Blackshop Restaurant

Great food and the daily specials are fantastic. Everything from the beef, to fish and even the burger are spot on! On business, I ate there 3 wks in a row.

Up and down for consistency. They have a young cooking staff that is allowed to venture out but they need a certain degree of oversight. An example I had was a trout fillet served with a dill pickle salsa over a smoked potatoe salad. An intriguing combination but one that did not work on any level and should not have been served. The dill pickle salsa was horribly salty and bitter, absolutley heaped on and overpowering,a bad concept. The smoked potatoe salad the same thing very bitter and unappealing. It sounded good but just wasn't, why bother with an idea that tastes so bad ? The trout was prepared ok but the dreaded salsa killed it . This dish should have been subjected to review by the head chef before being allowed on a menu. On the other hand some really creative and well prepared dishes have come out based on this same freedom to execute, a Skate Wing lunch dish comes to mind as well as the now defunct Chicken Livers in garlic cream with Fennel spiced Spaetzel. Overall , kind of hit and miss, the new menu has strayed into pretention with chic sounding items not living up to the billing, far from the sound basics exhibited some several months ago. Sort of like radio, you sometimes need to wade through a lot of garbage to get to some gems.

I went with my boyfriend, who had ordered the salmon, which came with a sauce not at all similar to the one the menu said would accompany it. It was almost like they tried to make a seafood dessert. My salad was drowning in sauce. But at least the resturant is nice. Food isn't anything special though.

We ordered oysters rockefeller as an appetizer.For the entree we had schnitzel and the seafood medley.The oysters were tasteless except for a LOT of salt.The schnitzel was just okay.The seafood was rather skimpy with 2 tough shrimp 2 mussels a very tiny amount of lobster(almost $40)The potatoes were very grainy.As some one else said they most likely were of the instant variety.The restaurant itself was attractive,modern with upscale ambiance.Our bill was $100.

every thing was great the atmosphere service that was until the food came you would think paying 30 dollars per dish they would put some effort into it.. i don't think instant potatoes are a good idea.. maybe if thy hired a real chef instead of a group of high school kids thy just might make it worth the price.....

We had our staff Christmas Dinner at the Blackshop. The pace of service, quality of food and the hospitallity were all excellent. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone!!!

The new restaurant is dramaticly improved from the previous. It is unfortunate that the food does not reflect that. If you are going to charge Toronto prices then you need to get yourself a better chef. All our food was cold and the service was very slow. Overall not impressed. The sadest part is they reaaly seem not to even care. Next time I willmake the drive to Toronto.

Celebrating a family member's birthday. First time at the new location on Hespeler (been here twice before). Congrats to the owners, they have dramatically improved Blackshop in terms of decor, ambiance, service and most importantly, food quality. Our server was excellent, as was the bar service on their patio. Food was also a big quality improvement (not that it was bad before) -- it's now a top-notch restaurant. High quality, fresh ingredients and the dishes hit the table piping hot. Nice! We'll definitely be back.

My husband and I spent many a wonderful evening at the "Old Blackshop" and I was very disappointed with the service and the food we received in December of 2007. On entering the new location for the first time, we were blown away with the atmoshpere and the decor...very chic, modern and refreshing...unlike any other restaurant in Cambridge. Our starters were perfect.....Calamari was crispy, caesar salad beautiful. We waited forever for our main. When it arrived, the strudel was stone cold and the lamb chops were burned beyond being edible. After sending both back, the strudel returned...obviously microwaved because the pastry was soggy..before the chops, which were still on the well done side and not as ordered. Other than the fact that this was a very special occasion for us, we would have been irate at this time, but we were enjoying the afternoon and our waitress seemed very apologetic. For that reason we decided to linger over coffee. I ordered an irish coffee, my partner a regular coffee. When i took a sip of the irish coffee I was shocked . The glass was rimmed with salt and not sugar. Appalling. And, my partner's coffee was old and stale. We filled out a comment card pointing out the lack of attention to the food. Maybe that was the problem...you paid more attention to your decor and new image and not enough on the quality of food you were serving.

The variety of seating is awkward, not very many intimate seats, its as if they tried to push in as much tables as possible first off. Our server for the evening was not attentive we had to keep flagging him down he walked by our table many times and never stopped to ask us if we were ready to order even though we had our menus closed and placed on our table ready to go.. The food although was delicous, the lobster nachos were out of this world! and my veal and my fiance's pork tenderloin was extrememly moist and tasty, although we were not offered better knives other than the butter knives placed on the table for the bread and butter so we had a hard time cutting our meat and the waiter barely came around so we never got a chance to ask for different ones. So the food is delicous but the service suxs and we will only go there for special occasions, as it is extremely expensive to have a 3 course meal.

Congratulations on your move You never dissapoint us

Wow I was hesitant to visit the new location of this wel known Cambridge Restaurant. I was very impressed that a restaurant of this calibre opened in Cambridge. The server was very attentive, our appetizers and main courses were excellent. Would definitely recommend.

I have been to this place a handful of times and I have always been unsatisfied, then I was told that it is really good, then I gave it another chance, then another and another and still it was always the same disappointment. I don’t know maybe I am spoiled from eating at better restaurants. Weekend leftovers is how I would describe the food at this establishment on the Monday that my partner and I dined here. The only thing that was fresh was the bottled mineral water. Nothing was outstanding and most of the items were either overcooked or undercooked, the meat was overcooked and the rice was undercooked and not fresh tasting. They should consider replacing the cook with a chef if they are going to charge these prices. The greeter at the door was warm, friendly and prompt but the server was a little on the cold side. The washrooms are a joke; you have to share the washing basins with the opposite sex. This place is overpriced and overrated.

Food was nice, service was excellent, it's a great place for ANY occasion, and it's very classy.

The appetizers were fine, however the salad just came out of the fridge, and was far too cold for one to taste any of the flavours. The Schnitzle had to be sent back as it was off on taste, the second one was better. The mashed potatoes tasted like they were from a mix, very starchy. The v egatables were very oily tasting. Deserts were fine. Overall for the money spent I found it rather expensive, and over rated.

Husband and I went for our anniversary and it was wonderful. We have been several times in the past and have never been disapointed. Service was great, food was perfect, atmosphere was "loud" but not so that we couldn't have a conversation. It was a lively atmosphere as it was the Christmas season. Always a great time, well worth the extra dollars.

We visited Blackshop! in celebration of my husband's birthday. We had no reservations, and arrived around 7pm. Being Friday evening, the restaurant was extremely busy, and finding a table was to be a difficult task. We waited approximately 45 minutes for our table, but the wait was enjoyable. As we mingled in the comfortable foyer, the wait staff offered us delicious (and complimentary) spring rolls with spicy plum sauce, and a choice of red or white wine. Definitely above and beyond! When we were seated, the positive experience continued with excellent service and superb food. My mother joined my husband and I, and neither she nor I could decide between the New York Striploin, and the Sweet Potato, Pear and Gruyere Perogies. Our waitress suggested that we order both, and that she would have the kitchen staff split the meals so we would each have steak and perogies. Magnificent! Dinner ended with a fabulous (complimentary) birthday dessert. I must say that we have never been more impressed with a restaurant. Everything was just perfect!

Excellent experience in Downtwon Cambridge. Well balanced menu, wide well selected winelist. Salmon, Lamb Dish out of this world. Very proffesional service. Highly recommend.

I had the Atlantic Salmon, it was done three ways, from the shapes, to the sauces, and even three diferent starches! The presentation was extrodenary, and flavours...unbalievable! This restaurant should be in Toronto. Compliments to the chef's!!!

The persentation and flavour of the food was exceptional. The wine list had many bottles to choose from (unfortunalty some of the best wines from Ontario have been overlooked). The atmoshpere was quite nice; however I would agree on the noise level being too loud for fine dining. I could hear every word being uttered from a table half way across the room. I will definatly return to this restaurant but probably on a weekday when the volume of people would be less.

Superb service! Good menu selection for entre and main course. They did a special plate presentation for our anniversary dessert. Wonderful!

We were celebrating our anniversary and we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner. THANK YOU!!!

the stuffed lamb was very very good... the brownie was even better... and decorated sooo beautifully! best BROWNIE EVER their dessert chef should get a medal!

A very nice restaurant. Upscale. Possibly a little overpriced. Overall, it is worth visiting.