Black+Blue — Restaurant in Toronto

Oct 18, 24 at 16:45 PM; 130 King St Summary: Our experience at Black + Blue Steakhouse was profoundly disappointing, marred by a series of service failures that turned what should have been a celebratory meal into a frustrating ordeal. I am compelled to share this feedback not only to express my dissatisfaction but also in hopes that the restaurant will take corrective action. Arrival and Initial Impressions: Upon arriving at 4:55 PM, just minutes after our reservation time, we were met with a rude text stating that our reservation was in jeopardy due to our tardiness. This was particularly disheartening, as I had provided my guest's name, photo, and details in advance. We were never greeted by name, and the three front hosts exhibited an unwelcoming demeanor, giving us the cold shoulder. This lack of hospitality set a negative tone for the evening. Cramped Seating + Noise Levels: When I requested a seat change due to the cramped conditions, I was told that all seats were taken. However, it was evident as we left that many tables remained empty throughout our visit, revealing this claim to be false. The seating arrangement was uncomfortably tight, making it nearly impossible to hold a conversation without interruptions from surrounding tables. The overwhelming noise level drowned out our attempts to engage with one another, creating an atmosphere that felt more like a crowded café than a fine dining experience. Service + Drink Order Issues: Our waiter appeared overwhelmed, struggling to juggle conversations with patrons at neighboring tables while taking our drink orders. We requested one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic beverage, but the waiter poured both without distinguishing between them. Despite my repeated reminders about my guest's severe allergy to alcohol, he made a grave mistake. This shocking lack of attention to detail could have had serious consequences. Food Presentation + Temperature: The presentation of the meats was lackluster and uninspired. The waiter’s distracted demeanor made it clear he was not fully engaged in our dining experience. We received only one plate of meat to share due to miscommunication, and the hot plates turned cold while we waited for utensils, diminishing our meal's appeal. Waiter's Behavior + Food Service: Throughout the meal, the waitstaff displayed unprofessional behavior, frequently turning their backs to us while serving customers at adjacent tables. The waiter’s back and backside were uncomfortably close to our food, which was both disturbing and unacceptable. This lack of courtesy contributed to an overall negative atmosphere, further compounded by the waiter's dull and unengaging presentation of the meats. Water Service and Dessert Experience: While my water was refilled, my guest's glass was overlooked, which is unacceptable in a fine dining context. To add insult to injury, we were not offered a dessert menu. When I inquired about dessert, the waiter mentioned it was on the house, but we received only one cake and no utensils. This lack of attention to detail emphasized the overall disorganization of the service. Service Price + Gratuity: The price we paid and the tip I provided were not reflective of the experience we received. Given the numerous service failures, I believe a refund is warranted. As someone who networks with colleagues across various sectors and frequently reviews restaurants. Conclusion: This visit was meant to celebrate significant milestones in my guest's life, including motherhood, graduation, and the start of her PhD. Instead, we left feeling disappointed and frustrated. Having dined at The Keg multiple times without encountering such issues, it was disheartening to experience this level of service at Black + Blue Steakhouse. The contrast in quality was stark, especially considering that The Keg offers complimentary baked bread—a small but thoughtful touch that was sorely missing here. Rating Review: I cannot recommend Black + Blue Steakhouse based on this experience. I sincerely hope they take the necessary...

Back at the end of April, my husband and I had dined here at Black + Blue to celebrate our 9 year wedding anniversary. Reservations were made well in advance.

Here is my experience and complete honest opinion of the staff, service, and food:

Made reservations on a Tuesday evening for 2 people. When we arrived and checked in with the host(s), they looked up our reservations, discussed amongst each other and asked us to sit and wait a couple of minutes as they needed some time to get our table ready for us. After waiting for approximately 5 minutes or so, the hostess asked us to follow her to our table. We were then led through the restaurant to an exterior seating area that was covered by a tent, equipped with electrical heaters throughout. We did not know there was a separate "outdoor/indoor" section because had we known, we would have requested to be seated indoors. Once we stepped into this tented area, it felt cold (because it was!), dead, quite sad/gloomy looking, and honestly, it felt like an area that they place individuals who don't necessarily fit they usual financial district clienteles. This area was also empty except for 1, possibly 2 other tables with other individuals that fit our "age" range. We were led to our table that was set up with 6 place settings. Let me remind you that reservations for 2 people were made well in advance, and we were asked to sit and wait while they set up our table. I was a little confused why there were so many settings and asked my husband if more people were joining us. He said no and asked the hostess if this was the correct table since there were only 2 of us. She confirmed it was our table and proceeded to remove the additional settings in front of us. At this point, my husband was already put off and quite frankly, a little offended. What were they working on for our table if the table that was reserved for us still needed to be prepared when we sat down? Regardless, it is our anniversary dinner after all, and we've been wanting to try B&B Steak for some time so we just moved past this. The rest of the evening consisted of subpar service, above-average food, and sad ambiance. We ordered the calamari, lobster bisque, 2 Wagyu tasting platters (they recommended it as a promo), along with cream corn, brussels sprouts, a glass of red and panna cotta for dessert. Because it was our anniversary and my husband made note of this on our booking, they surprised us with a complimentary buttercake. Highlight of our meal was probably their buttercake. That says a lot considering we ordered so much other food, one of them being wagyu! Not that we are experts in the wagyu realm by any means, but we've had our fair share.

My takeaway: Food was decent. It wasn't the best we've had but also not the worst. I know there has been an influx of food influencers, especially within Toronto within the past 2 years. They're all mostly young, in their 20s to early 30s, trying out all the best restaurants around the city. Maybe you labeled my husband and I as just that when we arrived at the front desk and you decided to shuffle us off to a cold/tented area, but at the end of the day, a paying client is a paying client. Your food, regardless of output was tainted by your poor decisions to not treat everyone equally. This is a complete and pure reflection of you as a restaurant and how you choose to run your operation. For a restaurant as "upscale" and high class as yours, this was extremely disappointing. If there are individuals looking for a truly exceptional restaurant that houses service staff that are professional, experienced and knowledgeable, I would highly recommend Butcher Chef. For the same amount of money and better quality on all fronts, I would say steer clear of this restaurant and head over to other restaurants that don't rely as much on social media marketing to make...

Avoid‼️ I had a really unpleasant time last night when I visited this restaurant with my boyfriend for an early Valentines Day dinner. For starters our waiter didn’t come to our table for at least 20 minutes after we were initially seated. We also didn’t have a consistent waiter throughout the night which was very much annoying as we felt that we kept having to repeat the same information over and over again. Second, we waited close to an hour to order our meal because no one was coming to our table (the restaurant was also not busy). Next after waiting so long to order, our food took over an hour to arrive which was super disappointing as we slowly lost our appetite because it took FOREVER. My lobster pasta arrived undercooked as the noodles were still hard and it wasn’t hot like it was freshly made but rather that it was sitting out for a while. My boyfriend’s steak arrived overcooked as well and burned on the sides. For a steakhouse the steak was HORRIBLE and dry. When we brought this to the waiter’s attention, the manager came to our table 5 minutes later to explain that that’s how they cook the steak and the reason why it was burned on the sides was because they grilled it. We regularly cook steak and regularly go to steakhouses and never ONCE had such poorly cooked steak. We also know the difference between grilled and burned. This was overcooked and BURNED. My boyfriend switched his meal to the same pasta I ordered; however, we initially told the waiter that he’s allergic to bacon which was obviously not passed along to the other waiters that came to our table, including the manager who then brought my boyfriend the lobster pasta with bacon all over it (another 30 mins of waiting). Had my boyfriend not seen the bacon, he could have had a very serious allergic reaction which would have been a very big problem for the restaurant. After 10 minutes another manager came to our table and in a condescending tone turned to my boyfriend and said “the pastas good right”.  It’s a shame that such a beautiful restaurant had such POOR service and food. Our bill was over $200 and sadly, it was much better spent at Hys Steakhouse since not a single dime was worth it. We booked this restaurant over a month ago with very high expectations only to leave extremely disappointed and our night ruined. The restaurant puts too much emphasis on small details and not enough time and effort being spent on service and quality of food. We couldn’t wait to get out of the restaurant that we rushed to get the bill to get out of there. We definitely will never be returning and have already told a friend of ours that was planning on booking an upcoming event here to not waste her time since how can she put her trust in the restaurant when they can’t even handle a reservation for TWO. This was possibly the worst experience we’ve ever had at a restaurant. Pleasantly surprised that this restaurant is rated so highly considering the only good thing about it is the decor. I definitely recommend going to Hys Steakhouse instead. 10/10 food and service. Don’t waste your evening on Black and Blue. You’ll leave disappointed ‼️‼️‼️

UPDATE: it’s been 4 weeks since Polina, the person responsible for responding to negative comments, responded to my review to email her my contact details; however she has not responded to my email after 4 weeks even after I sent a follow up email. It’s just a strategic way of showing customers that they value their experience and do something about customers poor experiences. However the restaurant does not respond to any negative emails or doesn’t respond in general even though they want to show people that they are doing something about it. DONT BOTHER EMAILING THEM IF...