Brant House
By gorygurbSpurf, July 1st 2010 in Toronto Travel Guide Comments (1)
The Brant House in Toronto is the ideal place to enjoy the experience of communal dining. Communal dining restaurants don't offer you separate tables. Instead, you share a large table with other restaurant guests, even though your food is not shared. This form of dining is common in Sushi bars in Japan, in beer halls in Germany, in trattorias in Italy and tapas bars in Spain. If you love to interact with new people, this is the perfect opportunity.
The interiors at the Brant House blend a contemporary style with old world design, creating a very residential and cozy feel. The restaurant can seat up to 540 people, when the heated patio dining is included. The facility itself has no parking, though it does offer valet parking services.
There are many events hosted by this restaurant for guests to enjoy, such as New Year's Eve, a wine tasting event called ‘What Time Is It?' and Brantilicious. The coat check service offered here is very unusual in Toronto's restaurants. There is an in-house DJ too, playing house music, ‘80s and hip hop.
The Brant House, situated at 522 King Street W, is also perfect for a grand dinner and an after dinner party. The ambience has a very cozy feel with its comfortable seating, deep colors and dim lighting, and its large TV screens. The staff here does its best to make the guests feel completely at home.
Once you are in here, the pleasant atmosphere will get you in a conversational mood, and you won't feel as uptight as in a regular upscale place. Perhaps it is because complete strangers sit together like a family, while the retro music plays in the background. If you wish to let your hair down, there is a dance floor too.
As far as the food goes, the entrées on the dinner menu cost $15 upwards, and Prix Fixe is priced between $35 and $50. The cuisine is international and fish, roasted chicken, lasagna, steaks and burgers are all available. For dessert, there are three options, Chef's special, Crème Brulee and White Chocolate Brownie, each costing $9.
The guests tend to prefer the bar at the Brant House Toronto much more than the food. While the communal seating out here is very famous, the food has its critics. The dance floor is quite small, and usually gets over-crowded. Even while some people find the music a bit old and boring, most consider it a fun place to chill out with friends and party.
Saturdays are usually the most crowded, and whether or not you have a reservation, you would probably need to wait. If food is all you want, it is better to go early, as dancers tend to storm the place during the later hours. On the whole, the Brant House gets a thumbs up from most people as a great place to have a drink and dance with friends.
There are SEVERAL reasons why this mediocre lounge is a waste of your time and money, particularly if you're on guest list. Yesterday night, I held my birthday bash at Brant where I reserved 30 people on guest list. The first five people were guaranteed to get in without cover; the remaining 25 had to pay $10.
So, I got there with 6 other people at 10:30 pm. Pretty early if you ask me. The good thing was there was no lineup but the bouncer claimed that I wasn't even on guest list. So, I peered into the list myself, and lo and behold I was indeed on the list. No biggie, "mistakes" happen. There was also a note verifying that 30 guests were expected. But, when we actually got in, I was unamused to learn that we had to pay $10 cover. What's the point of encouraging people to come early if there's no reward?!
Anyways, about half an hour later, I find out that most of my friends are stuck in line with over an hour wait to get in. So, I talk to the bouncers directly, trying to understand what's with the hold up. They not only rudely tell me to go back inside but question why/how I have so many people on guest list. Ummm, if you ask me, that's a lot of business coming from my party alone. The place wasn't even busy at the time either.
Not only did they refuse entry for my friends who were already on guest list but they refused another one of my guy friends for not dressing "up to par." Granted there's a dress code but seriously telling me that my friends have to wait in line for an hour is absolutely ridiculous and completely unacceptable.
That's just poor business management needing MAJOR PR to reprimand this situation. Not to mention, half of my friends who came are in PR including myself.