smith

came here on victoria day with my friend. we were looking to get some steak for lunch.

i ordered the steak & eggs ($22) from the brunch menu, which contained a 6 oz top sirloin, two eggs of any style (i got sunny side up), hash browns, grilled tomato and toast. my friend ordered the 6 oz. ny steak & frites ($21). now on the website, it shows that it comes with garlic toast, house cut fires and pickled beans, but all she got was the steak and fries. neither of us enjoyed the steak. she ordered hers medium, but it turned out more like medium well. i ordered mine medium rare, but it was closer to a medium. neither of our steaks were seasoned so it was super bland and it was also quite tough to chew.

my friend also ordered the green tea & cardamom crime brûlée with ginger snap cookie ($8). according to her, the creme brûlée was cold, with the only warm/hot part being the top where the sugar was. the ginger snap cookie was "rock hard" and she only ended up taking just one bite of it.

overall, we didn't enjoy our food as much as we had wanted too, but i would like to give them another try. maybe try a different brunch item or lunch/dinner entree. as for steak, i could probably get some better elsewhere.

made reservations for sunday brunch yesterday. food and service pale in comparison to setting. dining rooms are very spacious, in fact it was way bigger than we had imagined. it is divided into three dining areas, one right by the bar, another situated close by with smaller tables and dimmer lighting, and finally a bright open space with floor to ceiling windows which open up to the patio.it would make a great location for a private party. however, the food and more so the service was a let down.

we were seated right away as we had a reservation, but we waited quite a long time for our waitress to come and introduce herself and speak to us about the menu. the coffee drinkers at the table were never offered cream and it was a long wait in between drink refills. they were never rude just inattentive. it was the kind of service you would expect from bar/pub staff rather than a higher scale eatery inside a hotel.
the wait for food was even longer, which shocked us as most of the orders were eggs. what was worse, and one of my personal pet peeves, the starters we ordered came out after the mains. so not only were we hungry from waiting, but the table was over crowded. the waitress apologized for the wait at least, which led us to believe some kind of mix up happened. i fully understand that these things occur all the time but,along with the slow service we continued to get, and having to ask for things multiple times it just seemed that the wait staff was struggling to manage the large space they had.

now, the food; on paper their (brunch/lunch) menu sounded great but once eaten it was very mixed reviews.
i myself had the cheese scone with apple, and the chicken club wrap with fries. the wrap was actually delicious. good balance and not at all dry. the fries were fine. if i was to return i would get it again. the scone on the other hand was extremely dry, even for a pastry that already has a dry texture to begin with. it also had something chunky in it that i couldn't discern but it was hard and very unappealing. it was served with sliced apples and a mess pile of sour cream which i found odd. my plate was also garnished with a grapefruit which was more rind than fruit that it was inedible.

a friend and i also shared the pounded cheese. on setting it down the presentation was terrible. it looked like someone literally threw a pile of greasy bread on a plate. underneath was found a good sized portion of cheese, but our plate didn't have the garlic chips.the cheese itself  was delicious but the bread was all wrong. very soggy. it was basically sandwich bread that was dipped in butter. friend had a toasted multigrain croissant that was actually crisp and was a better match texturally.

two orders of the smith eggs at the table, both people saying it was underwhelming. the pulled pork looked very dry and lacked sauce. the poached eggs which were ordered soft were medium and not runny at all. they also said the bread, which was the same sourdough from the cheese starter, was too flimsy to go with the rest of the plate.

three orders of the smithwich at the table, two out of three liked it. it was very simple. one friend actually said she would have been just as satisfied with a mcmuffin.

overall the breakfast food was just a pass. three out of six people said they would have their meal again. it's a shame that this beautiful setting is wasted on sub par food and service.
would i give it a second chance? yes, though not any time soon. maybe the service was a one off. but i would skip breakfast and try dinner.

under staffed. the night was off to a great start, alexis has served us before she is extremely personable, always smiling and makes great menu selections. unfortunately our experience this time was a little disappointing. i am an out of town guest who frequents the hotel regularly and last night in the lounge it seemed very under staffed. our waiter was no where to be found when myself or my colleague wanted another drink, we finally went up to the bar to order. same thing happened when we were ready for the bill. over heard a few other guests being quite unhappy with the lack of service. the two gentleman working definitely could have used another server last night.
still love the food and the atmosphere, i will be back!

very nice evening with the parents. headed to smith with my brother and parents and was delighted by the interesting atmosphere and atypical offerings. we were seated in a spacious room near the window, but a large (loud) conference was in town so we opted for a quieter section near the lounge area sofas. we all sampled different items on the cocktail menu, as well as beer flights and were thoroughly pleased (saffron sour was my choice, not too sweet and interesting flavour pairings). shared 3 small plates: the tomato confit (a kind of deconstructed, snackable caprese salad, pounded cheese on sourdough (most sharable), and the pork belly with sweet potato and chill oil (gorgeously plated and tender but not too shareable, single standing strip). my main was the smith burger piled high on a soft potato bun with plenty of bacon and fried egg. handful and mouthful, it took some precarious eating but i was defeated at a half burger (but excited for next-day lunch). of course, only because i saved room for dessert, a rhubarb and sweet cream parfait with delicate little pistachio lace cookies. light, summery, perfectly tart and the few cookies that garnished were just right for the serving size (though i could eat them all day long!). i can't wait to go back and explore the menu some more!

saturday was my first try at smith, for dinner.  it was great!  there were five of us celebrating birthdays, so it was a special occasion.  the service was excellent:  attentive and helpful.  the food was delicious, and artfully presented, which definitely made the evening feel special.

we had various items from the kale salad--mine, and it was fabulous!--to pan fried pickerel, beast of the day, and catch of the day.  everyone was thrilled by their meals.  portions were just right, and everything was done to perfection.

we couldn't resist having dessert, so we ordered a variety and five spoons!  :-)   the creme brulee was wonderfully light; a tasty end to a great dinner.   the baked meringue looked like a pavlova.  it was impressively tall and colourful with a selection of fresh fruit.  mmm!   the wrong dessert was brought twice.  since it was the end of the evening, we chose to let the second one go.  we received the sticky toffee and date pudding in lieu of the chocolate and hazelnut torte.  the pudding was delicious, but some of us found the vanilla bean ice cream to have an unusual taste that we weren't fussy on. 

all in all, smith was a wonderful experience.  i would recommend it, and will definitely go back.

stopped for a wonderful dinner on the patio. quiet, clean and welll staffed. had a great lbj 1919 beer. the whiskey smoked olives are my new favourite appetizer. i have never had them before, awesome. followed up with the smith burger and arctic char. both are must haves from now on. finally the fries...truffle oil and parmesan cheese golden fries. why these aren't a manitoba staple is beyond me. i had a great dinner on a beautiful patio while watching the goings on at the forks. i'll be back.

wonderful cocktails, love the creativity. amazing food. i always go for the specials so yummy. they also do a terrific steak tartar and charcuterie board

although our meal was very good it was ridiculously overpriced..my son had a hamburger ($25.00) his fiance myself and his father had the 10 oz. (questionable think it was smaller) strip loin each $35. we had one full sized cesar salad though very good again over priced ($12) we had 4 sides (potatoes, au gratin veggies mushrooms and mac and cheese in small cast iron pans..($40) my son and husband had a beer and i had pop...ordered the sticky toffee pudding for dessert to share and it was tiny ($9) our bill was over $250.00 seemed pretty steep for what we had. we have been there twice before and had bigger meals for less money and there are thing missing from the menu that were fantastic and no longer available...

the restaurant is nice, and the service was good. however, the food was way too salty and way too overpriced for what you get. we probably won’t go back.

went to smith for a birthday dinner with 12 other people. the food, service, and atmosphere were amazing. please try the dill popcorn, you definitely won't regret it. i got the steak and my boyfriend got the rack of lamb. both were delicious! i little more expensive than most places but it was great to try this restaurant.

i dined here for the first time on friday evening. it was a friends birthday and there were six of us. the dining room was full and the place had a great atmosphere. i ordered the catch of the day which was a pan fried trout served on a beet risotto. i also shared a bottle of wine. my meal was delicious, very nice presentation. our whole party said to have enjoyed the food. some ordered the gnocchi, cauliflower bites, mac and cheese, among others. everything looked great. it is a higher priced dining experience, so unfortunately cannot be somewhere i venture too often, but for a fancy night out, smith is a nice choice. they offered complimentary parking at the hotel. there was a sign in sheet at the hotel reception area to confirm your vehicle. the washrooms were very best and tidy. glad to have tried this restaurant.

went in a group of six the other night. decorations and atmosphere was the reason we chose this place plus the food seems decent.
i ordered oysters, half rack lamb and share a side of fries with my friend. they were all fine, not really what i had in mind but sure looks good?
as we were ordering, most of us chose not to orders sides since none of us really eat that much. as a result it was the right choose cuz we all barely finished our food.
but the server kept on suggesting us to order 3 sides. keep coming back to ask us to order more food... even tho we said no every single time she came by, she still manage to keep coming...
the first time she suggested was fine, if that's what most do, doesn't hurt to let us know. second time, as a confirmation to our decision, sure thing. but asking us again before and after the bread and meal...

anyway, food was ok. priced more than it's worth. severs never give up.

about thirteen of us went to smith last night for the first stop of our friends bachelorette party. we were seated in the private room which was very cozy for our group. our server, who happened to be the manager, did a great job attending to all of our needs throughout the night. some of my favourite dishes that we tried were the pounded cheese, the chips with onion dip, hummus, and beets. everyone really enjoyed their meals. and the creme brûlée was very tasty! i can't leave out the cocktails though. i ordered the piña colada and the grapefruit margarita, both were very delicious! i look forward to returning to smith again.

had the meatball appetizer + new york steak w/ garlic mashed - great ambiance, very good food, appetizer was the star of the meal, service not great, server forgot wine order, brought after being reminded at nearly the conclusion of our meal. none the less, great food, great atmosphere, will return.

i was really surprised, the wine menu was fantastic, snack food reasonably priced, great ambiance. service could use fine tuning. our server was absent a lot of the night, she rarely came by to take orders, even near the end of the night when there were less customers there. had to go to the bar to get a copy of the bill. also, even though they refused to take a reservation for us in the lounge, and a group of 12 of us had to squeeze around a table for 6 until another table finished, they still applied a large group automatic gratuity. upon reviewing the bill later, i noticed we were still charged for a wine i sent back that i disliked.