even more enjoyable. They also have an amazing collection of hot sauces you can request that's something I've never seen before but was super impressed and enjoyed the experience of trying a bunch of them. Finally we had dessert the funnel cake poutine with warm raspberry sauce, ice cream and whipped cream, absolutely amazing experience will definitely be back. Service and quality were outstanding, Jen and Ryan (I believe that's their names) were super attentive and...