Parmesan Restaurant — Restaurant in Quebec

We had a table reserved for 5 the day before to arrive the following day at 8pm. We ended up being seated at a small rounded table in the middle of the main path way for staff and customers. Thus elbows constantly contacted our table.

Initial introduction to the restaurant was welcoming and the entertainment of the walk around accordion player was an amusing touch for the memories.

However after that it was all down hill.

The table was initially served with the driest week old bread pieces and we had to ask for the vinegar and olive oil for it.

I personally started off with the soup of the day which was a vegetable soup but far more liquid than actual substance and a mere 'hint' of flavour and that's not a compliment.

We literally had a server ONLY at the table to take the order after an hour of sitting and ZERO return to see how the meal was going and if we needed anything.

Unacceptable!!

My main course was the surf and turf which was the blandest, over boiled n 10% flavoured rock lobster tail I have ever had. (Note - I have been a lobster fisherman in Nova Scotia for 4.5 years as a teen as well as my step dad being a lobster fisherman so speak from experience) this was absolutely terrible!!

Toss it off with a peace of beef that was literally 2 bite sized pieces when cut.

I ordered medium well and came.completely WELL done with again, zero flavour.

During the meal one of our.company had a wine glass break in his hand and it took 10 minutes to get any attention from a server. By the way we ordered a full bottle of Merlot.

What did we receive from the server?? Ziltch!! He took the broken glass away while my friends hand was wrapped in a napkin bleeding!! Zero concern. Jesus he could have at least filled his glass for the accident which was no fault of my friend but no doubt either cheap glasses or have been used n abused through the dishwasher far too many times.

After a 5 person unsatisfactory meal we all literally had to stand up with our jackets on to get any attention from the server. Finally realizing we all.may just walk out he dropped off our individual bill and then we had to wait again for the credit card machine.

I know what it's like to hustle for our $ and the work involved as I work as hard as any person for their dollar thus I do not just hand over what I worked for 'just because' it expected.

I reward good service and even satisfactory.

I do not reward poor service and in this case poor to non existent!!

My recommendation to take it or leave it but you work hard for the fruits of your labour and there are far better serving and quality prepared dishes in old town Quebec City than this establishment.

They may have been great once but not on my...

This is, without a doubt, one of the worst restaurants I have ever visited and you should avoid it at all costs. I’m not sure what vibe the owner is going for with the decor, but I’d describe the experience as like eating in the front room of an elderly relative who raided a souvenir shop on a trip to Italy 30 years ago. On top of that, some stray accordianists wandered in before playing the Godfather theme tune four times (molto italiano!), which gave the place the same feeling as when homeless buskers attempt to ply their trade on the Milan metro, so I guess at least that was authentic. I am dispirited to read in other reviews that people seem to actually like this as they think it provides a real European ambience; the poor taste of these people appears to explain the continued existence of this establishment.

The food was absolutely despicable and a disgrace to the name Italian: for starters, a basket of bread was brought to us which, for reasons known only to the culprit, contained pieces that had been toasted hours if not days earlier. I ordered the manicotti, and as someone wrote in a previous review, it was indeed “just mush”, tasting like an oven-ready supermarket meal. It looked, if I may, more or less the same coming out as it did going in. My fiancée — a native Italian from Genova — (we were only eating there because everywhere else was closed and we had no other option) opted for Duck á l’orange. Despite being a plate costing $40 (!!!) — the most expensive single dish we’ve ordered in our three weeks in Canada — it indisputably contained microwaved rice, which we could tell from its dry state and crunchy texture, and undercooked broccoli. Quite rightly after this experience, we did not include a tip after paying the tab, which came to ~$120 — not bad for only two main courses and three drinks, eh? Our decision to leave the tip was based on the food rather than the service. Unfortunately, the waiter took leave of his senses when he realised we had decided on this, abandoning his dignity by exploding and making a scene. He dressed us down and acted the unsung hero, waxing lyrical about how hard he works, before kicking us out. If he feels he is so underpaid that he needs to attack his maltreated patrons in this way in front of everyone else, I suggest he asks the owner for a raise — I suspect he is sitting on a mountain of cash derived from his overpriced,...

There are a few things here, let me first say our dinner was excellent and the chef literally brought it out to our table so that it was perfectly hot when we got it. You can see he tries really hard and is very proud of everything he does so to that I give him 10 thumbs up however, and I'm very sorry that there's a however but I have to be honest. We arrived at the restaurant at 4:30 doors were open so we walked in. Two waitresses a blonde and a brunette the brunette not the blonde turned around and said we don't open till 5:00 to which we said fine we will wait. The brunette waitress turned around with a huff and a puff like can you believe it apparently we Disturbed her. Very unwelcoming and uncomfortable . I said to her I'm sorry we came in because the door was open and there was no sign saying that they did not open until 5:00 I guess that was just something we were supposed to know. See however did not respond. My husband and I walked back outside in the rain walked around a little bit and then came back and stood under the awning to get out of the rain. It was a cold and damp Finally a gentleman walked past us who turned out to be a waiter and about 5 minutes to 5:00 he came out and said why don't you come in and have a seat and showed us right to a table. One thing I have to say is that the wait staff doesn't have a lot of personality. The gentleman was rushing us and even though he spoke English I don't think that they were very happy that we were there. Suffice to say had I not been so hungry I might have said that I would have found a different restaurant. This however was the restaurant we came to critique . It saddens me when a chef tries to make the experience wonderful only to have the wait staff ruined that experience. We always tip very well and I must mention that when we walked out the door we said goodbye and the male waiter just put his hand in the air like you're done. So take it for what it's worth. You have been critiqued by the blue collar critic, we travel everywhere to critique different places that we've heard of and give you the real scoop. Stay tuned for more reviews of different experiences while in...