The Whalesbone Elgin Street

I have never had a more disappointing birthday dinner experience in my life. I would not recommend this establishment to anyone who needs to eat gluten free or dairy free. My partner took me to this location to celebrate my 40th birthday. I am celiac which means I cannot safely ingest gluten. He called prior to ask about the fryer and was told they had a dedicated fryer. When we arrived they told us that was wrong and that I would not be able to eat anything from the fryer. Upon further inspection I realized my much of the menu was not accessible to me because I am GF/DF. We wanted seafood and so got the chilled platter. I was only able to have protein. There were no starches or anything substantial for me to dip with (for the tuna tartar). Our server suggested cucumber slices — these were served so thinly cut they were translucent (what can you scoop with that) and were arranged on a plate in a way that looked like they were being served to a 2 year old for a snack. Zero effort, literally thrown on a plate. I eventually relented and asked if they could do something with potatoes or anything and what I got was butter drenched and gave me issues despite having communicated to the server that was exactly what I didn’t want. And again, these were plated cafeteria style. It was extremely expensive and I stopped at the store on the way home for a bag of chips. Horrible way to celebrate my 40th. I will never go back. The only reason I am giving it more than one star is because the bit I could eat was alright and my partner enjoyed his food. If you have no food restrictions this could be the place for you, but if you do stay away. They don’t care.

The service we received here was a 10/10. The waiter was very attentive and knowledgeable. It has a very lively ambience about it which we enjoyed. We ordered the beef tartare, a whole fish , potatoes, steak and tried the oysters. Everything tasted great, but what really stood out to us was the oysters. They are from Newfoundland, tasted extremely fresh and the house made hot sauces served with them paired very well. Although we had a lovely experience I am rating this place a 3/5 because the gluten free options were very limited and I couldn’t order what I truly wanted. If they end up adding more gf options I would definitely return.