Garlic's of London — Restaurant in Ontario

Salty food, small portions, mediocre service, high prices. We won't be back.

Tried Garlic's last Sunday evening with my wife for the first time since our engagement dinner there 9 years ago. I wish I would have read the more recent negative reviews first, because we had a similar experience to some of the others described. Here's a run down of our night...

Before we'd settled into our seats, we were being told about the cocktail list. A moment to breathe, and look over the drinks menu would have been nice. We asked for a minute. My wife ordered a glass of wine and so did I. And we each opted for the up-charge to a 9oz glass. This point becomes important later.

The table next to ours was seated by the same server, and the couple at it ordered a bottle of wine, which was poured into the husband's glass by the waitress, who immediately walked away. After a couple of sips, he decided he didn't like the wine. The wife took a sip and agreed. They mentioned it to the server, who offered to replace the bottle with a different one, and "only" charge them for one glass from the first, even though they weren't going to drink it. Almost every single "fine dining" restaurant I've ever been to would avoid this situation by pouring a small sip of the wine for the guest to try before filling their glass entirely. Or at the very least, the unsatisfactory drink would have been removed from the bill. Was this poor service, or poor restaurant policy? Either way, it was awkward for that couple, and for us.

A basket of cold focaccia was brought to the table. This is kind of picky, but I thought it was pretty standard that bread should be served warm when you're eating at a certain level of restaurant. I guess this isn't that type of establishment, despite the prices they charge.

I ordered the octopus and chorizo, my wife, the seafood pasta. When our $27 meals arrived, we thought they must have brought appetizer portions because my wife's dish consisted of a small serving of noodles with 2 shrimp, 3 mussel shells (containing only 2 mussels between them), and 6 cubes of salmon which was overcooked and somewhat fishy. She didn't eat any of that part of the dish, and the waitress didn't ask about it when she later cleared our table. My main was made up of 2 tiny octopus pieces, maybe 4 fingerling potatoes, about 6 cherry tomatoes, and the smallest amount of sausage I've ever seen on a dish that lists it as one of two star ingredients. Honestly, I'd be surprised if it was more than a thumbs width of meat chopped up and scattered around the mostly empty plate. And everything was SALTY. REALLY SALTY. I love pickled things, and I finished my meal, but this was so sodium-laced that my wife said my lips looked red before I finished eating, and they were RAW and flaking for two days afterward. I am not exaggerating at all. It was probably the saltiest thing I've ever eaten anywhere. And I've eaten at the Idlewylde!

Our meal ended fairly quickly since there wasn't much on our plates, so we lingered, intending to finish our wine. To understand what happened next, and why the point I made earlier about paying up-charges for 9oz (rather than the standard 6oz) is important, I need to explain that our wine was brought to the table in small decanters, then portioned into our glasses. The first portion was served by our waitress, and the rest was poured by us. Or at least that was the idea, because while I was lucky to have emptied my decanter, my wife's decanter containing the last third of her wine was whisked away by our waitress as she passed by our table, without a word. By the time my wife processed what had happened it was too late. We tried to get the servers' attention, but she had disappeared, and I wasn't going to run into the kitchen demanding the remainder be returned. We just wanted the evening to end, so we resolved to pay the bill and go home.

We hope that this review saves others from a similar experience at Garlic's. I'm sorry to say it...

Overall not a fantastic experience.

My partner and I don't go out to the more expensive restaurants very often so as a 40th birthday treat we attended Garlics on a Saturday night. We had reservations for 8pm so had no problem getting a table but things went a bit down hill from there.

The service was slow. I understand that restaurants are busy at that time of night but our server took way too long to take our order and bring the food. In the end we got our deserts to go and were still there for over an hour and half. It took over 10 minutes just to get the bill.

Speaking of the bill, i found it a little presumptuous that the preset tip% started at 18%. I'm not a huge fan of the concept of tipping but 15% is considered the "standard" so setting the presets higher than standard made me feel uncomfortable.

The Food: The Garlic Bisque was really good. i couldn't fault this as it really was delicious but at $10 a bowl it seemed overpriced for something they make in bulk

The Smoked Pork "Nachos" were disappointing. The small amount of pulled pork was cold and chewy and served on Pork rinds which resulted in some of them being soggy and the rest just being regular pork rinds i could buy from the grocery store. Personally it just didn't hit the mark for me.

The Butter Chicken Lettuce Wraps were not bad, nothing amazing or memorable but certainly nothing to complain about.

The Black Garlic Fettucine was excellent. The portion size was good, the flavors were nice and the dish was served hot

The Peppercorn Crusted Flat Iron Steak was a disaster. I requested my steak medium and what i got was a rare steak. I expect a little variance with steak but this was red and bloody throughout the whole thing. The peppercorns were way too overpowering and I had to scrape off a lot of it just to taste the meat. The scalloped potatoes were just bad. A compressed pile of potatoes prepared in a large tray then a square cut out and served. The bottom was burned and tough to cut through even with a steak knife and a few strips of carrot served on the side. Even the onion rings served on top of the steak were cold and full of grease like they had been dumped in a fryer that wasn't hot enough.

We took the Banana Sticky Toffee Puddings home due to time constraints but those were not great either. A Sickly sweet chewy brick that just left us wanting a hot drink to settle our stomachs afterwards.

To give credit to Garlics, the server did ask us how the food was and i pointed out the uncooked steak and burnt potatoes and she offered to recook it for me but we did not have time to wait at that point so she deducted the price of my desert from the bill to compensate.

Perhaps we don't go out to dinner enough to be able to write a proper review but at the cost of $120 for a meal for two and a glass of wine, we felt that the majority of the food was being rushed or mass produced and just had an expensive price tag for...

I recently had the opportunity to dine at Garlics, a restaurant that had been highly recommended by Londonlicious. While my experience was exceptional in terms of service, unfortunately, the meal itself fell short of my expectations.

From the moment we walked in, the service was top-notch. Our server was attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable, taking the time to explain the menu and make recommendations. The atmosphere was also pleasant, with a cozy and inviting decor that set the tone for a great dining experience while Londonlicious was on.

However, when the food arrived, I was disappointed to find that the flavors were off. Every dish we ordered was overpoweringly salty, to the point where I couldn't taste anything else. For a restaurant of Garlics' caliber, I was shocked by this mistake on two plates!. It's not just a matter of personal taste; excessive saltiness is a fundamental error that can make a dish unpalatable but to have the same on both was not acceptable.

What was even more surprising was that this mistake wasn't caught in the kitchen before the food was served. When I brought it to the attention of our server, they apologized and offered to recreate the meal. While I appreciated the willingness to make things right, I couldn't help but feel that recreating the meal shouldn't be necessary in the first place. When you're dining at a restaurant, you expect them to get it right the first time.

As a gesture of goodwill, we were offered a complimentary dessert, which was delicious. However, it couldn't redeem the disappointing taste experience that had come before. While I appreciated the effort to make things right, it felt like too little, too late.

Overall, my experience at Garlics was a mixed bag. The service was exceptional, but the food was a letdown. For a restaurant of this caliber, I expect more attention to detail in the kitchen. While I would be willing to give them another chance, I hope that they take steps to address their seasoning issues and ensure that every dish that leaves the kitchen is flavorful...