The Captain's Boil — Restaurant in Ontario

Worst restaurant experience I have ever had. I travel a ton so that says a lot. My entire family has worked in the restaurant industry off and on for over 30 years. I've never seen anything like this. My standards aren't even high. I understand what it's like to be swarmed but this restaurant had four tables when we walked in. Not one person addressed us would even look our way ....we stood there for 10 minutes. Then we finally just sat down at a six top with two people, and still no one came until we called someone over. Once the waiter came, he was very unfriendly and almost refused and/or acted like we were stupid because we didn't understand the packages as this was the first time we had ever come to this restaurant. I even tried to make light of it and say, listen, we're from the city, we're definitely going to tip you. I understand what it's like. This man had the nerve to say to me and I quote. "I just wish no one else would come into this restaurant." I couldn't beleive it.

Later, to find out that he's actually the manager and his name is Victor. There was one young lady who I think was a busser or a food runner, and she was absolutely wonderful. I didn't catch her name, or I just don't remember it now.

She came over and she got us everything we needed helped us as much as she could, then when I tried to give her a little tip, she said she wasn't allowed to keep it. Which is absolutely disgraceful. Considering it seems like she's the only one who wanted to work in the entire restaurant that day. SHE WAS HELPING ALL OF THE TABLES, BECAUSE THOSE OTHER TWO COULDN'T BE BOTHERED. Now let's get to the food which was absolutely disgusting... They sent us out a tray of muscles that still had all the beards on them so they weren't even cleaned properly. Those got sent back. Everything tasted exactly the same was overcooked, it was absolutely horrible. We spent $170 that day for 2 people. We still tipped the waiter $10 because as a service person in the past, I just can't not tip anything. I definitely snuck a tip into that that young lady's pocket though....she got the rest of the 25% that we normally tip since she's the only one who decided to show up for work that day, the other 2 were an absolute disaster.

I don't know who owns this franchise, but they should know that this is how their staff is behaving. Especially as a business owner traveling through London, and we own a business in London. I can't imagine one of our staff treating one of our customers this way.

I guess i will follow up with corporate if I dont get a...

I went to captains boil today November 3rd. I'm not really even sure where to start. The water is in paper cups as if I was at mcdonalds or any fast food restaurant. Steamed rice came in a Styrofoam bowl, yea hot rice plus Styrofoam....intelligent. Served with a plastic spoon. The items you request for your order are boiled together in a boil bag and served in such with no tray, dish, bowl or anything to discard the shells. You get to just sit there with them all over your table...it looks just awful. The presentation of the restaurant is terrible, not the actual decorations of the restaurant but how they serve their food. NEXT: customer service. No one was asked if ice is ok with water and if i'd like a straw, because yea I have my own straw. F U if you don't. JK but seriously with the phenomenon of trying to discard less this company says F' it and makes everything a one time use, paper cups, Styrofoam bowls, boil bags, plastic utensils, plastic gloves, plastic bibs...... ANYWAYS: CS. Lurker, huge lurker. Standing beside my table silently as I try to make a decision on what to eat is not good CS. When I say I need 2 minutes don't come back 30 seconds later trying to rush me to get food and then AGAIN when paying, although no one cared to get the bill 20 minutes after we had finished eating. NEXT: Food. Taste was great, not quite spicy enough for my liking but it was good, damn good. Unfortunately the sides are expensive. 2 sides being $13 being broccoli and fries. Three of us ate there and it was $97 and change. I wouldn't mind the price if the presentation was substantially different. Bring me a pot with my food and a discarding bowl, proper utensils, plates and glasses and ill come back. Till then, unless your only sense is taste and you have literal no care about waste, I wouldn't...

I want to preface my review that we had been looking forward to visiting Captain's Boil for months and we're looking forward to dining here when we came from out of town. Probably my first clue that we were in for a letdown was that they were at 10% capacity on a Friday evening. And now I know why.

The service was the worst experience I have had in memory.

Despite needing to repeat our order multiple times, they still botched it.

Despite the restaurant being nearly empty, it seemed their sole intent was to rush us out of there in 15 minutes or less. They brought out our wine, appies, and boil all at the exact same time. As you should expect from a boil, its a pretty messy experience. Aside from simple customary practice, it would have been common sense to let us enjoy our wine and appies for a bit first before bringing out the boil.

Despite twice requesting and reminding on splitting the bill (based on how poorly they took our order we felt the need to repeat) and they still had to correct our bill after it came to the table.

I don't think I have ever not left a tip. I just feel even if service is mediocre, I am always inclined to give benefit of doubt and recognize the effort of staff that are generally underpaid i always leave at least 15% or 20%. To not tip is a big deal for me. When I left no tip for their awful rushed "15 minutes" of service in which we had to repeatedly correct issues, the waitress was noticeably rude.

I very rarely (maybe ever) take the time to fill out a negative review. But I had to this time.

The food was actually pretty tasty but unfortunately the service was so deplorable and there are so many other options in London I...