Symposium Café Restaurant & Lounge – Markham

Wanted to grab dessert so decided to try this place. Their mango shake tastes disgusting! It literally tastes like water mixed with something, so I don’t recommend getting the mango shake. We also got two appetizers, the calamari and shrimp, it tastes good, however I have tried better. I feel like all three tasted pretty bland.
My favourite part was dessert. The dessert tasted amazing. We got a slice of cake (they have many options), and we got a brownie.
Service was okay, definitely could have been better. Asking for certain things took forever (e.g. forks, dessert, etc.)
If your going here, stick to the dessert.

I’m sorry, I really wanted to like this place. I’ve given it several shots. Each time has been really disappointing. Food is bland or cooked strangely. Some things taste like they were frozen and thawed, or came from a can.
*****FIVE STARS FOR THEIR CARROT CAKE THOUGH. SERIOUSLY. The only reason I would go. Sky high slice of carrot cake that is perfect to share with a friend over coffee!

I have driven passed this location many times. I brought my book club to this location to check them out. the menu was nice and very different and would cover many budget.
I had six people in my group i was seted fine (noon on a sunday). They had no problme for waitting for my group members to arrive 20 miunts later.
we got single bills, it alway a good idea to let them know before you order. (NOTE: if you have more then 10 your get a charge 10% its writen i seen it).
We order our food from lunch to brekfast food it was about average price. The group felt the food had no flaver even if the food was hot. The server was very nice and friendly and very acomidtion to the group.
The environment: Diffrent it made me feel like i was in ROME with all the old painting on the wall. The chirs when you sit made you lower perhap a booth would be good or the bar (yes they have a bar).
I not sure if i would go back but it was nothing special for me.

The décor and ambiance of this plate (with a cute little patio) don’t reflect the service or food. Both times I have been here, it seemed each server was working like 10 tables and it took us a long time for simple things like getting the check or having our food wrapped up to go. This past time when I went, we ordered the egg’s benedict and the poached eggs were basically boiled eggs. The yolks was completely hard and cooked… not runny like it should be with a poached egg. Kind of defeats the entire point of a benedict. The breakfast potatoes were super bland, needed a ton of salt. Omelette also had zero salt and was completely bland.
The best part was my husband ordered a glass of milk and it came 1 — in a dirty glass, there was some sort of brown substance/​residue on the inside bottom of the glass and 2 — it had gone bad! It smelled and there were chunks floating in it.
We obviously weren’t charged and the server was polite and offered to swap out our eggs but won’t be returning to a place that can’t tell when milk has gone bad or have clean glasses.

This place is only good for Coffee and dessert at best. Food is mediocre and over priced. They use to have BOGO on Sunday’s, not sure if that’s still around. Nothing special really, not really close to anything but farm land. I live fairly close and pass by almost daily, Avoiding it.
You’re better off hitting up main for dinner and an ice cream.

They wouldn’t admit a service-​dog-​in-​training. A letter to their corporate office didn’t go anywhere either. I think all places like this have a social and moral obligation to admit these animals who allow the handicapped to function and enjoy their respective communities.
Shame on Symposium.

Service 3.5÷5
Food ²⁄₅
We came in, sat down and got seated by the server. Was asked for drinks etc. The drinks (water) came 10 minutes later.
I got the blackened talapia. The rice tasted like it came out the microwave, the talapia was alright.
We also got a french onion soup. Worst soup ive ever had. Way too salt, bread was packed to the top. The soup soaked into the bread so much it looked like mush after. The cheese was inedible, much like plastic.
The environment was also kind of off. Only couple tables were seated today. Music kept going on and off.

Two stars here for me. I came here for lunch with my dad one afternoon with somewhat high expectations after hearing good things about the Symposium chain for drinks and desserts. Located in a small plaza off Kennedy, the restaurant looks upscale and put together. Service was on par with the looks. The disappointment was with the food. We ordered a flat bread and burger, both of which tasted like something from a really crappy diner (lacked flavours and even visual appeal). I recall the flat bread itself being poorly baked. I definitely won’t be coming back for their food but may consider visiting again for dessert and drinks.

Service wasn’t great. Both times I’ve been here the waiters acted like a deer caught in headlights when I had something to say about the food.:/didn’t offer anything extra. Just a simple I’m sorry. Nothing special about the food. Ordinary presentation.

They give you the bill with 15% tip already included in it. Soup was too salty. The wraps were not good. Pad Thai was ok. Way too expensive for the quality of food they have.

Great service, great atmosphere and great food. Love symposium Markham and their daily specials!

Nice place for breakfast/​brunch. Comfortable seating and good service. The menu is pretty extensive; portion size is decent and prices are fair.
I was so busy taking a picture of everyone else’s meal that I forgot to take a picture of mine. I got the Tuscan Benedict and unfortunately, I didn’t like the tomato infused Hollandaise sauce. Kind of tasted like bland pasta sauce. Comes with 3 poached eggs and grated gouda to top it off (could have used a bit more smoked gouda though). The breakfast potatoes were great and I really liked my hot chocolate topped with whipped cream.
I’ve enjoyed some of their other breakfast items too, like the more generic Eggs Benedict and 3 eggs with farmers sausage. Worth a visit and they have daily specials as well!

Just back from trying for the first time. Drive by it many a times.
Atmosphere was good. Quiet for a Tuesday night. Music wasn’t too loud. Not busy at all.
Calamari was ok. Batter was a bit bland. Nothing special. Mussel marinara was good. Wasn’t too watered down, and tomatoes weren’t too chunky. Nice taste to it, thoroughly enjoyed.
I tried the peanut chicken satay on rice. Lots of different flavors in the little bowl. Peanut wasn’t too overpowering.
Also had the seafood pasta. Nice creaminess to it. Not too thick and nicely seasoned. The toast that came was a bit over cooked, making it very dry & chewy.
Overall was nice quiet dinner. One thing we found awkward is that every time the manager came by to ask us how we were, the waiter would swoop in and ask the same thing;as if he was on probation or something and wanted to make sure we didn’t complain. Happened more than once making it noticeable.
Will definitely go again as the rest of the menu items looked interesting.

Came here for a friend’s birthday celebration where she reserved a table on the back patio. This plaza is located pretty north and out of the way in a residential area. Regardless, this place had a nice intimate vibe throughout the evening.
I ordered a slice of chocolate caramel cake and a mocha. Take a look at the pics below — they tasted just as good as they look.
Symposium is a great place to go for dessert after dinner. It’s comparable to the likes of other dessert café places like Café Mirage. I’d definitely return, but it’s usually out of the way, being on the outskirts of Markham.

Service
Nothing out of the ordinary for the service, in fact our waiter was quite friendly. Not much to say here.
Food
Where do I even begin? It is so disappointing that a restaurant that looks so nice serves such lackluster food. We went on a Thursday night so the special was $ 50 for a three-​course meal for 2 individuals. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal except the food didn’t meet any of our expectations. For the appetizers my boyfriend got a caesar salad which was pretty average but my cup of soup had too much salt and I was quenched. Moving onto the main dishes, I had some kind of steak paired with potatoes and veggies. Having bok choy as a side is not very impressive and the steak was heavily seasoned to the point where I couldn’t tell if the meat was actually fresh or not. The potatoes were fine. My boyfriend got a seafood pasta but it was quite spicy. The dish itself was fine but the spiciness overpowered the taste of the seafood. We ordered tea later on and was disappointed again that they use Tetley’s…I thought only diners use that brand. I was clearly expecting a little more. I had high hopes for the dessert and chose the carrot cake. It wasn’t bad, it was moist, but the flavour was forgettable.

We went there for brunch over the holidays on a weekday, and I would have to say for a quiet day our service was not very good at all. The staff didn’t seem to pay much attention to the customers and they were chatting amongst themselves more. When they did come to serve us, they didn’t seem overly happy about it. Anyways, aside from the service, I had the eggs benedict and it was good, aside from the fact the knives they give you are so dull you can barely cut anything with it. My husband had the big breakfast, and in comparison to many other restaurants I think the portion is smaller than what you’d expect for the price. I think I’d go there for burgers and something else if I was to return.

I think the flaws begin with the menu. Symposium attempts to do more than they can. They should stick to doing desserts and coffee because their food is not up to par. For one, their food is tasteless. I had their chicken souvlaki and $ 20 and a small portion of food later I was left very disappointment. My friend had their burger and was also quite disappointed. The burger was tasteless and greasy.
The service is on par with their quality of food. Servers are impatient, slow and at times rude.
Their dessert is also very sweet and their bananas aren’t ripe enough from what I have seen from them, but if that’s your thing then by all means give it a try.
If you want dessert or coffee, give this place a try (even that I would avoid) but if you’re going for food, DEFINITELY avoid it. Not worth it at all.

Came here on a Monday around 1pm and the place was full! (Maybe because it was the end of the year and everyone was on their break?)
⁷⁄₁₀ for food. I got the breakfast for champions which came with 3 strips of bacon, 3 eggs, waffle and fries. Bacon was done just right so I was pretty happy with that. Everything else was so average. Great big portion though! We barely finished
³⁄₁₀ for service. First, no one greeted us until after 5 minutes waiting at the door. Then, we waited 30 minutes for our food and the waitress was always not available when we needed her.
Overall I spent around $ 15. Pretty decent price for brunch. Will come again because they have a variety of choices for food but don’t expect anything spectacular!

Delicious Beef Burger in Town! Yum! It also provides a nice environment with comfortable seating, indoor and outdoor. Great selection of wines and a wide variety of dishes. Monday Special with Great Price! Must Go & Eat!

Delicious Beef Burger in Town! Yum! It also provides a nice environment with comfortable setting, indoor and outdoor. Great selection of wines and a wide variety of dishes. Monday Special with Great Price! Must Go & Eat!

This is a beautiful small restaurant located at the corner of Kennedy and Major Mac on the south west corner. There’s a lot of parking in the plaza but around the restaurant, parking is pretty full.
From the outside, the restaurant looks really plain but once you get inside, it is really a beauty. This restaurant was recommended to me by a friend and the décor amazed me. Greeted on arrival. The lighting and everything was the perfect setting to bring someone for a date. I ordered a burger and it tasted amazing. I was a little hesitant to come to this restaurant but it was an amazing experience.
Service was too notch, there weren’t many people though. So, depending on the traffic they have, I guess it really depends. But, I’ve been to restaurants with no one there and the slowest service ever… So… Anyways back on topic, our server was really nice. My friends and I had an amazing time, and I would definitely recommend this restaurant!
4.5÷5

The atmosphere was quiet and calm, good place to bring a date. The service was great and the waiter was very helpful. He suggested an appetizer platter that had both the calamari and flatbread for a fraction of the normal price. He came periodically to checkup on the table and to clear unwanted dishes.
The calamari was crispy and had enough spice on its own, no need for the cocktail sauce that came with it. For a place with such classy décor, it was weird that the sauces came in little plastic containers. The flatbread was loaded with sauce and a generous amount a shrimp, it was very similar to a pizza in flavour, except the dough was lighter. The barbecue sauce was a amazing but it drowned out the taste of the Brie. The patty was moist but couldn’t really taste anything under than the BBQ sauce and the raw red onions.
The cake selection was huge and the wait staff patiently introduced each cake in the display fridge. There’s an added touch of design using chocolate drizzles before it is served. Overall, will come back again for a meal or even just to grab something sweet.

The veggie burger was really good. Came with roast potatoes which were really dry
– try the chocolate cookie sundae! Has a lava surprise :)

Got the teriyaki salmon
–over cooked, dry
–served with uncle bens rice
–over priced ($ 25 after tax and tips)
–everything was extremely bland
Servers were okay
Owner is rude and has a bad attitude

Worst experience ever. If you have to go to Symposium, go to the other locations. Came here for brunch since it was close by. Thought it would be full because of labour day Monday, so we went in to realize it was half empty. Waited there for 5 – 7 minutes and then the hostess tells me they’re cleaning the tables. So we waited another minute to be seated, then got our menus. Looked through the menu and was ready to order, only to realize we had to wait another 5 minutes for our server to come over and ask what we wanted to drink (I thought water was pretty standard when they come over). So we ordered and waited another 5 minutes for my pint, another 35 minutes and still no food. I got pissed, chugged my beer and cancelled the rest of the crap we ordered. I paid for the beer without tipping, perhaps I should’ve drank it and left without paying.
Its simple — if you can’t serve promptly, take a damn day off. I was h-​angry!

Cozy and casual place to have one of their daily special drinks, but that’s about it. We tried their $ 5 burger and I’d rather have a big mac (disclosure, I like big macs) the soup was big, which was all it had going for it .
The drinks are cheap and the atmosphere is nice but the food is passable.

I agree with Chris C. The food and services are decent. The ambiance is good. The wine list is passable for a bistro, though maybe not good enough for a lounge. The price is higher than I am used to.
Overall, the food quality ranged from average to good. I ordered a French Onion soup as starter. It was hearty and not too salty. It could have more cheese. For main, I ordered a steak wrap. The wrap was loaded with lots of steak strips. The steak strips were fresh, tender and flavourful. i liked that the chef didn’t go cheap on ingredients. The wrap was a tad too saucy. The juice leaked, and it quickly became messy to eat the wraps. My dining mate ordered a Haddock sandwich, which actually came in a bun, not two slices of bread. He said the fish fillets were tender, moist, fresh enough (no hint of fishiness). He wished the fish fillets were bigger. We ordered a Chocolate Banana Split as dessert. It was good portioned, too.
This restaurant is strategically located in the Angus Glen neighborhood, just north of the Unionville neighborhood. And there isn’t another true Western dining venue in these 2 hoods. I think they can charge these prices as long as the millionaires in these 2 hoods are willing to pay. Affordability is not an issue to them.

Let’s be honest. There are a lot of places that do then same concept. The customer service here could be better. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like their servers care enough to check up on your table to make sure everything is okay. Their washroom is clean. The décor is very cozy. Their food… I am not sure cause I have never tried it.
I only come here for dessert. I have an obsession with Carrot Cake and their sky high Carrot Cake is amazing. The cream cheese frosting is creamy, buttery and just sweet enough. The cake is moist and fluffy with a few fruits tossed in there to provide contrast of texture and taste to the cream cheese frosting. Every time I come here I get the Carrot Cake (unless they don’t have it than I have to, reluctantly and painfully, choose a different dessert).
Please keep in mind that there are always a good amount of people enjoying themselves at this location. I see that these people do order their food and seem to enjoy it. I also have noticed that they have many good deals such as date night for 2 for $ 48. Burgers for $ 5 as long as your purchase ANY drink. Their portions looks huge. Will he coming back here one day for a meal. :)

From reading previous reviews we did not have high expectations going in, however the level of quality at that price did not please us.
Let’s start by saying the restaurant is quite nice, open and clean. Our server was prompt, friendly and made sure our needs were met. The washrooms were clean as well. Prices are a little on the high side, but affordable. Coffee was good.
The food was sub par.
We had the Eggs Benedict and French Toast. The eggs were very bulbous and round, cutting into them revealed a thoroughly cooked yolk (to the level of a medium-​hard boiled egg). The eggs were topped with only a mere table spoon of hollandaise sauce, not nearly enough to even cover the eggs entirely. Pea meal bacon and home fries were okay. The French toast was slightly on the burnt side due to the sugar or honey that they must have beaten into the eggs. The taste was okay but nothing spectacular. For the medium-​high price point the food quality should have been better. I expect this type of food at a greasy diner, not at a café/​lounge.
We will not be going back to Symposium.

Went on a regular Sunday for lunch and even though there were empty tables we had to wait 25 mins before getting seated. Presentation of food and taste of food was just average. Nothing great to comment about. slow service (took about 40 mins for our brunch to arrive). I wouldnt come back here as I dont see any reason that would compel me to.