On Canada Day we headed into the city to check out the Tall Ships as part of the Redpath Waterfront Festival. Many others in this great City had the same idea as the waterfront was packed. It was wonderful to see so many people out enjoying out waterfront – especially considering what a crappy weekend we’d just been through with the G20 garbage going on downtown.
After wandering around for a while we decided to grab some lunch – and where better, or so we thought, than a pub on the waterfront? We couldn’t have had a worse experience if we tried.
We made our way into the Queen’s Quay Terminal and entered the Watermark Irish Pub. No line-up despite how busy the waterfront was that day. This should have been our first clue…. but when out with a newborn, a one year old and a two-and-half year old – complete with strollers – you need to go places that can accommodate you and your gear. The Watermark has a large indoor “patio” perfect for us. We settled in to our table and ordered our drinks. The drinks arrived with one mistake – Kathryn ordered a small beer but the waitress brought a large. When we commented that it was wrong she responded by saying, “there’s nothing I can do about that. I guess I can charge you for the small instead.” Not off to a great start but in hindsight this was probably the high point for our time at the restaurant. After the drinks were dropped off we ordered our food – all standard pub fare (burgers, salads, sandwiches, nothing special at all).
The “patio” was far from full. Of the 15 or so tables only three were occupied when we arrived. Inside the restaurant it was busier but not packed by any means. While we waited for our food five other tables arrived, ordered drinks and food. Before our food had arrived some of the other tables were already finished and paying their bills. At the 30 minute mark Leah went to find our waitress to see what was the hold-up. The waitress shrugged and said she’d check on it. She never came back with a response so I went into the restaurant to look into it (40 minutes). I asked the bartender to send out the manager. He never did. So I went back into the restaurant to find the manager myself. I did. And asked her politely why our meal wasn’t on our table considering the wait. She came out to our table and said she’d look into it (50 minutes). She came back about 10 minutes later (an hour since placing our food order) and said that it would be at least another 20 minutes for our meal. This did not sit well with me. A heated exchange ensued where she told me that she asked the general manager about it and that was what he told her to tell us. I asked if that seemed fair or reasonable considering other tables had come and gone in the time we’d been there. She said, “I don’t know.”
Really? You don’t know if that’s fair or reasonable? WTF?
I asked her to send out the GM because I wanted to hear it straight from his mouth that we should wait another 20 minutes for our meal considering we’d already been there an hour. He refused to come out of the kitchen. The floor manager said that she would comp us our drinks but she couldn’t do anything else. She suggested that if I emailed the general manager he might be able to offer something more.
We will never go to the Watermark Irish Pub again. Ever.
Yesterday we took our friends Matt & Emma to Niagara Falls. They are in Toronto on vacation from their home in Portsmouth, England. This is their first trip to Canada, and first time seeing Niagara Falls. I don’t remember my first trip to Niagara Falls, but being there with them on their first trip was refreshing. I think we take The Falls for granted, and forget how wondrous it really is.
Today we went to the first home game for 
On Saturday evening Dana and Trevor came to have dinner and play “Trivial Pursuit 90s Edition” with us. Dinner was excellent. Trivial Pursuit not so much. The game is great fun, just as every previous edition of Trivial Pursuit is; the only downer is that it is very American – and unless you have a keen interest in American culture, politics, etc from the 90s, you’ll be left scratching your head on many occasions.