The Whalesbone Bank Street — Restaurant in Ottawa

This was actually the most disappointing meal I've had in Ottawa. My girlfriend and I looked forward to this meal on the basis that friends both in the industry and out have spoken so highly of it, and yet... After being seated for 30 seconds, a couple who came in just after us were shouted at by the bartender asking if they had a reservation or were a walk-in. It was kind of loud in the restaurant with the music and other conversations going but this was yelling to the point that it drew the attention of the whole restaurant and literally ended conversations people were having around us. If you need to yell like that , maybe turn the music down or urge them over to the bar to discuss seating them, either way complete unnecessary to shout like that. This yelling reoccurred with new patrons coming in throughout the 1 hour and a half experience as well as a very loud conversation with patrons at the bar. Briefly before getting into food , Id like to say the 1 star goes to our waitress (medium length brown hair, bunch of tattoos on her arms) who was attentive without being overbearing. Her service was pretty good and definitely demonstrated a stark contrast of professionalism compared to her peer behind the bar. The other problem with the atmosphere was the fact the small establishment was like being in a sauna. There's no air conditioning or it was broken but the 2 wimpy fans weren't enough to keep the environment comfortable. An hour in we were more then ready to get out of there. Id like to say the experience improved with the food but sadly, it got considerably worse. My girlfriend ordered a negroni (was mediocre) while I as the driver stuck with water. Bread was brought to the table (also mediocre). After perusing the menu we decided on sharing 3 appetizers between us , going with the Scallop Ceviche, a foie gras, and the "sea-cuterie" board. Scallop Ceviche: solid dish, easily the best dish we had, credit where its due. Foie gras : The spread itself was fairly bland and was struck by heaps of salt that we could only deduce was from the butter on the bread on which the spread sat. It was too salty to finish. The final dish was the "sea-cuterie" board which we didn't end up finishing after a few unimpressive bites of the smelts. The reason for not finishing the dish however was not that it was bad, but just at this point after sitting in the heat for an hour and a half my girlfriend was feeling sick and had a headache so we decided to take the dish to go , which brings me to the nail in the coffin. that pile of filth in the picture Ive attached thanks to our good buddy from earlier the bartender who was nearby cleaning off tables. When we asked if we could get the board to go , he politely said "yeah no problem ". He came back a few minutes later telling us he doubled up on the containers so it didn't leak which was strange to me, so i looked in and sure enough the guy had carelessly cleared the board into a container as if clearing into a garbage bin and brought it to us thinking nothing of it. Brutal. A 40$ dish utterly ruined. After that embarrassing meal and more than 100$ later the waitress tells me that the foie gras is taken off the bill. I was too angry to double check in the tunnel vision of getting out of there if she actually took it off but at 95$ before tip for 2 appetizers and a drink (118$ is what the bill came out to after a 20% tip) something doesn't add up and im pretty sure a mistake was made. An honest mistake on the waitresses part im sure who may have been unaware of how dissatisfied we actually were(my girlfriend nor I are interested in making a scene) but one I could have forgiven if it weren't for the $40 dollar slop I paid for on top of a sub par dish. Honestly can say I wont be back and after the embarrassment of ruining my girlfriends birthday, I'm even willing to write this review. Your website boasts this as "an experience to not be missed". I Vehemently beg to differ. Plenty of restaurants in Ottawa blow you out of the water, pun...

I have been to the Whalesbone in the past few years for lunch at least 6 times, had a good experience each time.

Dinner there however is quite a different thing. On March 28th for 8pm we had booked the large table in the front so we could introduce our friends their food. Our experience was something less than pleasant. In summary it will be impossible to ever get our friends to visit this place for dinner again. I can no longer recommend this restaurant.

I am providing further details on the meals, but as you see below wrt to the pricing you have the right to expect a good to excellent meal.

Food Quality ( 5 meals ) Atlantic Salmon (0/10) $39 Ontario Walleye (8/10) $43 Angus Prime Strip loin (6/10) $47 Atlantic Salmon (4/10) $39 Mackerel (5/10) $34

Atlantic Salmon: ( The problem meals ) The salmon was presentd as a 3 inch thick piece with some lentils, beets and carrots on a large plate. The real issue is that in one case the salmon was mostly raw, the second salmon dinner was raw in the for an inner inch. I do mean raw. The size of the plate vs the portion also gave you the impression that the meal was undersized. This was ordered by 2 of the 3 women in our party.

For one of these meals the server was ask to send it back and have it cooked further. She took the salmon piece and informed the customer to eat the vegetables while she waited. After 3 minutes the salmon came back .. still raw, Really. Note to server: You should have ensured it was cooked throughout like the customer requested and returned it on another plate complete with hot vegetables. Additionally, she did even check on the second customer who also ordered the salmon.

Ontario Walleye: It was exactly what expected. Served in a bowl with clams and what I think were brussel sprouts it was tasty and tender with a nice presentation.

Angus Prime Strip loin Served in bowl with potatoes, mushrooms and kale the meal appeared nice. The customer ordered the strip loin to be cooked medium rare. It was quite apparent that it was cooked well / medium. No pink to be seen. Additionally, it was served with a fat residue around the outside of the strip loin.

Mackerel: My wife had the mackerel with pork belly, bokchoy and mushrooms. This was a similar meal as the walleye but was lacking presentation. She also commented the next morning that mackerel was not that great and would not order it again.

With regard to the server. We found her to be pushy, rude at times and lacking any real sincerity in addressing the identified dinner issues. We were treated to the meal, but if I was paying the tip would have reflected the value (5%).

Generally, I think I will visit again for lunch but avoid the dinners. Our friends however will never visit this place...

This restaurant has very high rating and good reviews. So we decided to eat here as well as we were also curious about $64 risotto. How good it will be the risotto this expensive?! We were excited and had high expectations.

We ordered the chowder and the baked scallop (i forgot the name but it was the whole shell baked with cheese) as appetizers. The clam chowder came there were lots of seafoods in it but it was too salty to eat. We dont complain when we go to restaurants most of the time. But it was exceptionally salty. My husband eats pretty salty side but even he said it is too salty. So i decided to let the staff know its too salty. And they told us they will make again for us. Now this time this creammy clam chowder was soooo sour. We were sitting on the counter where we can see the little kitchen. We saw one of the chef putting something in the chowder, i guess it was lime or lemon juice to neutralize the saltiness which did not work at all.. We both had little taste (not even a whole spoonful) and left it there on the table.till the staff took it away. I was expecting the staff can notice what is going on at least but did not happen. The baked scallop was ok. Thank god it wasnt too salty or anything. It tasted exactly what u expect to taste. No complain here. Finally we got our risotto, the reason we came to this restaurant for. There were lots of seafood and little palm size amount of risotto. Regardless what it looked like, the seasoning was the problem again. It was sooooooo salty again. None of the staff came.by to ask hows the taste. Seriously, if the customer once mentioned the saltiness was the problem once then i would care abit more than usual. Also we left the whole clam chowder then they should ve realized something is wrong. Food can be extrememly salty because it might happen without realizing or whatever reason it could. BUT ONCE NOT TWICE. This restaurant does not have lots of menu to choose from and this risotto is twice expensive than other main dishes then I would expect this could be their signature dish.

This place is very disapointing. I never wanna go ever again. Bad customer service. It wasnt busy night and it wasnt a big restaurant (bank st location). I do not care how other ppl put good reviews, this is how i see it. VERY...