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- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Music:
- Juke Box
- Best Nights:
- Fri, Thu, Sat
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Loud
- Good For Dancing:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
33 reviews for Watermark Irish Pub
Review Highlights
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"...a killer homemade sweet potato fries served with tasty..." In 3 reviews -
"All of the other beers on tap were served in reasonable..." In 3 reviews -
"Wonderful for brunch and great views of the waterfront." In 6 reviews
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32 reviews in English
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Review from Nilofer A.
Toronto, ON
8/27/2011
This place was so unmemorable that I didn't even remember the name until I stumbled upon some pictures while searching for good eats at the Harbourfront.
I went there on a blind date - not wanting to seem like a picky eater, I quickly settled on Watermark after a walk along the harbour figuring that you can't go wrong with pub food. Ultimately, this was true - I can't complain about the food but it was definitely nothing to write home about either.
It was a Sunday night in early July so there was quite a large crowd clamouring for a seat on the patio. We decided to wait at the bar which was so crowded that it was almost impossible to find a space to order a drink. My date didn't have any cash on him either at which point I quietly expressed that I'm an indoors kind of gal so sitting inside was just fine by me. We were seated almost immediately. I wasn't too thrilled though - the tables are arranged in a very haphazard way and the space was quite dark. It definitely looked like there were some not-so-clean patches on the seats and floor. Again, not wanting to seem picky and demanding, I put aside my mildly-OCD tendencies and had a seat.
We got the calamari to start (he chose, I'm not really one for calamari at a pub) and both got the buffalo chicken tenders with blue cheese dip and Yukon potato fries. The calamari came out fast enough and was a huge portion - great for sharing. Then began the waiting portion of the meal - good thing we were able to carry on a conversation easily as we waited and waited .. and waited some more. My date politely asked the waiter when we could expect our food. It came out shortly after. It was fine. Nothing wrong with it - satisfactory chicken fingers, satisfactory portion, good dip.
All in all, an average pub with slightly-above-average prices due to location. -
Review from Lisa H.
Toronto, ON
5/21/2012
It's my 2nd time at this restaurant, both times for breakfast / brunch and both times I experienced the same problem with slow and rude customer service. Based on the reviews I see here, it doesn't look like it was a case of bad luck for me. Last year, when we came, the waitress was slow in seating us, bringing out our beverages, taking our orders and serving our orders. She actually had the decency to slam the water glasses on the table. There was next to no one on the patio and yet, we were ignored while all the waitresses socialized with each other at the bar. Asked to speak to the manager and he didn't care too much about the situation.
Came back here again this year because we were staying at the Radisson Admiral and it was one of the closest places to grab breakfast. Once again, there were only a handful of occupied tables on the patio. Our waitress came us 2 pitchers of water immediately but did not return with cups until 15 minutes later. She took drink orders one at a time and did not return with them until 5 minutes later. They were on a reduced menu and offered only 3 items for breakfast - 1 of which were belgian waffles. We ordered the belgian waffles and then were told that they had run out. Most of us ordered the same dish (bacon, sausages, eggs) given the limited choices. Our food came about 1 hour later!!! I can understand 1 hour if I was asking for a more creative and extravagant dish. However, 1 hour to make eggs, sausages and toast is ridiculous. Not only, we saw guests who arrived after us order, eat and leave before everyone at our table had their meals! Of the 2 hours spent at the restaurant, I'm confident in saying that I spent 1 hour looking at the bar waiting to be acknowledged by the waitstaff.
Extremely frustrated, I asked to speak to the manager and at least he seemed to care enough to offer us a discount on our bill in exchange for the "inconvenience". To be honest, I don't care for the discount because my time is worth more than the couple of dollars that he took off the bill - I just wanted to make sure that he received feedback that the level of customer service or lack thereof was utterly disgusting. In a profession where 18% gratuity is becoming the standard, I expect better. The average person who works has performance reviews and only receive bonus and raises if their performance meets or exceeds expectations so why should waiters and waitresses be any different? -
Review from Susan G.
4/9/2012
Ugh. Not so good.
I wasn't expecting much from this place - it seems like a pretty typical Irish style pub with girls in kilts. Alas, even with my low expectations I ended up disappointed.
I went on a Sunday - we had to wait for a table as it had started to rain so the patio was being moved inside. We were also told that it would be 45 minutes after ordering for food, but since I was warned, not a big deal.
We were seated after about 10 minutes, and ordered drinks and food, and to my surprise the food was out in about 10 minutes! I am always suspicious of too fast food, and I kind of wonder how there were able to turn around my 45 minute anticipated wait to just 10 minutes... but hey, we had food.
I had ordered the lobster club with sweet potato fries. When the food came, I was pretty disappointed with the portion - if I'm going to pay $2 extra for my sweet potato fries, I generally expect there to be more than 15 of them. It looked like someone had eaten half of my fries! The second disappointment - my sandwich was supposed to have pancetta, and didn't. I would have complained but a) I'm really awkward and b) the server didn't really come around. The sandwich also kind of sucked in general - very saucy lobster salad with additional mayo, and one slice of lettuce. Bleh.
My date had the sense to order just a salad, which was good.
There are way too many options by the waterfront for me to bother with this place again - unless maybe they get an all-new menu and kitchen staff! -
Review from Gord M.
East York, ON
3/19/2012
It's all about the patio, but barely ... *1.5 stars.
If you decide to visit Watermark, before you leave, ask them to post a picture of you at the entrance with a sign reading, "Please punch me in the face if you see me again." I wish I had.
Do not go for the food.
Do not go for the service.
Prepare to overpay.
The breeze off the lake was nice. -
Review from Ming W.
Harbourfront, Toronto, ON
3/4/2012 1 Check-in Here
We are party for 4, was there on Saturday late afternoon to mid evening and the place are pretty death, cause is winter... Well the service was fine but the food is big disaster. We order Shepperd Pie, Fried Calamari and Fried Shortribs. The Shepperd Pie end up looks like a Sheep diarrhea on a left over mashed potato from a week ago, Fried Calamari like a already chew bubble gums boiled in a cornmeal and the Shortribs like left over bone from my dog. Luckily the drinks come out as it should be. I suggest they should closed down the kitchen and do rehiring for the new culinary team that can cook not a Joker! 2 star for the drinks and service.
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Review from Laura C.
Toronto, ON
6/7/2011 2 photos
Came here for dinner on a Monday night, beautiful day outside. No issues with service tonight, maybe because we were on the patio but I actually thought the service was great!
But I can see where the complaints are coming from. Inside, the pub is really big with nooks and hideaways that depending on where you are sitting it might be hard to see. That's still no excuse for your food coming slow, I get that.
We ordered and within about 10 mins our food came. We were surprised, and it was incredibly fast. She had just gone into get our drinks, and food was ready already.
We had the Cottage Pie - beef stew pie with cheddar mashed potatoes on top. It was hearty and very comforting. Came with a salad. I'm wondering if we could have changed it to fries.
She did come by every few times to ask if everything was okay, and I got a new water pretty timely.
Overall for service I think they did a good job. They were friendly and helpful.
These poor girls in short kilts were freezing their asses off on the patio as sunset and around 9:30 I noticed the men came out and became our servers.
For dessert we had the cheesecake which was really decadent and a great $6. -
Review from Rich U.
11/24/2010
They should call this place "Irish Hooters." I think some do.
Watermark has a very good draft selection in a very good location right on the waterfront. The food is adequate, though certainly not spectacular.
Interesting eclectic setting mix of library meets sports bar meets restaurant meets soft porn. Works for me. -
Review from Atif K.
Toronto, ON
3/12/2011
Pretty good pub. I am a downtowner myself, so I would say I have been here quasi regularly.
Good atmosphere. Great location for me. I like it.
Best are Halibut fish and chips, and Mississippi Flyer.
Summers are nice here, you do get Harbourfront, and some water. Yes, there is a large boat docked out front, but you are not exactly in the Carribean, this is LAKE ONTARIO dammit!!!
Outside seating in the summer can be difficult, because this is when all the 905'ers come in. Service can be either fantastic, or every 5th time I would say, really slow. Massive operation, so, kinda happens sometimes the place is disorganized.
Phil behind the bar is great.
Enjoy. -
Review from Miriam W.
9/16/2009
Recipe for Success at Watermark Irish Pub
INGREDIENTS
1 pint Alexander Keith's Premium White (more as needed)
15 medium spicy chicken wings (.50 on Monday nights)
1 table in the sun to combat deficiency of vitamin D
DIRECTIONS
1. Combine the above with a witty companion who will eat at least half of said wings.
2. Ensure that said companion will not take issue with the somewhat messy affair that is eating chicken wings as the licking of one's fingers will ultimately be necessary.
NOTES
Minimum wing order is 10 and increases in increments of 5 thereafter. -
Review from Adam P.
Toronto, ON
7/19/2009
I have had a bit of a different experience than what other reviewers wrote. I have only been there once (Canada Day in fact) and the place was rammed, both inside and out. We had a male waiter, and for how busy it was, I actually thought the service was really good.
One reviewer commented that the Hoegaarden has a huge glass. I totally agree with this, but don't think you are getting more beer than other pints, because they glass it is served in is really thick, so although it looks big, the volume inside the glass is like everything else.
The reason why I only voted it 2 stars is for 2 reasons. I am trying to leave the location factor out of this review because if you get a table on the waterfront, its a very nice atmosphere, but any restaurant on the waterfront would have this going for it
Although our party of 4 was primarily there for drinks, a plate of nachos and a fish and chips were ordered. The nachos were a good size, but there were so many cracked nacho chips, I'm sure we got the end of the bag. As for the fish and chips, they were just not good. Why? Because they were dripping with so much oil you may have been drinking it (probably a tad exaggerated).
For a pub I find this place more expensive than it should be, but I guess they charge what they do because of their location. -
Review from Kevin F.
Toronto, ON
9/15/2009
I'm giving Watermark 2 stars rather than 1 for the location and design. This pub has a nice atmosphere and design; I love the garage door windows. If you get a seat outside during the summer you'll have a great view of the waterfront. However, if you chose to dine at Watermark you'll have loads of time to admire the design and waterfront while waiting for service.
I went with a party of 8 to have brunch at the pub and we waited nearly an hour for food! I hate when staff at a restaurant use the excuse that a big party means longer wait for food (which they did). I took a Chef Training course and it's not that difficult to get 8 meals out at the same time if you have a well managed kitchen. It's especially not difficult when it's the exact same meal. We all ordered the Irish Breakfast; eggs, bacon and toast can be made in 10 minutes so an hour wait is just ridiculous.
As for the meal itself it was pretty standard. The menu stated 3 eggs we're used in the breakfast but the actual portion couldn't have been more than 1 egg. The bacon was stuck together and cooked unevenly, as a result of throwing bacon that was frozen together right onto the grill. It seems petty to complain about eggs and bacon but that's a pretty standard breakfast dish everyone learns to cook at one point in their life. You crack an egg in a hot pan, wait a couple minutes and voilà! Breakfast.
Our waitress wasn't very apologetic and other reviews mention slow service so it must be a given with this restaurant. It's a nice pub visually so hopefully it gets taken over by new management. -
Review from Raz A.
Toronto, ON
9/21/2010
I came here for lunch , my friend and I waited to be seated but were waiting for like 10 min before we were escorted to our table . The view is nice except there is a big boat docked there blocking the view so not much of a view I guess , the Server was ok brought us our beers on time we ordered the lobster club sandwiches which was very good he asked us if we wanted it a salad with it instead of fries so my friend asked for the salad which according to her was good but then when we got the check he charged us $2 for it although he didn't mention that in the beginning . Also when he brought the food there weren't any utensils so we had to wait like 5 min for him
Bring some . The place looks very sloppy and unorganized I would go there again for a beer or so but if ur looking for an experience then this is not the place for you . -
Review from Carrielaura p.
6/23/2009
As the other poster said, Watermark has a great location. I couldn't help but feel that I was in a faux Irish version of Hooters though, given the short skirts, knee-high stockings, and very low cut shirts. This was all fine by me, but it seemed like all the servers were slim women who could pull off the short skirt look. Oh well. If it wants to be a Hooters, that should be more apparent from the start.
The food was fine but I agree with the other poster that the service was pretty horrible. After we were seated, we waited for quite some time to be noticed. Other tables were sat around us and got served. A woman who sat down next to us, a half an hour after us, said she had to be done by 7 pm, and of course she was served before us as well. If I knew you had to ask for efficient service, that would have been helpful. I mistakenly just expected it.
I had a salmon tandoori salad. The salmon was perfectly cooked, but the salad could have used some variety; it was mostly romaine lettuce and a lemon slice. Partner ate pasties which he said were good. He said the mashed potatoes tasted like his grandmother's, so I guess that is a good sign. -
Review from Gavin P.
Toronto, ON
7/2/2011
We met up with a group a of people who were having drinks on the patio last night. Our server was nice and was helpful. When I paid my bill, she explained that gratuity was included- which was a good thing because I paid $28 for a single pitcher of beer. She told me that Igor would be our new server because her shift was done.
When Igor came to our table, I still had a full pint and he told us we had 7 minutes to finish up. When he came back a couple minutes later, he tried to grab the pint out of my hand. I asked him to let go, as he tried to wrestle it from me. He insisted that I let go, and I insisted that he unhand me. I told him if he has an issue he should inform security and to keep his hands off of me. After quite a struggle, he let me go and I gave him the beer. Another employee apologized, but you probably won't see me at this establishment again. -
Review from Patricia M.
Edmonton, AB
6/16/2010
Location! Location! Location! Tourist Trap!
This place thrives and still exists because of it's location to the harbor. There is really nothing to say about this place. Take the most average service, combine it with pre-frozen dishes, and add a dash of predictability and you have Watermark: the most generic forgettable pub/restaurant. -
Review from Teena D.
7/7/2010
My husband and I were at the Watermark Saturday evening, July 3, for supper about 7ish.
When we got there, the restaurant was packed but we were seated right away.
It took a while for our server to take our order (though she was nice and apologized for the wait). No problem.
I ordered the curried chicken with no chutney. It arrived with chutney. The server saw me picking it out and offered to get me another one. But it had taken a half hour to get it and I couldn't wait another half hour. Then I discovered that though the curry was tasty, it was cold. I mentioned it to our server so she'd know. This time she said she'd let the manager know.
My husband ordered the Mississippi Flyer sandwich with just a bit of medium sauce. It arrived loaded with hot sauce.
There were two guys sitting next to us. One had ordered a lobster sandwich and received a chicken club sandwich. Huh?! Like us, he didn't want to wait another half hour for a new meal so ate it.
I sent an email to the manager that night and got an automated response that I would hear back within 48 hours. Four days later I received an email from him apologizing and inviting us back for a meal.
July 26 update - Today is my birthday and wedding anniversary. I send an email to the manager last Monday saying we'd like to take him up on his offer of a meal today. I told him it was a special day for me. I didn't hear back from him. We stopped in this afternoon on the chance that he was there. We waited at the hostess station for at least five minutes. Servers were walking by looking at us but no one stopped to help us (it wasn't that busy). Tired of being ignored, we left without anyone acknowledging us. I'll NEVER be back. The lack of customer service is appalling.
July 28 update: I had written to the manager the evening of July 26 to tell him of our second experience. Two days later, he responded apologizing. He asked me to send him our receipt and he would reimburse us. Needless to say, I don't have the receipt 25 days later. Given this restaurant's history, I'm done with this and am choosing not to get ignored once again. -
Review from sima s.
8/22/2011
I visited Watermark Irish Pub with a group of 5 friends/family on an August Saturday night.
Location is great specially for people watching if your table is in the patio section.
Service was really good as well.
Food in the other hand was poorly prepared. I had one of their special burgers, the beef patty was tasteless! Side salad was decent but you have to pay an addition of $2 to get that salad with your burger, a total of $19! Fast foods sell much better burger! I would not go back to Watermark Irish Pub and do not recommend it just based on the food.
Other members of our party also didn't enjoy their meals!
Just to be fair, I had a chocolate melty cake which was really good. -
Review from bold c.
Toronto, ON
12/21/2010
Would offer a 5 Star for their Brunch & Chicken Pot Pie, Prime Rib & Yorkshire Pudding.
It is a rated only 3+ star as service can be inconsistent. Some days awesome sometimes. Well if you enjoy cold food. It varies. Seriously always ask for your food to be well done and you will be fine.
Hard to get horseradish. They do not know what it is. Really odd....
Sunday brunch is best. Great place for drinks.
They are very professional and get huge volumes of customers. Look around for coupons in the building. Sometimes $10 off.
It you want service stay inside towards the bar.
Take out portions are smaller than served portions but you wait the same
amount of time to get.
Great live music when available.
Cheap drinks and ladies night on Mondays.
One of the best places for a fresh Guinness.
Good places for friends, family, corporate drink ups. Wonderful for brunch and great views of the waterfront. -
Review from Toronto T.
Toronto, ON
7/14/2011
Service and food sucks!
What an awful place! The patio was a filthy dump, the plates were dirty, the $16 salad looked like pig feed with the driest chicken breast ever, the server thinks he is too good to be a server.
I can't believe this bar can get away with this kind of service, food and attitude. Hope it goes out of business soon! -
Review from Alan W.
Toronto, ON
8/1/2011
I have been to Watermark a few times but not by choice.
It's definitely a tourist trap that misses its mark on many levels. The patio is a great place to be on a beautiful day, but like most restaurants along the water, it is overpriced, has spotty service and the food is incredibly mediocre or just plain bad (Captain John's is a perfect example).
The food is just really bad bar food. Sure they call themselves an Irish pub, but there is little traditional pub fare and they don't have a decent selection of beers on tap, and most of the menu consists of bar food that seems like it was made from frozen.
Some of the foods I have tried:
Calamari -- incredibly greasy, so much that the soggy batter slid off the squid which itself was rubbery.
"Award Winning Cottage Pie" -- I really wanted shepherds pie, but they don't have it on their menu! Shepherds pie IMO should be on every pub's menu, so their "award winning" Cottage pie would be their closest dish. I was really repulsed on this pie and really want to know what kind of award they won for it. The gravy was incredibly thick and was both too sweet and salty. The slow cooked angus beef was actually ground hamburger meat (or at least over cooked beyond recognition). There was very little vegetables in the pie. The mashed potatoes was cold and was of a wierd texture and consistantcy (posssibly made from potato flakes?). It really reminded me of a frozen dinner that was presented a little nicer. The only thing decent was the small salad that came with it.
Wings -- wings were not bad and had a nice amount of heat, but then again how hard is it to make wings?
Sweet potato fries -- it was decent, but if it is fried from frozen how could you not screw it up. The spicey lemon aioli was bland and a little off. For $9 it was a rip off. Fresh Restaurant serves a killer homemade sweet potato fries served with tasty sauces for much less.
Service was friendly, when they were around. It seems like they are understaffed given the busy weekend crowd. Be sure to grab your waitor as soon as you get the chance or else you will be waiting a long time to get another drink, your check, etc.
The bathrooms were repulsive when I was there. It was filthy and the urinals were not flushing so it contained the overwhelming wrench of old urine of who knows how many patrons, and the floors need a good washing. If you are hungry and don't want to eat the food there, be sure to use the urinals to lose your appetite fast! -
Review from Michelle A.
Toronto, ON
8/17/2010
I went to Watermark on a Monday night for a nice meal. The place has a great vibe, very relaxed. They had a lot of options on tap and Monday was also Martini Mondays. I had a strawberry spinach salad, which really good - had berries, goat cheese, nuts and a grape seed oil vinaigrette. For vegetarians there are only two options (salad or a vegetable sandwich). My friend had a burger, which was massive and we shared an order of sweet potato fries (good, but a little thin and crispy). The view is lovely and the menu is much cheaper than the over-priced Italian food next door. It's a great spot for a few drinks and a casual meal. If you get there before 6 on Monday, you can get 5 appetizers for $5!
PS The servers do wear kilts, but they're not THAT short - I definitely wouldn't compare to Hooters..... -
Review from Boonie W.
Toronto, ON
6/23/2011
Worst veggie burger I've had in my entire life. Only offering one vegetarian option is fine. I'm used to going out and have only a veggie burger to choose from but it needs to be at least edible. This was the most embarrassing excuse for a veggie burger that I have ever seen. For 14$ I'd expect at least one person who works there to taste it and give some feedback. Pull this off the menu and tell vegetarians to stay away. I hate to give such a poor review based on one menu item but it was my only choice and you chose to sell it.
Yuk. Find a better place, there are many around. -
Review from Heidi B.
7/7/2009
The location is nice, especially in the summer time when the very large patio area is open. I agree with the others that the girls in short skirts was a little off... even unnecessary.
I remember the food being good, but I honestly can't remember what I had now so I guess it was unremarkable too. The thing I most remember is the giant glass of Hoegaarden... it seems they like to serve it in a glass bigger than your head. All of the other beers on tap were served in reasonable sized glasses. -
Review from Dave W.
Toronto, ON
6/20/2009
The place has one of the best locations along the waterfront, and no doubt it adds to the cost, everything seems about $2-5 more than it should. Fortunately, the food is actually pretty good (which was a shock after having gone to the other place).
I got the pulled pork, which was pretty good, and great home cut fries, while my wife had the corned beef sandwich, which was average, but she liked her spinach salad quite a bit.
There are plenty of beers on tap, and there are bars both inside and out, so depending on the situation there's always a chance to drink!
The places loses marks mostly because of service. We were told the wait was going to be 45 minutes, though there were tables sitting empty for over 20 minutes while no one bothered to clean them up. After they suggested we sit in the bar, they forgot about us and only gave us a seat after we went back and asked for it again. This has happened twice now, and the second time we just left.
If they can get the service figured out, we'll probably be back. If not, then it isn't like there's a shortage of pubs around here. -
Review from T.H. J.
6/13/2011
Servicable. Nice Spot. I was hungry and left not.
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Review from Dan B.
Toronto, ON
5/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
The only thing that saves this place is the patio. Mediocre food, awful service, but goddamn is it nice on a hot day. Save it for a Friday lunch.
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Review from Lena D.
8/30/2010
the location is great. i would give it 5 stars for the view. but yanno.. i gotta include the food and service.
i came here with a co worker and her mom for lunch. we were playing tourist for the day and wandered around to find watermark.
i ordered the lobster club, my co worker had the house salad and the clam chowder, and her mom had the salad with the salmon. i dont remember the exact names.
the lobster club was AMAZING. i was kinda expecting a bland lobster mix but it was packed with flavor... and it had a spicy kick to it. the fries that came with it were not good. they weren't exactly soggy but they were definitely not crispy. they kind of were really dense if that makes sense. like the insides tasted like the inside of a baked potato.. it was just weird.
my co worker and her mom seemed to enjoy their salads but i don't think they enjoyed their food as much as i did. they both ordered a bloody mary but the bartender made a mistake and made caesers (which we were told were made with clamato juice).. so it took a while to get our drinks.
the food also took a while to come. the service was nice but i felt like it could have been faster especially because it was quite empty when we got there.. but it was packed by the time we left.
i would come back just for the lobster club but i think the next time i'm in the area i'll try a new place. -
Review from Izabela J.
Toronto, ON
6/18/2010
THE SHORT STORY: Do not go to Watermark Irish Pub. Mediocre menu. Horrible, horrible service. All they have going for them is the location.
THE LONG STORY: We were told it would take 20 minutes to be seated on the patio and about 45 minutes to receive entrees, but it was was a nice day so we waited by the lake even though we were really hungry. Restaurants usually give a "worst case scenario" anyway, so we figured it wouldn't be so bad. We were wrong. It was worse.
It took just under 20 minutes to be seated (on their side patio, not the best spot) and we were disappointed by their menu. First of all, it was a new menu with very few items on it. We though it was a patio menu, but were told that this is all there is for the entire restaurant, all season. By the entrance, they had a different menu posted (their old menu, I guess) with quite a few tasty sounding items that didn't make it onto their new menu. It was all standard pub food and nothing really jumped out at any of the 4 of us. The menu was just kind of "meh"...
Still, we waited 20 minutes to get seated and we were hungry so we weren't about to get us and leave. We all settled on what to order and tried to get the attention of our waitress, which took a while. She had a lot of tables to wait on so it took a while to get her over. We started ordering food but when asked about drinks, she couldn't answer some questions so she went off to get a drink menu. She brought it back and said she would give us a minute. We decided on drinks quickly but couldn't get her to come back for a long time. Finally when she came over, she asked for our drink order. When we told her we wanted to order food as well so it would come sooner, she told us that they "just closed the kitchen" because the kitchen staff was unable to keep up with orders. She said that people who ordered an hour ago were still waiting for their food, but she can serve us drinks. We were pretty upset after waiting so long already.
My boyfriend asked to speak to a manager, and when he did, he was told that they ran out of food for the day and could not serve us even if we wanted to wait 60+ minutes for it.
OK, I understand that restaurants get their food supplies in the mornings to last them through the day and that they only have a certain amount of pantry/fridge/freezer storage space and cannot make food once they run out, but...
Any well-managed restaurant knows from experience when to note that they're running low on supplies and when to let their staff know BEFORE seating people that the kitchen is or may close for the night so that people don't have to wait over 40 minutes (after a 20 minute wait for seats) to find out that they ran out of food.
Also, for a restaurant in downtown Toronto, right at the waterfront with a sizable patio, how do you run out of food at 8:30 pm on a Saturday on the last weekend of May? ....EIGHT THIRTY. That's crazy.
This is totally unacceptable.
We went to a nearby restaurant where a manager just happened to be near the entrance... he overheard our story and decided that we shouldn't wait to be seated at all. We were served quickly and had really great drinks and food overlooking the lake after all. This was at Wallymagoo's (at Pier 4). They have an extensive seafood menu (I recommend the lobster angliotti) but also a lighter fare menu with lots of gourmet salads, pizzas, burgers, etc.
The manager and our waiter got a kick out of our story about Watermark. Watermark's loss was their gain, I suppose.
The experience has completely tainted my impression of Watermark. I will not return there at all.
Watermark was a complete waste of time for such a boring tiny menu. Even if the kitchen hadn't closed, I'm certain the food wouldn't have been worth the long wait.
Consider yourself warned. There are plenty of other restaurants in the area with nice patios. Do NOT go to Watermark. -
Review from Michelle R.
Toronto, ON
9/30/2009
This is a great, great local (for me!) find. Especially compared to the bar that was here before, Watermark is a topnotch pub for the area. It is very difficult, when one lives in a tourist area surrounded by Hoops and Shoeless Joes-types, to find a pub that one is happy to visit repeatedly.
I am SO glad Watermark opened this summer and I went very often. Yes, the food took a while to come out of the kitchen at first, but everyone is entitled to a rocky start I suppose. The prices aren't bad at all for the touristy location and the servers are all excellent - never had an unfriendly experience, even when it was a busy Thursday evening in the heat of summer. And I do think the food is above-average for a pub (hint - try the lobster dip with pretzel bread. It's amazing!).
This pub, in the summer, is worth the trip for sure. In the winter, I'm sure it's just like it's sister pubs (Foggy Dew, Pogue Mahone's, etc. I believe). I am definitely a fan! -
Review from Subhi A.
Toronto, ON
8/8/2009
Watermark has a great location....and that's about it? well, not really. the place first opened this year in early May and I've had good experiences so far. I go there so often because I work in the same building on Queens Quay. the food is good and the service is relatively fast, most of the times. I find the food better than the typical pub food. watch out for the daily specials...my favorite is the Fridays $5 Guinness and free oysters at the bar....and you can always enjoy the location.
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Review from Sylvain P.
Newmarket, ON
10/26/2009
I can't complain since I work in the building and considering everything, I think Watermark is a great pub. Friendly staff, great selection, and overall great atmosphere. I'd only ask that they try to serve people faster at lunch since we need to get back to work.
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Review from thomas g.
Toronto, ON
8/18/2009
First of all, the food is really surprising. In a good way traditional but original, hearty and healthy. My favorite is the Angus Burger served with a very good house salad. If you prefer chips, they have also very good one. But the powerful taste of the Burger mixed with the really subtle one of the Salad is quite a treat. Then there is the environnement. The lake, first. Everything in Toronto is better by the lake. People are warmer and funnier (they even have long dinner at 9 pm, et oui!) We were sitting there with my wife when this couple gave us an almost full bottle of wine because they had to leave and the server immediatly brought us glasses before we had the time to ask. Speaking of the server, one might find offensive their really mini-skirt and tight shirt with all you can see cleavage but, sorry, as a frenchman this even added to the quality of the experience especially since the girls working here are beautiful, smiling and apparently happy to be there.
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