Bymark — Restaurant in Toronto

I would have given this a 5 star review but 2 things about my experience lowered the overall rating. But first, let me vehemently say that the food is delicious. Everything is full flavoured, well balanced (not too salty or sweet or spicy), the textures are amazing and the portion size is great. But for $230 (after tax and tip) for 2 people ordering 1 appetizer, a bottle of water, 2 mains, 2 desserts, 2 6oz glasses of wine and 2 coffees....I expected an elevated experience to match the quality of the food. The 1st improvement was the temperature of my main dish. I had the herbed gnocchi with duck confit and chanterelle mushrooms. My husband had the grilled orata which arrived at our table hot. It was delicious. My gnocchi was room temperature, which was disappointing. The sauce on my dish even had a skin on the top, which is further evidence that my dish sat waiting for the fish. Don't get me wrong, everything was delicious and once I mixed the sauce, the skin disappeared but the dish would have been a 10/10 if it were hot and timed better with the fish. At room temp, the gnocchi is a 7/10. The 2nd disappointment was the timing of our cappuccinos with dessert. We wanted to enjoy coffee with dessert, but our 2 desserts came out 10 min after our coffee so our coffee was tepid by the time the dessert came. I would have liked the 2 to come out together or at least closer together to be enjoyed simultaneously. And the desserts we had did not require heating (the Bymark chocolate bar and the pumpkin layer cake with apple spiced ice cream.). Another small improvement also would have been the inclusion of 2 toasted ciabattas with the burrata appetizer. It was a shared app but only 1 piece of bread came out, it would have been great if both of us could have a full piece of bread with the cheese. Aside from these things, everything was DELICIOUS. The dessert was light (even the chocolate bar) and not cloyingly sweet, which was a great way to end the meal with something light and sweet. And the service is very good, they clear the plates quickly, and don't overwhelm you. Water is refilled quickly and its the perfect level of attentiveness. Oh and the shrimp tacos were on the house!! Which was a pleasant surprise, especially since this was our anniversary dinner celebration. The shrimp tacos were like a shrimp mousse with chunks of shrimp and then topped with something very citrusy, which was delicious because it rounded out the flavour profile very nicely. Perhaps, I'm being too picky about the temperature and timing because the restaurant was full (I'd estimate 95% capacity for a Thurs evening) so I'm sure timing everything is a challenge. Bottom line, I would come back here again for the awesome food...

Wife and I decided to finally return to bymark to relive the venue that hosted our wedding 6 years prior. I am speechless to how far it has fallen from what our dream day venue was. Walking up, sign was in rough shape and doors leading in from the street level entrance had spiderwebs/spiders. We continued up to patio entrance and we're greeted(only time the whole night). We had reserved to eat in main restaurant for 7pm. We walk down and have to introduce ourselves to the host to then be seated. Wednesday night, maybe 12 tables in use, we're seated along the kitchen wall. Our server (Ricki) comes over asks if we'd like something to drink, we opt for sparkling water as we continue to review what we want. Ricki checks in 5 mins later for further drinks and we choose to stick to sparkling. 5mins later ricki comes back for order, wife gets the famous lobster poutine, I order their pan halibut with saffron broth and side polenta fries. As we've placed our orders I go to use the bathroom and come back to my plate having been served while I'm not there. We sit to eat, ricki does check in but I don't have the heart to speak up at the disappointment of the dishes. Saffron broth had no depth or seasoning. Halibut was seared nice but not evenly seasoned. Best thing on the dish was the 2 thin slices of toasted bread for dipping, added the seasoning to the broth. Lobster poutine, the dish that sold us to have our wedding there, lobster was the star thankfully otherwise food rating would have been lower, but bearnaise sauce was lacking it's characteristic acid to cut through the richness. Again lobster cooked perfectly. Polenta fries, best bang for buck for what we were served tonight. The atmosphere, felt off from the moment seeing the spiderwebs, not being greeted and entire time being there being 54 minutes. The service, no staff really interacted with us. It felt like a transactional service. When you are paying top dollar the hope is you're there for an experience (as we have had 3x before) but this just felt like any other dinner at a run at a mill place. Food, 3 stars cause of lobster cookery otherwise would be 2. It hurts me to leave this review, bymark has always left me coming out with desires to come back. Tonight I left with just memories...

Highly overrated. This is a very average to disappointing restaurant overall

There was some hype about this restaurant, so I wanted to give it a try and so took my husband and four of our friends here for his birthday.

To start, the staff were not educated or trained on the menu. When our table asked our waiter for suggestions, he was completely oblivious - he didn't even have one recommendation. We also had to beg for water 3 times over the course of the dinner. Similarly, when we asked for recommendations on cocktails/drinks, the waiter replied, saying, " im into traditional drinks," - that was not very helpful. We were left to fend for ourselves.

The menu itself was not very inspiring, original, or unique. For example, staples like fried calamari, Caesar, and kale salads can be found in so many mainstream restaurants across the country like Jack Astors, Milestones, Joey etc. Despite that, I wanted to put this menu to the test, so we ordered a total of 13 dishes to share among 6 patrons. To our dismay, 5 of the dishes were extremely boring, bland, and flavorless - the beet salad, the turkey sandwich, the kale salad, the beef tartare, the grilled lobster to name a few. Six other dishes were average, such as the Wagyu dumplings and the tuna tartare. We had to return our fries to the kitchen because they were cold and soggy and reminded us of stale fries you find under the seat of your car.

There was not one dish that I found to be intriguing or which I crave to go back and try again.

Besides the food and awkward waiting staff, the atmosphere was eerily quiet, lacked ambiance, and was filled with dead silence. I was shocked to see that only 4 of the 25+ tables had guests, and despite that, the waiting staff struggled to stay on top of orders.

Learning moment for everyone: I will save your time and money and prevent you from emptying your wallet here needlessly. Go experience fine cuisine elsewhere. Your expectations will not be met here if you are anticipating a gastronomical delight. And, definitely do NOT take anyone here for a special occasion like a birthday, first date, or anniversary - they will be disappointed. Go elsewhere that has an inspiring menu, good service, and at the very least, a spot that offers minimal...