The Plate — Restaurant in Nanaimo

Had a chance to go to The Plate for the first time - our friends had been there before. An interesting fusion "take" on classics like risotto and pilaf. And while the food was quite good, the service was not. My wife's order was not entered correctly and she had to wait a pretty substantial amount of time (we were about half finished) before her correct order arrived. The server also struggled to split the bill the way we had requested.

My hope is that this was a server in training. But even if so, the person training her should have been nearby.

Even little things like not being presented menus as we were seated (it was probably about 10 minutes), asking for additional glasses for our sparkling water only to have to wait until we were nearly done eating. All these things point to inexperience.

I need to be clear, I work in the restaurant industry. I know that finding qualified staff members is hard. And I know that finding the time to train them is hard as well. But knowing that a first impression is also crucial to repeat business should ensure that new staff are properly supervised to ensure an excellent dining experience. It's not just about the food.

Overall, this put a fairly significant damper on the evening.

Just one last note...you can tell from my profile, that I do not hand out poor ratings often (or lightly). And when I do, I try to offer constructive feedback because I know the impact negative feedback can have on a business.

Edit: I had a chance to talk with friends and ponder my visit. Upon reflection, the food deserves more kudos. And it and the atmosphere bump up the rating a bit. 3 stars was too harsh. Our server was very kind and...

I was there last weekend with my family and friends, enjoying the first and last trip with my friends before they move away. I ordered spicy shrimp and crab cream risotto seeing some other people’s reviews, so excited to try it out. We were having good time until I bit something tiny but very very hard and right away, I felt so much pain on my back tooth, gum and even on cheek. I couldn’t enjoy the time anymore after, but didn’t say it loud because I didn’t want to ruin the time with our family friends for the last time. They were happy and enjoyed the food except me. The pain was unbearable and I went to the dentist 2 days later after the trip. The dentist told me I had to extract the tooth because it was actually fractured(split in two). I lost my tooth and also costed me. Now I might need to think about implanting it or no tooth for life. It was supposed to be a memorable short trip between thetwo families, but ended up being a trip losing my tooth. I don’t know how they do preparations for the dish, sand shouldn’t be there, but the crab shell. It’s the only thing I can think of. If it didn’t happen to me, I would give a good rating, but I’m sorry I can’t. I’ve been in so much pain and kept taking Advil for whole week since it happened. Now I have a big hole on...

full disclosure - i ordered thru doordash. ive heard a lot of raves about this restaurant ever since they opened. ive been reluctant to try it because ive been vegetarian for 12 years and theres only one vegetarian item on this menu (two if you count salad, but who is going to a pasta restaurant and ordering salad...). i find this quite frustrating because like...pasta is one of the easiest foods in the world to make vegetarian lol so only one vegetarian menu item is crazy (especially in 2024 lol). its not like this is a steakhouse, yknow? there are tomato-based sauces and cream-based sauces but none of those have vegetarian options? ANYWAY. my pasta (aligo e olio) was pretty good. like others have mentioned the portion was kinda small for the price. i probably wont dine here again unless more vegetarian options are added to the menu. i think if i were someone who eats meat/shellfish i might like this restaurant better. unfortunately thats...