Adrak Richmond Hill — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

Celebrated Father’s Day with my family at Adrak - One of the very popular modern Indian restaurants located in Richmond Hill. I always wanted to try out this restaurant having heard so much about it.

The entrance to the restaurant was just ordinary as it was set up in a corporate building. The ambience was fine, the interior wasn’t that impressive.

We were seated at one of the circular booth seating with a couple of chairs. I sat on the chair which was small for a medium built person and wasn’t very comfortable as well.

One of the servers greeted us and served water which was less than half full in the glasses which I knew was intentional but the server never came back to fill the glasses. We had to ask for more water.

The restaurant had a Father’s Day special menu and so we ordered Kadhai Paneer, Bhartha Rawalpindi & Martaban Ke Choley along with Masala Laccha Onions and assorted breads - Tandoori Rotis, Butter Naans, Garlic Naans & Laccha Parantha.

It took a little longer for the food to arrive despite the restaurant not being fully occupied during lunch time. The Kadhai Paneer looked appetizing and was served in a different serving bowl than the Bhartha and Choley.

Considering Adrak to be an upscale Modern Indian restaurant, the presentation of the dishes was just ordinary. It didn’t really feel that we were dining in a Michelin star level restaurant. I’ve seen much better presentation in many other Indian restaurants across Canada.

Kadhai Paneer: The Kadhai Paneer was good with a rich masala/gravy. However, the paneer cubes were less in the dish.

Bhartha Rawalpindi: The Bhartha was below average. The eggplant was boiled rather than being grilled so it lacked the typical roasted flavour. Salt was missing and the spices were also less. The portion was less for the highly priced dish.

Martaban Ke Choley: The Choley was okay and not that flavourful. I’ve had this type of Choley many times in the past and know exactly how it should taste. The portion for this dish was also less for the price charged.

Breads: All the different breads tasted excellent. The garlic naan was almost same as the butter naan as there wasn’t much garlic on the naan. The breads were soft and delicious. We enjoyed them very much.

Masala Laccha Onions: The Masala Laccha Onions were poorly presented with just red chilli powder sprinkled on them. It should have had some salt along with some lemon wedges and one or two green chilies. We asked for the green chilies separately and they were fresh and crisp.

We had 4 servers for different things as part of our dining (Water, Serving, Table Cleaning & Packaging for the left over food) during the course of our meal but they were all very well behaved.

Surprisingly, we were not asked even once if we needed anything or if the food was good. This was not expected from a fine dining restaurant like Adrak.

Our dining experience was okay but could have been a lot better for the reasons...

I am writing to express my disappointment and frustration with the recent experience I had at your establishment. As a loyal customer who has frequented your restaurant for several years, I have always appreciated the high level of service and commitment to quality that you have shown. In recognition of the above I had booked 14 tickets at $125 each for your 2023 new year countdown experience to entertain my friends. We were all expecting a fun filled evening at your Richmond Hill establishment. However, in the end we were all left disappointed to find the promises you made for the event were not honored. Specifically, I was expecting to receive an evening filled with music and razzmatazz leading up to the New Year countdown, but instead we were requested to wrap up by the restaurant staff well before 11pm. The live music was one guy singing who also wrapped up in a hurry (~9:30pm). Despite reminding your staff of the expected event dynamics, we were asked to leave as soon as our meal was done. To us this meant that at the end of the day this was just a normal buffet dinner for which somehow we were made to pay a high premium price. When asked about compensation for the change in plans and misrepresentation, they said that your establishment had actually revised the pricing of the event based on the change and we would be refunded the difference. The difference we were told amounted to $50 pp. Your staff honorably gave us a printed receipt for the revised amounts along with our drinks bill. They also provided us with a handwritten chit of paper with the balance owed back to us. We were told to call back the next day to process the credit back to the card. Upon calling the restaurant the next day we were told the amount will be processed soon. However, to my surprise no action was taken even after repeated calls. Since there was no communication or explanation from the restaurant management and with no other recourse we decided to dispute the credit card amount. I recently received your response via AMEX. I do not agree with the reasoning that the revised price was a last minute offer since we were made to understand by your staff that the price was lowered as the event mechanics had changed (no one was going to pay $125 for a simple buffet). Secondly, none of us ever got aggressive with your staff as the letter inappropriately states (the security footage inside the restaurant should provide proof). We were all just there to have a good time and not create a scene! It is frustrating to feel misled and disappointed of being wrongly accused of aggressive behaviour, especially as a loyal customer who has always appreciated your restaurant's values. However, I feel that there is no mistake that cannot be rectified. As such I would hope you will be able to reconsider your decision and refund us the balance owed. Looking forward to hearing back soon and thank you for your attention to...

I really wanted to love this place after reading so many good things about it, but it just didn't hit the mark for me.

I came here for the first time on Saturday Nov 23rd, in evening around 7:30pm. There was actually an engagement party happening that night, so it was a pretty full restaurant when we arrived.

We Ordered:

Veggie Platter Non Veg Platter (Both were really tasty but pretty expensive for $40 & $45 each. )

Butter Chicken Chicken Tikka Masala Baingain Bhartha Shahi Paneer ( SWEET ) Daal Makhani

3 Butter Naans 1 Laccha Paranthas 3 Tikona Naan -1 Garlic Naan 1 Romali Roti

The main dishes were probably the least exciting for me, especially because some of them were incorrect, and the naans were lukewarm ( some were also burnt ) I think the timing was a bit off in preparation for them. Something I wanted to highlight was that both the Butter Chicken & Shahi Paneer dishes had a very sweet gravy. When we placed the order, we asked our server if either of them would be sweet, and if they could make them a bit more savoury. To which, the manager scoffed and said, of course, they will not be. Well, they both ended up being really sweet and unenjoyable.

Four of us were actually sick later than night & the following day from some of the main dishes.

The biggest let down was the service. First, we had seating issues, where we were offered a poor seating option that was very tight and uncomfortable for our party of 6 and another neighbouring party. Secondly, our order was incorrectly taken by the Manager himself ( they accidentally served us saag paneer instead of shahi paneer), when we asked for additional cutlery, staff would often be confused about how many additional spoons we needed, and sometimes forgot. Lastly, the wait times between our drink order, appetizer order main dishes order were 30-45min apart each. We spent over 2.5hrs here, and not by choice. Additionally, no servers or management came to check on us even once during our meal.

I understand that since it was a Saturday night full of customers & one large party, that they might've been a little overwhelmed and understaffed in the kitchen, but it really created a poor experience for my family & I, especially since we were celebrating a special occasion.

Our Total Bill was about $270 + tip & honestly it felt overpriced for the quality of food & service we received.

I'm pretty skeptical I would come back here again, especially after this experience.

Seating in this restaurant is a bit...