Charcoal Steak House

The Sparkle is Gone

It is a shame this once great establishment is on the decline. The service was gracious and hospitable, but the servers lacked knowledge about the dishes and their ingredients. Having to run back to the kitchen and ask each time made ordering a lengthy ordeal. The atmosphere in the dining room was warm and rich. It is the Charcoal's saving grace. The food arrived after in decent time but looked tired as if had been sitting around for a bit under a heater. The soup was watery and bland. A little table salt helped the flavor but overall lacked the body of a hearty winter soup. The scallops lacked a sear as the menu promised and were flabby and dull looking. Flavor was okay but it seemed like too many garnishes were vying for the palate's attention. The steak was a huge let down, especially at $37. For dry-aged it lacked the depth of flavor and tenderness you would expect from aging. The potatoes seemed to be seasoned with drywall dust and sealed your throat when swallowing. I hope the kitchen is able to get their act in order and start caring a little more about the quality of the product. From talking with friends the consensus offers a grim outlook for the group's flagship spot. It almost seems like the chef is on vacation and things are heading downhill fast. I hope they are able to reignite the passion in their staff and the quality that once made the Charcoal the area's go-to dining destination.

We visited here for a birthday dinner and absolutely loved our meal. Steaks were perfectly done with so much flavour. We had been to Wildcraft and had been dissapointed by the flavourless menu but decided to give the chain another chance. So glad we did, Martini's was also great for a nice Friday late dinner feel.

POTATOES

The service was excellent, the food was excellent except for the MASHED SO CALLED POTATOES. This was a party of 18 people and those who chose mashed potatoes were very disappointed. They tasted awful. No one ate them!!!!

Worst meal ever.

I have been to many restaurants of all classes and this is by-far the worst meal I've ever had. Since I've been to WildCraft (same company) which was really great, I had a very high expectation for this place as well (anyone would for a restaurant of this class). Unfortunately, those expectations were shattered. The receptionist seated us but didn't say ANYTHING and just left; the waitress finally came to introduce herself and give us the menu (her welcome didn't feel very warm); after looking through the menu we waited for a VERY long time before the waitress came back to take our orders (another table came after us and they got to order way before us); LONG wait for the food; appetizers finally came, escargot was okay but the scallops weren't too fresh (definitely not jumbo like the menu claims); entrees finally came after another long wait; shrimp spaghettini isn't something you'd expect from a Western Luxury Restaurant, the name and description makes you expect pasta/spaghetti with shrimp but it's just stir fried vegetables (asian-style) with 5 shrimps on spaghetti noodle which taste the same as the noodle from Teriyaki in the malls; tenderloin fillet, we ordered medium-well, and it was WAY over cooked and also VERY dry with no taste and no syrup/sauce, it was so hard to swallow, only good thing is the sweet potato fries. Overall, $125 and all we had were dried-up beef + fast food-level stir fried noodle.

My husband & I were here Sept. 25 2010. We were celebrating our anniversary. Because we're from out-of-town; we didn't know the restaurant. They reccomended by the hotel staff. Despite being given directions. we got lost!! We had reservations & because we were late ; we were afraid we wouldn't get a table. We were delighted to be warmly welcomed.! Everyone was very helpful & friendly. The food was excellent & the price was reasonable.We were given complimentary dessert to celebrate our anniversary. Even though we're from out-of-town; we would definitely go back.