NeXT — Restaurant in Ottawa

Overall: Blind menu doesn’t make sense. There is no logical flow that has progression and cohesion. Just a lot of food that doesn’t pair together. The main course and desert were fantastic. Service was strong in the beginning but then went away at the end. The atmosphere is a bit weird. The main dining room itself doesn’t have an intimate vibe. Very open and bright which is nice but there’s something stark and non-inviting about the decor. We order cocktails which were not great for $21 drinks. My old fashion tasted like a sugar kids mocktail and the martini was average. We all ordered the blind menu which didn’t have any flow from a time or combination perspective. It’s also not really a blind menu but just a tasting menu of their main menu. The courses come in pairs and the 1st course was the bao buns which were good. Soft, light, a bit of spice and freshness. The second pair was a plate of tomato’s, cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The pairing made zero sense and the tomatoes were just cut in chunks with the solid core still intact. No fresh basil to brighten it up and the presentation was horrible. The best part was the crostini/cracker served but this dish was tasteless and paired beside the bao buns left us all puzzled. The second wave was the kapow cauliflower. This was good. Crispy, sweet and spicy. Great vegetarian dish. It was paired with a spicy, mac and cheese type dish. The pairing didn’t make any sense and the pasta dish is honestly one of the worst dishes I’ve ever had. Unnecessarily spicy and the combination was very unpleasant. We did mention this to our server who was great and handled it well. They brought us another dish to try but we were 6 people and they brought one dish. It was the pad see ew from their menu and which was nice.We just shared it and to be honest the portions are massive that we were already getting full. Something places need to consider when doing a multi-course menu is to control portion size so you can finish the experience. There was an abnormally long wait time between this course and the main course. They did bring us a complimentary curcumin baguette dish which was ok but thoughtful since the pause between was really long. The main was the rib-eye, duck confit and shrimp and rice. It came out on this cool platter and was amazing. All of us looked at each other and said, this is what we were expecting. Good combinations and presentation! The duck was perfect. Crispy, salty with a bit of sweet. The steak was cooked nice but did need a hair more salt but luckily they have salt flakes on the table that really made it pop. The shrimp and rice was good as well but maybe not necessary. Flavours and presentation really saved the meal. Desert. OMG! What a finish! The desert platter was to die for. Homemade ice cream, these beautiful s’more type wafers, rhubarb crumble, creme brûlée and a baked dish. The time period between the main and desert was again very long and at some point we were just sitting there wondering what was happening with no communication from our server. The service was good at the beginning but at the end the server was just gone. We were sitting there for long periods without knowing what was happening and in the end we were the only ones in the restaurant after over 4 hours of dining. We had to ask other staff if we can just pay and if they could find our waiter. After sitting there for over 20 mins since getting the bill. The waiter came with the machine to pay and we were able to leave. Overall, good and bad. They really need to change the blind menu concept. It needs to have a small to big progression with dishes that compliment each other. Also, a tasting menu and a blind menu are two different things. This restaurant just gives you everything off their menu which doesn’t bring repeat business. Would I go back? No. $400 for 2, I expect a lot more. They need to revamp the concept and some flavours are just not meant to be...

Super disappointing experience, and likely the last experience. Not worth the money. We had booked a reservation for 8 people for a friends birthday; and had looked at the regular menu prior to and were super excited about trying this resturant out. However, when we got to the resturant and sat down we were informed that we HAD to do the tasting menu and it was $95+ a person (far different pricing than the regular menu). This WAS NEVER informed to us prior to showing up (we had also paid a deposit for the reservation). The resturant had even called to confirm the reservation with us and never mentioned that groups of 7 ppl + would HAVE to do the tasting menu. We then spoke with the server/owner and they told us it was their policy…but never mentioned this prior to us showing up when confirming our reservation. Apparently it is in the fine print on their website. RIDICULOUS and a little shady. If it was MANDATORY for groups we should have been informed. This put many of the people in our group in a bad mood for the unexpected tasting menu (and much higher cost per person) forced onto our group, and made the birthday person feel very awkward and uncomfortable. Wasn’t their fault though…they were never informed when they made the reservation or when the resturant called to confirm. On top of this, the food was mediocre, nothing to write home about. Since we were now spending a lot of money on the 8 course tasting menu now, we expected the food to be amazing and a decadent experience. However, the food was basic, unexciting. Nothing “blew our socks off”. One of the dishes on the tasting menu was deep fried cheese curds…something in my opinion shouldn’t be on a fancy tasting menu, and seemed very “chip truck”. Out of the 8 dishes maybe 2 were decent and tasty and enjoyed by our group. The rest were dishes we could have made at home. The only thing enjoyable about our experience was the service, the server was great and friendly, and obviously the rest of our experience wasn’t the servers fault. Overall the experience was extremely disappointing. I had such high hopes and this resturant and had been on my “must try” list for a while. However after tonight we should have gone somewhere else. I don’t think we will be returning…for sure...

It was my first time at Next, and I was looking forward to the evening. One look at the menu and it is obvious some has put time into creating an experience. Unfortunately the execution was terrible.

My wife and I had the Blind Sharing menu item, 8 courses of different plates (lots of food, a variety of food). Each dish was well crafted for visual consumption, and the work showed. Unfortunately each dish was bland in taste, the short ribs tasted like it was cooked hours earlier, the udon beef tips had more in common with tough beef jerky, the Salmond was overcooked (mush on inside, dried out on outside), and everything was served at room temperature. For a 275 dollar meal, it had such potential, but was nothing more than a pretentious underwhelming meal.

Of note, the couple beside us were upset because of some confusion with a gift card. I did not catch all the details, but the way the waiter handled ( was our waiter as well), their concern were dismissed. The poor couple spend the next 10 minutes very upset and vocal. I think what was lost on the waiter, is he did a poor job communicating and now has lost a customer.

Of note, the plain water offered at the start of the meal was terrible. At the end of the meal I mentioned this to my waiter, and he should mention this to the manager. He told me he was the manager, and that it would cost too much money. I asked him if they stored the water in the refrigerator with the cover off because the water tasted like the refrigerator. He told me they did. After receiving the brush off, like the couple beside me, I realised what kind of establishment this was.

(Also, there seemed to be a wedding reception/dinner taking place in the facility, perhaps the B team / dishwasher had prepared our meal, as the A team was busy servicing the wedding)

I cannot reconcile the high rating of the restaurant, I can only speak to my...