The Lake Grill

At the corner of Brock and Victoria.
Outside looks like your average all day breakfast place. Inside is a small family style restaurant but dinner has black table clothe tables and candle.
Seats around under 50 people.
Poster on the right hand side shows the owner of this restaurant is Jose Mendoza, competitor of Chopped Canada in 2014. He came in second FYI.
There’s frequent firey moments to see since its open kitchen.
This is what I had one day before Valentine’s Day:
Wine: Valpolicella, Masi, Italy ½L @ $ 23
Very small wine selection. 6oz glass ranges from $ 7 – 8.50. Half litre ones go from$ 16 – 24. Full bottles are $ 28 – 48.
Their selection include some basic VQA wines (ie. OPEN and Jackson’s Triggs). some other offers such as Jacob Creek, Casillero del Diablo, Masi, etc.
Not impressed with the wine list but or a small restaurant it’s okay.
Service is okay, plate collection is a bit slow. I came in for my reservation at 7pm … its 9pm I’m still eating only because the food took a while.
Food delivery is also slower than normal but I think its because there is only two chef.
App:
Steamed Mussel in Curry Cream Sauce
Good sauce. Interesting combination, has beans, onions and bell peppers. Some mussels weren’t fully cooked, as I still taste the fishiness in them (but I’m personally quite sensitive to tat taste).
Dinner:
NY Striploin (regular menu)
Delicious! Very juicy and tender.
Atlantic Cod & Scallops (daily special)
Great! One of the best fish dishes I’ve had.
Overall great food, nice little place. I’d come back if i was I the area. FYI there is no lake view.

First time here and I’ll be returning! I had the shrimp & mango salad. I could of eaten shrimp like that for days. Amazing! I had the 8oz steak after and it was amazing. We said better than the keg. Potatoes were creamy, vegetables were cooked perfectly. Dessert was a crème brûlée with espresso. It was to die for. Very impressed. I’ll be back!

The lake grill has always been a favorite amongst my family and always will be. We have been a handful of times and it never falls short of great food. Tonight it was my mom’s b-​day and I took her here to eat. She absolutely loved her food. She had the panseard halibut with scallops, I had the shrimp and curried pineapple and my dad had the veal shank. Everything was great. The only thing is i find the prices are a bit high which makes it more of treat to come here. Aside from that it’s really awesome. A must try in Whitby.

It disheartens me to rank them so low. They were once a favourite for my wife and I to visit but our last two times here have been very disappointing.
The quality of food was once upon a time among the elite of Whitby but now falls in line with what I would expect to get at Jack Astors. Don’t worry though, they still charge you premium fine dining prices.
Let’s not forget about the service. The waitress was aloof and seemed to really not care too much for her career choice. Maybe I’m just a snob but when you’re clearing all the tables and preparing them for the next days breakfast (i.e. removing the table clothes and putting out jams), it really gives what’s priced to be a fine dining experience a real ghetto feel. Maybe that’s their new niche though? Ghetto Fine Dining!
Needless to say unless they can go back to their ways of old, I won’t be going back again.

I first dined at Lake Grill 3 – 4 years ago and had several fantastic experiences! The food was fresh and prepared well, service was great and pricing was reasonable for the high quality of food served.
I have eaten there a couple of times in the past six months and have been VERY disappointed! Both the food quality and service have gone way down.
My favourite dish WAS the seafood linguini. The scallops and shrimp used to be good-​sized and fresh… scallops seem frozen now and the dish is practically flavourless.
The service last time was terrible. My husband and I went on a Friday night and the place was empty, yet the server sat the only two other groups (who came in after us) at the tables right beside us. The server forgot to bring us bread, asked for our drink order before bringing the menu and when we asked for the bill she stood around at the register having a drink/​chatting with another server while we waited.
No longer is this place a fine dining establishment in my opinion, it just has the prices of one without the quality.
I’m sad to see this place go down hill as there are so few great places in Whitby to get a really nice meal.

We are in town for a hockey tournament and decided to decline the team offer of rubber pizza. Instead, with luck, we happened upon The Lake Grill. We were the first guests, at opening time, 5pm. And had no reservation. By 530 it was full.
I had Chicken Ballentine, a breast stuffed with rice. My wife had a Shrimp dish. Both were very nicely presented — and excellent.
A nice dinner experience.

The Lake Grill is most likely our favourite fine dining establishment in Whitby. It’s usually the place we go for special occasions as you definitely need to make reservations — but so worth it. Try their beautiful breakfasts too — you won’t be disappointed! Hmm thinking of it now and need to make reservations soon!

The food was on the pricey side, but it was excellent and very tasty. We had reservations but we weren’t seated for at least 15 minutes even though there were empty tables.
Chef Jose was making the rounds of regular customers, he seemed to know them, but didn’t stop by our table. I guess new customers don’t matter?
The servers were a little slow and not very attentive, again those who appeared as regulars were favored.
The food was amazing, they need to be more friendly to new customers who could become regulars.

This was my second visit to this restaurant. The first time was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, the chef was away and one of his well trained sous chefs was working the kitchen. The food was just okay… nothing to rave about this time. Our server was pleasant enough but seemed distracted that night. However, the young man who brought us bread and was clearing tables was very friendly and engaging when we asked questions about their brunch menu. I’m sure we’ll find our way back there again (likely for brunch) but I will make sure that Jose is in the kitchen before we return for dinner.

Nice small restaurant, went on a Thursday and was lucky to get a table, always a good sign. I had the seafood linguine, very tasty! Staff is extremely friendly and accommodating, I will
Definitely be back.

Had breakfast with daughter in law in was fantastic. She had eggs Benedict and I had the crab/​eggs Benedict which were served with fresh fruit. Served hot and the service was awesome

The Lake Grill is located at the corner of Brock Street south of Bayly. My boyfriends parents decided to take us out for lunch on the weekend and since this is a place they frequent, they decided to take us here.
I’ve heard quite a bit about this place and a few things I’ve heard worth noting: it can be considered expensive; service can be very slow; the food is always good. I’ve also heard they have some kind of $ 90 tomahawk steak that’s to die for but I digress.
Having never been here before and not being super hungry, I didn’t want to opt for a curry dish or a pasta dish that would sit heavy in my stomach. My true test of a good restaurant is a club, so I ended up ordering a club (which I later regretted after seeing my boyfriend’s curry dish). Service was… relaxed. Don’t come here if you’re looking for a quick lunch because you won’t get it. The menu has good selection with a lot of very tasty looking dishes.
When our food arrived, I was a smidge dismayed at the size of my lunch. In the end it was enough but I felt for something as simple as a club sandwich, there wasn’t enough. Although very tasty, with thin chicken and all the regular fixings on the club, I felt like it was fancied up to justify the price. I would have liked to see a bigger sandwich or a sandwich on specialty bread or something to make it stand out. The fries were very tasty, almost like chip truck fries and if I’d been hungrier, I would have not had enough on my plate.
Now, my boyfriend tried the curry on penne and GOOD LORD was it ever good. This is a must have dish if you come here and if we come back, I’ll be sure to try this instead.
Overall, I wasn’t exactly impressed with the Lake Grill, probably because it had been talked up a lot prior to my visit. It has good potential and its got a nice atmosphere but I’ll have to come back and try something else to really get a sense of how good this restaurant is. $ 100+ for four people (with some alcohol) seemed a bit much for me so I think I’d save this for a special dinner night out.

Great little spot, not really where you’d expect to find it. I suspect that the Lake Grill started off as some kind of greasy spoon kind of joint, but it’s been really well redone with a great open kitchen where Chef Jose does masterful work. Most entrees are seafood influenced, which did kind of limit options for my wife, but she had a steak that was absolutely fantastic in her opinion.
Being skeptical of Ontario seafood, I went with a penne, but I did try the crab cakes for lunch and I was pretty happy with them. Our party (which included a few Maritimers) was also amazed by the scallops, I don’t know that I’ve ever had better in Nova Scotia, to be quite honest.
And finally, desserts — lots of fantastic options.
Lake Grill is not cheap, but you do get what you pay for I think, and I think as a posh night out, it’s a great choice. It looks a little bizarre on the outside, in a strip mall with Christmas type lights, but ignore that and enjoy.
They promoted their brunch menu as we were leaving, which looked excellent, and was heartily endorsed by other guests just arriving.

Had a chance to try the Lake Grill last night and was pleasantly surprised.
Food Quality was very good with a large amount of seafood on the menu. Entrees are all mostly over $ 24 and I have to wonder if they should look at the pricing a bit as it is a bit high for the area. (but they are apparently busy most nights so who am I to judge.)
With that said I really enjoyed my crispy red snapper and the Orange roughly my wife ordered was also perfectly cooked and tasty.
For dessert I had a very tasty sticky toffee cake and she had the red velvet cake both of which were very nice and beautifully presented
I would go again.

This is a wonderful restaurant. It’s very small, so you will need reservations as it is packed every night. The meal was excellent – well prepared, creative, and reasonably priced. The vegetables were fresh and full of flavour. Well worth a return visit.