I was initially impressed. The appetizers arived promptly, which I suppose is due to the set menu and constant creation of the same set menu all through Winterlicious. They were excellent. While we were still enjoying our starters, I saw the server walk towards us with our mains. Then turn around and seat them on the bar when he noticed we were not yet done. (It had only been about 5 minutes since we were served the starters.)

I felt a little rushed at that point, but understood that Winterlicious was a time of quick turnovers possibly. Or thought so. Our mains came, and they were spectacular. The food, was absolutely well done. The problem is, while we were still eating our mains, he came back with the desserts stated "I'm not trying to rush you" while placing the desserts on the table next to our mains we were still eating.

I've been to quite a few nice restaurants, as I have a foodie friend with whom I started a tradition of dining out at very nice restaurants a few times during the year. She's a chef, and I'm a fan of new experiences. Never has this happened, and I imagine it's actually considered poor taste to throw a new course onto the table while the last is still being eaten.

Still, I figure he's trying to rush us out the door. That would be one thing. Wait. Once we have our dessert plates taken from us (also excellent), we sit. And wait. And sit. Nobody comes by for 35 minutes to ask if we want anything else, or even give us the bill. So, we were rushed through what could have been a very relaxing and casual meal just to be ignored for 35 more minutes afterward.

I find that level of service unacceptable, and insulting. It's really a shame, because the food coming from the kitchen was worthy of a return visit, but the service was bad enough to warrant my first written complaint of a 'restaurant' experience.

Good customer service is especially important to me. I believe that it completes a Restaurant's package, and is completely necessary for the kind of word-of-mouth recommendations, and return visits required for a restaurant to not only survive, but to shine.

It will be a while before I visit them again, as there are many other worth restaurants waiting to be experienced.

If good food is what you're looking for, and you don't care about poorinconsistent service, then this is your place. The prices are fair, and the food really is good.

A friend and I went to Paklutta for Winterlicious this year.

Now bear in mind, I was a server myself for many years, and both of us entered into this knowing that it's incredibly busy time and rather thankless for the staff.

I'd give you a rundown of the atrocity that was our night at Paklutta, but I only have 2100 characters left, so I guess I'll have to do my best brief version.

We felt unwanted from the moment the hostess seated us right through to the end. We were seated at a table that was situated right by the door (which was open most of the time), my chair jutting into the doorway to the bar, my friend's chair situated so that she had to list slightly to the right to avoid the wine rack at face-level.

Our waitress immediately swooped in and demanded to know our order. I had not yet removed my coat. We asked if we could order drinks first. She was back in two minutes to again demand our orders, which we hurriedly gave.

She thunked the tiny goat cheese salads in front of us literally 1 minute later, one of which was not a goat cheese salad. After flagging down a different server, we were given the correct order.

The meal arrived a half hour later, cold. Steaks weren't cooked as we'd ordered them. "Mixed vegetable" was just... diced peppers. Cold.

Dessert was good, thank God, but came another 40 minutes later.

40 minutes after we'd finished dessert, the section around us was cleared and we were still waiting for our bill. Attempts at flagging down the waitress were fruitless, so we tried the old "put on your coat to leave" trick. Waitress made eye contact with me no less than 6 times, but kept walking.

Finally went to the bar to request our bill, explaining that we were being ignored. A different server got it for us, and immediately we saw we had been charged for a more expensive wine than we'd had.

Waited while that was corrected by a different server, finally paid and left.

We know Winterlicious is awful for the staff, but the entire night was a waste; the food was terrible and the service abysmal. If you don't have the staff to handle the tables, don't add them or at LEAST train the servers to acknowledge us and say "I'm so sorry -- I'll be right with you!" An acknowledgment would go a long way.

TERRIBLE evening. We will never, ever return -- Winterlicious or no... and we'll be telling everyone we know to avoid this place at all costs.

Great BYOW restaurant in toronto. The food is different and unqiue !!!!