Writers Room Bar — Restaurant in Toronto

TLDR: Service was slow, food was alright, not worth the price (if you do go, get the truffle fries), the atmosphere is nice, and there's a good view from the balcony. If you really want to try it out, then do so, otherwise, go somewhere else if you want good food and drinks. (I go into everything we got in the review below [Truffle Fries, Koji Aged Steak, Korean Fried Chicken, Age of Mass Culture, Asahi Super Dry])

So, I went with my girlfriend for our 2-year anniversary. It was pretty alright.

The service was honestly pretty slow. We sat down at around 9:00, after our server, Dan initially came over and greeted us, we said we could use a couple of minutes. If I remember right, he came back around maybe 20 minutes later. The drinks came first at around 9:30. The appetizer (Truffle Fries (honestly the best thing I had there)) came at around 9:45. Our mains arrived at around 10:05. I'm not sure about you, but that seems kind of slow to me.

The food was alright too. We got: Truffle Fries, Koji Aged Steak, Korean Fried Chicken, Age of Mass Culture, Asahi Super Dry

Truffle fries were honestly my favourite thing there. The fries were crispy, there was a good amount of grated truffle and parmesan on the top, and it was well coated with truffle oil, not to mention the aioli was great as well.

Koji Aged Steak was honestly underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but for 72 dollars, I expected more. The taste of the steak was okay, I guess you could get some of the dry-aged taste. The juice from the steak was just kind of floating around the plate, and there was a lot of the juice to the point that I was convinced that after they cooked it and pre-cut it for you (oh yeah they pre-cut it for you, which can be either good or bad depending on the person), they just pour the remaining fluids from the pan onto the steak on the plate.

It also came with crushed potatoes which are just pan-fried crushed baby potatoes with some sauce over them. Honestly, I liked that more than I liked the steak.

My girlfriend's Korean Fried Chicken Lettuce Wraps is a DIY dish, where they give you Fried Chicken, Lettuce, 2 sauces and carrot kimchi all separately. I don't even think you could call it Korean fried chicken, it's just fried chicken with Korean condiments on the side. It's a very hands-on process, which would be nice, especially for kids, and honestly, I thought it was pretty interesting for the first couple minutes, but while eating, it was honestly just kind of a hassle.

The "Age of Mass Culture" cocktail, our server, Dan, mentioned was a good combination with the fries due to the cocktail being very dry to compliment the oil and grease you get from the fries. When he said dry, he meant it was very dry. Like drinking straight oil. I didn't have much of it, but in my opinion, I'd get something else

The Asahi Super Dry is what you'd expect, just a beer, but for 12 dollars for the amount you're getting, you're better off drinking before or drinking after and getting canned beer from LCBO

The atmosphere was pretty nice, it was dim, some nice decor on the walls, and the candles were real candles which was a pleasant surprise. The tables if you went with less than 3 people were tiny, to the point where having 2 plates, 2 glasses for water and your actual drinks left the table so filled that I was afraid of something falling off the sides.

Honestly, all in all, it's not a bad place, but if you want good food, find...

Disappointing Experience and Unprofessional Service SERVER: Michael, Manger: Evan

First of all who would bring hibiki21 when i ask to make highball with hibiki 🤣 no joke.

We recently visited this establishment for a date night, and our experience was deeply disappointing due to a lack of transparency and poor customer service.

We initially ordered a Hibiki highball ($42), but the server unexpectedly brought Hibiki 21 instead. When we asked about the price, the server said, “Let me find out and come back.” Not wanting to waste time, we simply said, “Just bring it,” assuming the cost would be in the range of $150–$200 for 2 oz.

When we received the bill, we were shocked to see that 2 oz of Hibiki 21 was priced at $610. At no point were we clearly informed of this price beforehand. When we raised our concerns, the server and management unfairly blamed us, claiming we had “denied” hearing the price which was completely untrue. The server never provided a price, and we made our decision based on the assumption of reasonable pricing for such a drink.

A guy manager said something like its Hibiki 21, you know it’s a premium bottle, and you ordered it without checking the price. so it’s your fault lol im like Seriously? My point is, I wanted it as a highball. What kind of clueless server brings out a premium bottle when the customer clearly asks for it to be mixed with soda? Such an unprofessional and uninformed attitude, blaming the customer instead of taking responsibility. Ridiculous 😆

To make matters worse, the manager responded rudely and even banned us from returning instead of addressing the issue professionally. This level of unprofessionalism is unacceptable, especially in a hospitality setting.

Transparency in pricing and respectful communication are basic expectations for any restaurant or bar. Unfortunately, this establishment failed on both counts, leaving us with an expensive bill and a terrible experience.

This was not my first time visiting this establishment, but after this experience, it will certainly be my last. I am shocked by the lack of professionalism and the poor service, especially considering it operates under the prestigious Park Hyatt name.

Both the server and the manager need proper training on how to treat customers and provide accurate...

This used to be one of my favourite places in the city before the renovation. It still has the same great view but they haven't changed for the better based on first impressions. Having just left dinner at another restaurant in the area I really only went for cocktails, but I'll be back again to try more of the food.

The great bar mix they used to have has been swapped out by some kind of curried seasoned dried chickpeas.

The popcorn bonbons with the only description of the contents being salted caramel is an embarrassment to even be on any restaurant menu, nevermind on one in a hotel of this caliber. It was literally 1-2 tiny little chocolates which tasted pretty good on a miniature plate surrounded buy 15-20 pieces of popcorn which essentially tasted like that horrible bland, unbuttered, low-cal microwave popcorn with barely any salt. Standing in line for the elevator when leaving there was a group in front of us making the exact same commentary to a staff member when asked how everything was. To us, as well as to them, there was some kind of expectation of being an elevated sweet & salty take on a caramel corn.

As far as drinks: Red Sky is atrocious and undrinkable The Right Thing To Do was actually very good, smokey, very well-balanced and I would recommend it The Missing Piece was okay but is essentially a subpar Negroni. I'm not even sure how this failed to impress based on the high quality ingredients, but I would have preferred a standard Negroni A Good Day was fairly straightforward, a very good drink overall and I would order it again

My initial impression is they are trying too hard to reinvent and they should either back it up to more traditional cocktails that are consistently good across the board or spend more time developing an innovative cocktail list that balances creativity with a good flavour profile.

I'll find out what the actual food menu is like at a later day and try a couple more cocktails, but come on, if you don't feel like doing something more creative then just put a single very high quality chocolate truffle on a plate and call it a day for $9. Save the microwave Orville Rendenbacher Light for the grocery...