Old Mill Toronto Restaurant — Restaurant in Toronto

THANKSGIVING DINNER

This review is in regards to the Thanksgiving Dinner they offered. Overall, you will see this review is aligned with other reviews left over the past year or so. Ever since 2020, the food has gone down hill. I have been to the Old Mill a handful of times over the past 10+ years and after our Thanksgiving 2024 experience, it will probably be our last.

The saving grace is the atmosphere and service. If you really want a beautiful place that has the ambiance, then you really can't beat the Old Mill. It's a shame this beautiful venue is being drowned by the poor quality of food.

The food was honestly terrible. Basic and cheap side dishes to give the illusion of choice but nothing too exciting that you couldn't find at a grocery store's hot table / salad bar. (i.e. cold cuts, fruits, macaroni salad, pasta salad, bread, etc.)

Here are a couple of notable dishes I tried that really stood out the most to me and were by far the most disappointing.

The mashed potatoes were not fluffy. They had the consistency of a baked potato - soft to where you could scoop them, but not fluffy. After scooping the mashed potatoes and trying to plate it, 80% of what I had scooped stayed on the spoon. After a couple of attempts to get the mashed potatoes onto my plate, I gave up because if I had used any more force, I would've flung the potato across the room (that is if it would actually fall off the spoon).

The meat had no flavour and was overcooked. It was tough and dry and one piece of meat was undistinguishable from the other (which hopefully tells you how bad it was). The two meats I tried were turkey and lamb. When I asked if they had a medium rare cut of the lamb, the individual cutting said what he had on the cutting board was medium rare. Spoiler alert - it was not medium rare - it was medium well - barely any pink left.

The last item that deserves to be mentioned which prompted me to write this review was the waffles they had at the dessert table. I honestly would've been willing to write this all off had I enjoyed the dessert but the waffle was the most disappointing part of it all. When you think of a Belgian waffle, you probably think of a warm and soft waffle that could be cut by the edge of your fork - no need for a knife. Nope - this Belgian waffle was cold and hard like a bread biscuit. You would either need a knife to cut it or you could break it by hand and crumbs would be left. Dry crumbs should not be left trying cut a Belgian waffle. I've been to 3 star hotels like Holiday Inn Express that had better, softer and warmer waffles than the Old Mill.

All in all, for a $75 per person dining experience, the Old Mill really missed the mark. I truly hope they take these reviews to heart and review their menu and dining experience because I'd hate to see what's next for this historic Toronto landmark if it can't get one of its main revenue producers (the restaurant) to meet the needs and expectations of what they're advertising.

We all agreed AYCE sushi would've been a better Thanksgiving...

My family and I were celebrating my daughter's birthday and Easter on April 20th at The Old Mill like we have for years. I suffered an injury there because of their unsafe premises which they dismissively and callously shrug off and refuse to fix. They ruined both events.

The ceiling is low by the stairs going up right by the gift shop and there are no signs on that side to indicate that for customers. There are signs on the other side of the stairs coming down, but not going up. I am a tall man and hit my head on the ceiling, collapsed and hurt my neck. I reported it and Victor brought me an ice pack.

I later left a voice mail reported the incident to managemt and asked for compensation which I was entitled to for my injury and inconvenience, consisting of covering my meal, time missed from work and medical expenses. Someone named Nader, who claimed to be an operations manager called me back and started gas lighting me, accusing me of throwing away the ice pack, which is an outright lie, and trying to intimidate me by saying everything is on camera. I do not get intimidated and I am a very honest person. So I politely told him he was wrong and the the area where this took place had no safety sign. Besides that, we noticed nails sticking out of the wall, very unsafe as someone could get seriously hurt.

Nader was very dismissive and completely uncaring for my injury. He called me back a few days later and said his managers don't feel they owe any compensation. Dismissive, callous and cold-hearted people. Nader should work on his people skills as his rude tone will only hurt the company not help.

This was after we had spent nearly $1000 dollars as a family (~$85 per person) at the restaurant, as we had done for many years. I am also part of a cultural club in which we have brought hundreds of thousands of dollars to The Old Mill over the years. From now on my family and I will boycott this place and encourage everyone to also do so. The food there bland as well, you get a lot better quality food from Glen Erin Inn in Mississauga. We mainly kept going back for the memories but all of that has been ruined forever now.

To the management: at least put up signs to indicate low overhead and fix the nails as well so other people don't get hurt in the future. This is not too much to ask. We get that it is a heritage building but safety is key. Also, recommend Nader take some training to improve how he communicates with people. Had he handled the situation better, it would have made all the difference in the world. However, his and your actions have shown you don't care about or value your customers. Therefore, you have lost a lot of...

I gave them one star but, after decades of history with the Old Mill, it disappoints me to have to do it. The Old Mill of my memories is just that, a memory. Because of those memories, I've hesitated and struggled with the idea of writing this review. It's been since Easter but, the time has come.

Our extended family has had a tradition of celebrating Easter Sunday with an elegant brunch. After years of enjoying brunch at a golf club, I suggested we try The Old Mill this year. We called, many weeks ahead, to reserve a table. Including 3 seniors, two with mobility issues, we arrived early and dropped part of the group immediately in front of the restaurant entrance. After a short wait, we were told our reservation was in a private room at the front of the complex. With some difficulty, we managed to get everyone to that room, only to be told that room was for large parties and our group of seven didn't count so we were sent back to the restaurant. Seeing a potential issue developing, we sent a scout to the restaurant. You guessed it, he came back with the same story. Now, management was invited to help solve the problem. Yep, we were sent back to the restaurant! But, this time we requested wheelchair assistance. Needless to say, even our management representative had to pull rank to prevent being sent back up front. So far, not so good but, we did get a table. Sure, my chair was blocking an aisle but what's a few bumps and dirty looks during Easter Brunch at The Old Mill. Part way through brunch, didn't we get a phone call from the Old Mill to let us know that, because we didn't show up for our reservation, we were going to receive a charge on the credit card we used to make the reservation! After a very silly conversation, we were able to convince the caller that we were, in fact, in their establishment and would be paying full price for our meal and they agreed not to charge a no-show fee to the credit card. Later, our waitress, whom we rarely saw during our meal, arrived with our bill and explained that she was aware of our being inconvenienced and hope we had enjoyed our meal. I'm sorry but the bubble had burst. My memories forever clouded. It only served to assure me that the caller had double checked our story. The Old Mill just ain't what she used to be. That time had passed. Along with my desire to try again.

They may have disappointed me but my memories of long lunches and Jazz in the good old days will long endure.

Good bye...