Sage Restaurant — Restaurant in Hamilton

I generally hate writing scathing reviews - I believe it’s better to address issues that arise in house and give the business an opportunity to rectify it rather than damaging their reputation online. Tonight is an exception, where a simple mistake was perpetuated by unacceptable service, and multiple attempts made for reasonable resolution were turned down by the manager on duty.

We came out to celebrate a special night for my partner and her friend. We started the evening with some good drinks and food and everything was well until we were served some undercooked fish, which was translucent and stringy. When we politely let the staff know, the manager came back immediately and told us that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the fish. We asked again for it to be sent back and he made a comment about “well you’ve already eaten most of it”. We reiterated that we didn’t want a refund or a fresh meal, just for the same dish to be heated for a few more minutes. This was also turned down with a scoff, saying “as I already told you, we won’t do this” without a clear reason given.

We felt talked down to continuously and told that the fish, which we showed him couldn’t be cut through with a fork, was perfectly cooked and that we didn’t know what we were talking about. I tried to let him know that I had many years of hospitality experience and was able to recognise undercooked fish. At this point he scoffed and said “which restaurants?” “Never heard of them”. This is just one example of unprofessional behaviour he displayed when we were trying to have a reasonable conversation about a plate of fish we had paid $40 for.

After we realised this conversation wouldn’t go anywhere, we tried to tell him not to worry about it and tried to continue to enjoy our meal, but the manager carried on insisting that we were wrong, leading to us abruptly paying the bill and leaving without finishing our meals.

As a restaurant owner, this sort of attitude from the front of house is appalling and drives away loyal customers. I would like to give senior management an opportunity to rectify this - feel free to...

Pretty disappointed after tonight's spontaneous visit. The restaurant was almost empty, yet we spent a good few minutes waiting for the hostess to finish their chat with the guests leaving. We came for the bar only and popped in 30 minutes before closing. The first thing we were told was that we could only have one drink each. 🤨 Umm, well, okay. Then we realised there were just too few on tap options and unfortunately no stouts or dark beers at all. Only in a can. Clearly, I'm not coming to a restaurant for a beer in a can. Then, i mentioned we came back because I tried the best stouts here. Only to be told that “they don't sell well and only occupy space”. Wow. Okay. So rather than just hearing standard oh sorry would you like something else (offer me a coffee based cocktail?), I hear that something I love was just occupying space. Right. And when I shared WHEN was the last time I came there (I thought eaither early this year or late last year) I got an argument from the hostess that clearly that wasn't this year and in fact the only time they had any stout was when they first opened. Well, that's clearly not true. But anyways, I didn't need this argument from a hostess in first instance. All my previous visits were amazing - I was remembered and taken care of. This time, i didn't feel welcomed at all. My partner didn't either. I guess they just wanted to clear the place and go home. I understand the restaurants don't have to have everything to meet everyones preference. And this review is not about that. It is about service and attitude. As much as I loved the place and team since they were the Craft, I don't feel like coming back. I guess my taste is not good enough for the place. As “it's not selling and just...

Although not for the money we spent, I thought it was an okay experience.

The noise level of the restaurant prevented us from fully understanding our waitress when she was explaining the options, so we went with the one that was suggested which is “eat wisely”.

One of the dishes sashimi and broccoli was my favorite since it had the greatest flavor than the rest of our meals. Presentation of the food was lovely.

I chose this restaurant for my birthday meal primarily because I love oysters, however they ran out of oysters.

When I saw the final cost, it was higher than what I had calculated, I realized that the dessert was separate. I mistakenly thought that the dessert was included in the Eat Wisely menu, because the waiter approached us with a trolley filled with sweets and asked us which dessert we would like. Nevertheless, the cashier was gracious enough to deduct one dessert from the total, so it was all right. But I wouldn't have accepted the dessert if I had known that it’s an extra $12 which is not worth it in my opinion.

The customer service was excellent. I simply wouldn't return here because it’s not...