Waldo's On King Bistro & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Ontario

Went here with a party of four and had a very mediocre meal and service. Usually, a 4.5 on Google is a safe bet, so we thought we’d splurge for our last night in London with the family. It’s located in a lovely market and looked decent from the outside, but unfortunately, that was not the case.

It started with the breadstick—a dry, crusty phyllo pastry stick with a poor drizzle of balsamic and oil that it couldn’t absorb. Then came the overpriced food and beverages, with additional restaurant fees (more on that later). Being a “higher-end” restaurant, I tried chatting with the waitress about local beers on the menu. She either didn’t know or didn’t care (wine only I guess), so we skipped the appetizer.

We ordered the $35 perch, which was very underwhelming for the price. The beet salad was the only thing that seemed reasonably fresh, according to my companion. My wife had the “pasta bar” for $34, which was even worse than the perch. The portion was okay, but both the pasta and meat were overcooked. Oh, and get this—the “pasta bar” didn’t even have spaghetti. Seriously, who runs a pasta bar without spaghetti? That’s like a pizza place with no pepperoni.

Then there was the short rib—this should have been an easy win, but unfortunately, it wasn’t. The ribs were just okay, while the three whole asparagus pieces and overworked potatoes disguised as mashed were hilariously bad (were they even real potatoes or instant I thought).

Another issue was that, what looked like the end of the main meal, we were interrupted by the table busser who insisted on clearing everyone’s plates before we were all done with our meals. Nothing like feeling rushed through a mediocre experience.

At this point, we thought we’d try to salvage the meal with coffee and dessert, but no. At $12-13 per person for two bites of dessert and plus $$ on top for coffee, it was a rip-off. No one seemed to know the difference between a latte, cappuccino, flat white, or Americano. They should have informed us that they didn’t have drip coffee. We asked for decaf, which came out hot in one minute—pretty sure it wasn’t decaf. Then I got my cappuccino, or rather, a weak & mealy latte. When I questioned the server, they looked confused by the “difference” but did take it off the bill. Probably one of the worst coffees I’ve had in a while.

Now, I don’t want to nitpick (ok I do), but a 4.5-rated restaurant charging high-end prices needs to step up its game. The cherry on top was the bill: we were only informed at the end of our meal that using a credit card for our $200+ meal would incur a processing fee. Yes, at the end of your meal, it’s “get some cash, use a bank card, or pony up for processing.”

Here’s the short answer: avoid this place like the plague. Poor service, poor food, high prices, 80’s Italian restaurant decor and hidden fees—unacceptable. The best option is literally across the street: a burger place called The Works. For half the price, you get first-class service (no joke, they were really great), beers, and the best burger I’ve had in quite some time. So good, next time I’m in town, I’m going twice. Just stay away from Waldo’s, the...

I had planned a surprise bday dinner for my best friends for two months. I made the reservations a month earlier than the date of the surprise. I specifically asked for the prefix menu. It was legitimately the only thing that made me inclined to book with them seeing as I had a party of almost 30 people. I did so to make it easier for everyone to split the bill as well as make it easier for the kitchen staff and servers.

When I got there, they didn’t even give me a chance to surprise the bday girls and immediately pointed to my party… which was split into three different tables. It was so awkwardly placed!

The apps were good but my steak was burnt, not charred and it was way too much sauce on top of it. Some of my guests had the regular NY steak and said it was good but my table had ordered the ribeye feature and it was just ok. Burnt parts aside.

Our server was really attentive and fast and even the owner was nice when we were taking turns smoking outside. It was raining and he was considerate enough to let us take refuge under the tarp covers.

On top of not letting my party have the prefix dinner, they called me SIX DIFFERENT TIMES to confirm. Two on the day of and two the day before. I get that the weather was bad but I’m a decent human being and I would’ve called to cancel if necessary. It was borderline harassment.

Obviously we were charged 18% mandatory service fee for a party so big but I still gave 15% tip on top of it because our server was nice and did good even though I did not enjoy the food. I barely ate a quarter of my 10oz steak. The other table wasn’t so lucky as they had a slow server but it could’ve been because she was also tending the bar.

Some guests enjoyed the food a lot but others including myself was not satisfied at all. Thank god we had amazing company because they actually calmed me down, I was so upset about the mistake they made regarding the prefix menu.

To be honest, the portions were big but it didn’t make up for the lack in quality. We spent a lot that night. We had ordered shots and wine on top of the food. It was just a big mess it felt like, but I’m just glad it didn’t dampen the mood for...

I reviewed this on tripadvisor, and then was berated with 3 nasty messages, (I'm guessing from the owner?). But i had given 2 stars.. Before I thought service was good.. not now! Lol

I had basically said, I had been twice, thought it was simple, but was given a gift certificate, so we went again... simple and boring still.

But I will be further honest now: We just found it like moms awesome and common cooking. Nothing fancy. But they make it LOOK fancy. We are foodies, eat out a lot, and this was just unoriginal. Yes it's a standard meal you can count on.. no surprises. But they charge a lot for just chicken, salmon or beef! Nothing unique or inventive.. not even duck or veal on the menu.. and we also do not mind paying if something is exceptional or unique, creative, special..etc. We did all courses, bottle of wine, one of the apps we really liked, but was teeny considering it's substance (and I'm in the industry and know prices)...(phylo and brie, one piece, reduction on top), it was great tho! But why so much? It's not rare or special?.. Everytime we go we are just not impressed.. and I should be able to say so without ignorant msgs of taunting threats... If my husband is sitting there saying "yours is better", I do not give a place 5 stars.. sometimes not 4 if it continues through the meal..

Plusss the pasta I had was with a terrible watery sauce, had red onion when I asked for none, and then the pasta was mushy. Definitely not homemade pasta to say the least.. just ask yourself, how can Pastaaa be bad?? It's tough to suck at pasta, but they do. And I only ordered it, because it had seafood options, and I had tried the "star" items other times.. . Yes I agree Waldos is goodish for beef or chicken... but then why go Thereee? Not somewhere interesting with Excellent beef, renowned beef? That's my main point.

Not worth it if you are a foodie.

Now I guess we see if the manager or owner says horrible biased things again...