The Humber Room — Restaurant in Toronto

Went today with my friends who live on res. Usually when visiting we have the cafeteria food which most who have had it know it's not very good, poorly prepared and lack's variety. However our experience here made the cafeteria look like a 5 star restaurant. I ordered the pasta and it was so dry that I took one bite and couldn't eat anymore. I understand these are students and that they are still learning but it is not that hard to make pasta, I cannot understand how they managed to make it that dry in the first place unless the noodles were pre-cooked and left sitting out. A quality check was not done at our table and our waiter would just leave and not return, a waitress from a different section seemed to notice that we were being neglected and she kindly tended to us instead. On top of this when we were finally asked if we wanted the bill I politely said that I did not want to be rude but I was not happy with my order and wanted to send it back (you could clearly see I had not eaten any of it except the singular noodles we had plucked out to taste test, which my friends agreed it was ridiculously dry) our waiter left and then came back and asked if we needed the bill again and didn't mention the pasta so I mentioned it once more and he left again and never came back. Then a different waiter came and asked if we needed anything and I mentioned the pasta again and he left as well (might I add that I rarely send my order back because I feel guilty if I do but this was so bad I could not even eat any of it and my friends kindly shared their food with me instead so I didn't think I deserved to pay for that as a broke student myself). Finally the kind waitress who had been the only one filling our water all evening came and asked if we needed anything so I mentioned the pasta once more for the fourth time and finally she brought a manager over so I explained my issue to the manager and she seemed quite angry that I was not happy with my dish and spoke to me in a very condescending manner and then very rudely agreed to take the item off my bill. Overall it's great if you enjoy soggy pizza and bone dry pasta as well as rude managers and poor...

Dearest Friends and Strangers Alike,

Today, I wish to take you on journey, not, however, of culinary excellence. As a well rounded traveler and a keen plate, eye for quality and attention; I present to you a whimsical horror story.

As the song goes, from a distance the world looks blue and green. The very same can be said for the Humber Room. From the exterior of the restaurant, it looks well maintained and like a nice place to go. Upon descending the stairs, one is presented with a sea of young wait staff. They are all happy and very nice people. I should at this time note, they are students. Happy learning in the most hands on way as possible. So their nervousness is to be expected and met with nothing, but kindness and patience.

Once seated, it was about a ten minute until our waitress introduced herself and took our beverage orders. About 10 minutes later, when the drinks arrived; the lack of menus was noted and brought over in five minute span. Upon reviewing the menu, it truly is very in line with theme of the place, however, the portion sizes aren't anything to fill you up with.

There were a few mishaps, chicken arriving as cold as the very floor wherein the poor poultry lost it's life. The dish had to be returned a number of times to get the correct order and temperature, however, the plate was free. Another mishap was simply getting the bill, it was about an hour wait for our bill to arrive. Glass after glass of water refilled, the table lay empty and we were quite ready to depart.

Overall, the student-staff are wonderful and friendly. They will truly do well in the future with more practice. I only ask that they try and have more confidence in themselves, because they did a good job in a tough profession. I would rate this place a two star location and suggest only going once to experience it for yourself. For students of humber; it's far better...

Food was excellent. Great way to showcase the Chef de Cuisine program and students’ cooking skills. Service was poor. Service teacher does not train them nor organize the floor and service in a cogent way for the students to take food orders and serve drinks in a coherent manner. There are many student servers on the dining floor just waiting and watching.

I ordered a steak medium rare and the foreign student server didn’t know what I was talking about. The same happened to the next table in our group and the chef was called out to talk to the patrons just because their server did not understand medium rare. I don’t even know if mine was medium rare. When it was served to me I was told it was medium and the chef said it was my brother who only got a medium rare.

I can hardly believe that these students are paying for their servers’ diploma. There should be one person serving water to know who was served and get it all done. It was 3 different people serving water at different times to 3 different individuals at my table. It wasn’t till much later that they decided to give us a karafe. Surely one can teach better than that, especially at the foreigners’ rate. The one giving instructions was doing so, loudly. It wouldn’t matter as much if the service was good but it wasn’t. You could tell that the good intentions were there but the training and proper instruction wasn’t.

They should also be taught how to respond politely. My nephew was offered a cocktail or soft drink, so he asked if there was an extra charge for the cocktails because it wasn’t indicated on the menu. The server said “Of course, there’s a charge”. Rude! And she didn’t even know it. I don’t know how they can offer a diploma unless marking is based on theory and not practical experience which is not...