Exile Restaurant and Lounge — Restaurant in St. John's

I book a reservation that included 9 family members as my guests. I was anticipating a very relaxing and enjoyable evening. Upon arrival, I immediately got a bad vibe. It just wasn’t the reception that I normally receive based on the price point. (thought price point shouldn’t matter)

Our server arrived, without introduction. She proceeded to take our drink order and after a few corrections, we addressed the menu.

After the appetizer’s I requested 2 bottles of Amarone and ask for them to be decanted. When the wine arrived, much to my surprise, it was already decanted. I’ve never experienced that before. Part of the experience is to present the wine, open it at the table, allow the ordering guest to taste before….I’m not suggesting they didn’t serve the correct wine but the process was incorrect.

As the meals started to arrive, a number of people had the Beef Tenderloin and chose French fries as a side. The fries were so hard, overcooked, they literally cracked like toothpick’s. We had to send them back. I just can’t believe that the kitchen staff would ever send them out in the 1st place.

It wasn’t the experience I was expecting nor deserved

I paid the bill and did not express my disappointment. I didn’t want to expose my guests to my frustration. I did leave the server a 30% tip.

Also the air conditioning did not appear to be operational.

Respectfully, I think my expectations...

The atmosphere was amazing, a lot of rock memorabilia and posters along the walls, the decor and furniture gave it a really nice vibe.

Service was fantastic, the food came out quickly and at a great pace. As soon as I finished my app, my main was put on the table.

Ordered the Arancini, the risotto was creamy and moist inside and crunchy on the outside. The goat cheese in the very middle was perfect, it was accompanied by an angular salad with truffle dressing and an herbed aioli.

My main was the JAG Burger. The cook it to order and I took mine medium-rare and it was perfection. Still had a a pink center and grilled and caramelized outside. It had a caramelized onion mayo and thick bacon that really sent it over the top. It had a fried pickles spear but when I bit it, the entire pickle came out, would of preferred fried pickle chips but the batter was exceptional. Usually they come out kind soggy-ish, the batter stayed crispy and had a good flavor. The fries were also done quite well, shoestring and topped with a herb blend.

The meal came to $39 total which was really good for that level of food. If you want a really good burger, this is the place to get it. I am also interested in coming back to try some of their other dishes. They have a really nice variety of dishes that you won't see everywhere else and it's all stuff you'd want to eat.

Compliments to the...

We were so excited to dine here as there were so many great reviews for this restaurant. The dining room was very fun and trendy. That is where the positive experience ended.

We were dining as a group of 4 and I had my infant son in his stroller - our hostess was almost appalled that we had a baby with us and told us minors had to be out by 8:30 pm (which gave us well over an hour to dine) Our meals arrived all of which were lacking flavor. Two of us ordered the chicken special, which was very bland. One member of our group ordered the chicken parm which was actually burnt. Our waitress came around once to check on the table after our meals were delivered not giving us much chance to actually try our meals yet. At the end of our dining when we asked for our bill we mentioned that the chicken parm was inedible as it was burnt - the waitress seemed more annoyed than apologetic. We weren't looking for handouts, rather, wanted to point out the meal was not enjoyable. We were then informed by our waitress that there was not much she could do as we had the opportunity to complain when she came around initially. After speaking to her supervisor we were, however, offered a dessert on the house.

All in all it was a very disappointing experience. We will not be returning, nor will we be recommending this restaurant to...