Feast + Revel — Restaurant in Ottawa

Disappointing Christmas Dinner at Andaz Hotel Restaurant

My family and I were deeply disappointed with our Christmas Eve dinner at this restaurant. We chose it for its chic reputation and the promise of a special three-course Christmas meal, but the experience fell far below expectations.

I made a reservation for 6:30 PM and confirmed availability multiple times during the day. Upon arrival, we were seated at the worst table in the restaurant—right next to the open-design kitchen. The constant noise from staff traffic and the loud bell ringing for ready orders made it impossible to enjoy the meal. When I asked to be moved, I was told the restaurant was full. However, several empty tables were visible, including one reserved for a “large group” that didn’t arrive until 7:20 PM and consisted of just three people. It felt like no effort was made to accommodate us better.

To make matters worse, our table was under a cold draft. Though portable heaters were turned on briefly, they didn’t stay on long enough to make a difference. The staff's handling of cutlery behind us was noisy and disruptive—completely unprofessional for a restaurant of this caliber.

The service was chaotic at best. My daughter’s cheeseburger from the kids’ menu arrived without cheese, and we had to remind the waiter twice to bring vinegar for her fries. My wife ordered a margarita that tasted overwhelmingly of jalapeño. When she asked to cancel it after not receiving it for a long time, she was told it couldn’t be canceled because it had already been made. It was eventually brought out alongside her main dish, which was supposed to be paired with the red wine the waiter suggested earlier. The wine was forgotten and only brought after a reminder, far too late to enjoy with her meal.

The food was another disappointment—cold and underwhelming, far below the standards we expected for a $300 meal. The bill itself took ages to arrive. We only received it after standing up to leave, and the payment process felt like a diner experience, with the waiter running the transaction at a nearby desk.

When the waiter asked for feedback, I was honest about our dissatisfaction, but no effort was made to address our concerns. We left feeling undervalued and ignored.

To top it off, I can’t help but wonder if our treatment had anything to do with being French Canadian, as it felt like we were given the short end of the stick all evening.

For an Andaz hotel restaurant, this experience was utterly unacceptable. We will not be returning and cannot recommend this restaurant, especially for a special occasion...

Rooftop lovely, but slow wait for menus- waited 15 minutes for the menu and then the waitress left before we could ask about anything. Finally we order the beet hummus and saumon tartare. The food looked super fresh, but we had to wait 20 minutes and not even a glass of water while we wait or something to snack on like bread?? The top floor you can not order bread? how off.

My beet hummus platter was just chopped vegetable like cucumber cut too big, carrots sliced in half, radishes swimming in butter. Yet no bread of pita comes with something you call "hummus". I will probably go back for a drink, but since the menu is strangely organized and to get a soup and bread you have to go back to the other restaurant, I think just going for drinks here is good. *Looking back at the menu it mentions the "crudite platter" has smoked carrots? I'm sure mine were just the regular carrots sliced in half (I have smoked vegetables before,so know how they should be). Avocado was missing from the plate, smashed cucumbers-I do not get, we got some oversized cucumber logs-they were not smashed or seasoned. Radishes in butter is ok, but usually that is served with bread of crackers. This dish was allright, but really...

• Food Poisoning * I dined at this restaurant with my three children. We ordered our food pretty quickly as I had hungry children and it was getting later in the evening. The waiter was very kind and said it was going to be a while and offered to bring some extra fries to our table to keep them busy. A hour later our food finally comes and the burger at what I could describe as muscle ( not fat ) in it and was inedible. My small children couldn’t chew it with their teeth. My almost 1 old and I had your fish and chips , as she is tiny and cannot eat most things so I thought the fish would be soft enough for her to eat. He never came back to offer refills on drinks , or water , or if we liked the food, it’s like he disappeared ! My baby and I ended up violently ill 3 hours after eating half the plate. I was throwing up till my stomach was empty and my poor baby was crying most of the night and had extremely bad bowel movements all day today. I don’t take my children out to restaurants very often and this really put a sour taste in my mouth about doing this again. I was charged 89$ for 2 burgers / 1 fish and chips / and 2 apple juice. Plus tip ! This is absurd. this is poor service and awful food....