Church Restaurant

BELFRY - EXCELLENT Place!! - Yes the portions are not huge but if you want huge go to a buffet and stuff yourself silly! This is excellent quality food where taste and presentation takes precedence over everything else! I will definately be coming back! The service was excellent although I was slightly disappointed with the wine that was reccomended. (they didnt have the wine I requested and they reccomended something else)
I ordered the fois gras and the rack of lamb and my wife had the steak tartare and the beef rib. The beef rib was in a lobster ragu that was absolutely excellent. We were both impressed with the presentation - very good! Dinner for 2 with a bottle of wine ($65) was $220

Went to the Belfry (upstairs at the Church). What a huge difference from last year when they had the small plate menu format. The place was full at 5.30. The new menus are the regular one, which is a la carte, or a $30 menu with several choices for appetiser, entree, dessert. Even coffee is included. The food portions were perfect, and appeared at exactly the right time. Service was excellent. For two people, with a bottle of wine, the price was $138 (including taxes) Excellent value. Highly recommended

I've been here a few times... the first time it was amazing!
The second time appalling, the third time..
well as they say.. three strikes you're OUT!

We are talking about the final visit.
Martinis came, on the rocks.. they didn't ask so they just presumed.
Staff was all over the place, nobody seemed to be "our" wait staff.
Food was cold, and not at all interesting..

My wife and I have eaten at the Church Restaurant for a number of years when we come to Stratford, and we were not disappointed in 2008. From where we were sitting almost every table was informed that it was sized for the four course meal so if you choose to order "a la carte" don't complain about leaving hungry, maybe try to waffle house on I-95. We usually have lunch in the belfry a couple times during the week as well, and there was certainly no "small burgers" on the menu, are you sure you ate in the Belfry? Overall a pleasant and informative experience, some of the dishes were a bit overpriced but it was very enjoyable. My wife and I strongly recommend.

We were given a $100 gift certificate and had to use it; otherwise we wouldn't have returned.
Food tastes are interesting, portions are micro sized. I didn't know portions came that small. The piece of halibut was smaller than you get on a Filet-O-Fish at McDonald's.
Our waiter was excellent and very personable. However we complained to the hostess about several of the other waiters stuffing the bill books into the backs of their pants....disgusting. Would the waitstaff like it if I reached into my crotch for my credit card???? The hostess blew it off and didn't even apologize. A prominent reataurant in Detroit allowed their staff to do that....they are out of business.

You go here for a tasting experience....presentation and interesting tastes are the pluses...service was good....forget about feeling full when you leave.
Washrooms are in the basement....two stories down.

I wish that I had read the reviews before going to dinner.
I bet that the people at the next table were wishing that they had as well. The portions in comparison to the price tags was outrageous. What little food we got was good but if it hadn't been for the bread that the waitress kept bring we would have gone home still very hungry. (maybe she knew this).

This restaurant was a major disappointment, more style than substance and grossly overpriced. The serving portions are minimal at best, nowhere sufficient to satisfy even the smallest of appetites. What little food there is, is average. My three small pieces of beef tenderloin were luke warm and certainly not worth the hefty price tag of $39 nor are the deserts at $15 for the similar small portions.
Pretentious it is, value for money it is not.

Seems a lot of really great reviews mixed with some really bad. We didn't know what to expect except that the reputation of the restaurant in Stratford is so strong that we thought we would put ourselves in the hands of the chef. I'm not really sure where the bad reviewers were dining, but it couldn't have been the same restaurant that we visited. For a 'fine dining' restaurant, the portions were very good, the flavours intense and focussed, couldn't have asked for a better experience. Our waiter (a blond chap) made a couple of mistakes throughout the evening, but we suspect that he might have been new to the restaurant.
Disregard the nay-sayers and enjoy the restaurant for the destination that it is.

Some reviewers have cited that the Church is serving small portions and I guess that's probably true if you normally eat at American chain restaurants. If you order the 4 plate pris fix, you can't miss. The portions are more than enough to satisfy and the flavor combinations are interesting and complex. Our waiter was very kind but not as knowledgeable as we would have liked. We'll try the Belfry next month when we come back.