Amazing service! Chef Allan was very kind and consistently checked on us to make sure we were doing okay. He even served the food to us, and since it was my first time at the restaurant, he gave great recommendations based on my preferences. Our server, Irene, was very helpful and friendly always making sure our water was refilled, checking on us from time to time, and clearly explaining the menu. She was very accommodating and happy to answer all of our questions. Overall, it was an amazing experience with outstanding customer service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ken
You need to hire more staff. There was only one server for the whole restaurant that night when we were there and no bar tender.
Ian Barrett
We attended the Christmas buffet at the 6:45 seating. We were seated promptly which was nice considering the large number of people in line. Service deteriorated from there. We could not get a server to come near so could not get a drink other than water. We found the food to be decent but not of a value of $145 per person. I found cold broccoli, cold cauliflower and warm veggies which should not have been on the serving table at all. Roast beef was of poor quality. The person carving did not seem to be bothered. I do think more staff would be a help. Interestingly enough we did have a smiling server when it was time to pay. We would not go back.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
Lynn
We very much enjoyed our lunch. We sat by the fire which was lovely and enjoyed a leisurely lunch. Food and service were wonderful and it is always nice to see Ezra!!
Pam
The meals were over cooked, with one dish not as presented on the menu. Generally, not good value with the presentation more like bar food and not what this restaurant can typically deliver to their guests.
Andy
$1000 for a family of 6 was insane. The food was meh. Lots of stuff was constantly put, so you either had to wait or come back. $76 for an 8 year old child was insane and even $145 per adult was crazy!!!! I had high expectations, but it was sad that it never performed. I will not be back next year. The only reason why we went was because we were leaving town the next day and I didn't want the hassle. I will say, the staff was amazing! So Friendly.
Henry
Hello, Please be informed that the food quality is worse than last year especially for the lobster soap is pretty salty. No oyster this year and no Chinese noodles is another concern and I did remember oyster is one of the famous food in my memory. Looking forward for improvement next year as the price should align with your customers expectations. Thanks!
Karla
We attended the Christmas Day buffet at the Hyatt Regency Calgary downtown, attracted by its festive promise and prime location. The setting was genuinely pleasant: the Thompson restaurant featured elegant holiday decor, warm lighting, and comfortable seating that created a welcoming, celebratory atmosphere. The buffet offered impressive variety of sushi, dim sum, charcuterie, chilled seafood, paella, carving stations with turkey, prime rib and ham, salads, and an abundant dessert selection. When items were fresh, quality was good: prime rib tender, desserts rich. Unfortunately, execution fell far short, especially at the premium price (well over $100/person). Popular stations ran out quickly and replenishments were slow or absent. Sushi depleted early with no timely restock; dim sum we sampled arrived dried out; chicken karaage was dried out and tough from sitting too long; charcuterie was repeatedly stripped bare of the best offerings. Lamb tasted strongly of mutton, paella replenishments were stone cold, turkey stuffing was quinoa (an odd, sacrilegious choice for Christmas that was not being sampled by many diners), promised smoked salmon appeared to still be swimming up the river somewhere. We noticed multiple instances of seafood cross-contamination, raising allergy concerns. Service issues compounded the disappointment: reception staff wore overly casual attire, clashing with the upscale venue, and openly criticized our fair per-person tip despite the uneven experience. While the ambiance and menu ambition showed potential, chronic shortages, picked-over stations, cold/overcooked replacements, and unprofessional touches made this feel lacking of the upscale event it was advertised to be and it was overpriced for the offering. For such a costly holiday event, seamless abundance is expected and this was not delivered. We left disappointed and cannot recommend it.
Joyce
The service and environment are pleasant, which I appreciate. The food was okay, but I felt it was a bit too salty and not quite worth the price.
Helen
First time at the holiday buffet and we were impressed. Our tradition was to go to the Fairmont Banff and for the past couple of years the quality and value plummeted. We were very impressed with Thompsons and think we can continue our holiday tradition!
Service and staff were very helpful, polite and attentive. Ambience is warm, comfortable and inviting. Food presentation is very stylish and professional. Excellent choice of wine and cocktails.
Elaine
We booked the 4 pm sitting of the Christmas Eve four-course meal at Thomsons. All guests were seated in the dining room lounge as the dining room was prepping for 700 people to attend the Christmas Day brunch the next day. The tables and surroundings were decorated beautifully so it was very elegant. Not all tables were occupied, but if so, there was probably only room for 50 guests, so it was quiet and intimate. All tables were served the poached pear salad first, which was delicious. Once all tables finished the salad, the soup was served. The lobster bisque was rich and creamy with lobster stuffed ravioli. The mushroom consomme was also very good with pieces of mushrooms floating in the broth. Every guest in attendance, no matter what their age, was served the same meal. A child, aged around two years old, was served the same food as her parents, so her dad had two complete meals. The next course was the main, and we had three choices. Several guests ordered the tenderloin steak with bone marrow. It came with a huge bone! We ordered turkey. The breast was very tender and delicious; the carrots were good, the quinoa stuffing sounded odd, but it was really tasty; but the dark meat confit was pure mush. They shredded the meat beyond recognition and it was bland and impossible to eat. Dessert was poached pears or raspberry mousse, both of which were delicious. We would highly recommend going to this dinner next year.
Ben
We went for the Christmas Eve dinner. Everything was great except for the food. For $110/person on a price fixe menu, I would expect a very elevated meal. The salad was a simple pear and (canned) mandarins salad, the lobster bisque was luke warm at best but more likely room temperature. The steak was ok but the sides were again luke warm. Desert was ok. All in all very underwhelmed. Based on the quality of food I would have been satisfied spending 30-50 considering it was Christmas Eve.
Sarah
Thomsons was such a wonderful venue for my family and I to have dinner on our first night in Calgary. The service was amazing. There was nothing they would not of done for us. The attention to details was noted and very much appreciated. Two of us are in the hospitality industry and we can't help noting things and we could not fault our beautiful server and the food. Thank you so much we loved our experience.
Rebecca Jeppesen
We are in Calgary for a conference. I met coworkers for dinner. We all ordered at the same time - I requested no onion and garlic. We waited maybe 45 minutes. Everyone's food came except mine. People were actually finished their dinner when my steak bites finally arrived. I was about 1/4 through when someone - not our server- came out and literally the plate out from under me saying they sent the wrong bread... I said it was fine, I wouldn't eat the bread. But he just took it abruptly and left. I waited another 10 minutes and they delivered another serving - with different bread and some quite awful (totally different) seasoning. Because our group was 8+ a gratuity was applied automatically. It ultimately cost me $35 for an appetizer that I didn't enjoy, with terrible service. Lucky for me, onion and garlic cause inflammation and not anaphylaxis.
Amazing service! Chef Allan was very kind and consistently checked on us to make sure we were doing okay. He even served the food to us, and since it was my first time at the restaurant, he gave great recommendations based on my preferences. Our server, Irene, was very helpful and friendly always making sure our water was refilled, checking on us from time to time, and clearly explaining the menu. She was very accommodating and happy to answer all of our questions. Overall, it was an amazing experience with outstanding customer service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
You need to hire more staff. There was only one server for the whole restaurant that night when we were there and no bar tender.
We attended the Christmas buffet at the 6:45 seating. We were seated promptly which was nice considering the large number of people in line. Service deteriorated from there. We could not get a server to come near so could not get a drink other than water.
We found the food to be decent but not of a value of $145 per person. I found cold broccoli, cold cauliflower and warm veggies which should not have been on the serving table at all. Roast beef was of poor quality. The person carving did not seem to be bothered. I do think more staff would be a help. Interestingly enough we did have a smiling server when it was time to pay. We would not go back.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
We very much enjoyed our lunch. We sat by the fire which was lovely and enjoyed a leisurely lunch. Food and service were wonderful and it is always nice to see Ezra!!
The meals were over cooked, with one dish not as presented on the menu. Generally, not good value with the presentation more like bar food and not what this restaurant can typically deliver to their guests.
$1000 for a family of 6 was insane. The food was meh. Lots of stuff was constantly put, so you either had to wait or come back. $76 for an 8 year old child was insane and even $145 per adult was crazy!!!! I had high expectations, but it was sad that it never performed. I will not be back next year. The only reason why we went was because we were leaving town the next day and I didn't want the hassle. I will say, the staff was amazing! So Friendly.
Hello, Please be informed that the food quality is worse than last year especially for the lobster soap is pretty salty. No oyster this year and no Chinese noodles is another concern and I did remember oyster is one of the famous food in my memory. Looking forward for improvement next year as the price should align with your customers expectations. Thanks!
We attended the Christmas Day buffet at the Hyatt Regency Calgary downtown, attracted by its festive promise and prime location. The setting was genuinely pleasant: the Thompson restaurant featured elegant holiday decor, warm lighting, and comfortable seating that created a welcoming, celebratory atmosphere. The buffet offered impressive variety of sushi, dim sum, charcuterie, chilled seafood, paella, carving stations with turkey, prime rib and ham, salads, and an abundant dessert selection. When items were fresh, quality was good: prime rib tender, desserts rich. Unfortunately, execution fell far short, especially at the premium price (well over $100/person). Popular stations ran out quickly and replenishments were slow or absent. Sushi depleted early with no timely restock; dim sum we sampled arrived dried out; chicken karaage was dried out and tough from sitting too long; charcuterie was repeatedly stripped bare of the best offerings. Lamb tasted strongly of mutton, paella replenishments were stone cold, turkey stuffing was quinoa (an odd, sacrilegious choice for Christmas that was not being sampled by many diners), promised smoked salmon appeared to still be swimming up the river somewhere. We noticed multiple instances of seafood cross-contamination, raising allergy concerns. Service issues compounded the disappointment: reception staff wore overly casual attire, clashing with the upscale venue, and openly criticized our fair per-person tip despite the uneven experience. While the ambiance and menu ambition showed potential, chronic shortages, picked-over stations, cold/overcooked replacements, and unprofessional touches made this feel lacking of the upscale event it was advertised to be and it was overpriced for the offering. For such a costly holiday event, seamless abundance is expected and this was not delivered. We left disappointed and cannot recommend it.
The service and environment are pleasant, which I appreciate. The food was okay, but I felt it was a bit too salty and not quite worth the price.
First time at the holiday buffet and we were impressed. Our tradition was to go to the Fairmont Banff and for the past couple of years the quality and value plummeted. We were very impressed with Thompsons and think we can continue our holiday tradition!
Restaurantji Recommends
Service and staff were very helpful, polite and attentive. Ambience is warm, comfortable and inviting. Food presentation is very stylish and professional. Excellent choice of wine and cocktails.
We booked the 4 pm sitting of the Christmas Eve four-course meal at Thomsons. All guests were seated in the dining room lounge as the dining room was prepping for 700 people to attend the Christmas Day brunch the next day. The tables and surroundings were decorated beautifully so it was very elegant. Not all tables were occupied, but if so, there was probably only room for 50 guests, so it was quiet and intimate. All tables were served the poached pear salad first, which was delicious. Once all tables finished the salad, the soup was served. The lobster bisque was rich and creamy with lobster stuffed ravioli. The mushroom consomme was also very good with pieces of mushrooms floating in the broth. Every guest in attendance, no matter what their age, was served the same meal. A child, aged around two years old, was served the same food as her parents, so her dad had two complete meals. The next course was the main, and we had three choices. Several guests ordered the tenderloin steak with bone marrow. It came with a huge bone! We ordered turkey. The breast was very tender and delicious; the carrots were good, the quinoa stuffing sounded odd, but it was really tasty; but the dark meat confit was pure mush. They shredded the meat beyond recognition and it was bland and impossible to eat. Dessert was poached pears or raspberry mousse, both of which were delicious. We would highly recommend going to this dinner next year.
We went for the Christmas Eve dinner. Everything was great except for the food. For $110/person on a price fixe menu, I would expect a very elevated meal. The salad was a simple pear and (canned) mandarins salad, the lobster bisque was luke warm at best but more likely room temperature. The steak was ok but the sides were again luke warm. Desert was ok. All in all very underwhelmed. Based on the quality of food I would have been satisfied spending 30-50 considering it was Christmas Eve.
Thomsons was such a wonderful venue for my family and I to have dinner on our first night in Calgary. The service was amazing. There was nothing they would not of done for us. The attention to details was noted and very much appreciated. Two of us are in the hospitality industry and we can't help noting things and we could not fault our beautiful server and the food. Thank you so much we loved our experience.
We are in Calgary for a conference. I met coworkers for dinner. We all ordered at the same time - I requested no onion and garlic. We waited maybe 45 minutes. Everyone's food came except mine. People were actually finished their dinner when my steak bites finally arrived. I was about 1/4 through when someone - not our server- came out and literally the plate out from under me saying they sent the wrong bread... I said it was fine, I wouldn't eat the bread. But he just took it abruptly and left. I waited another 10 minutes and they delivered another serving - with different bread and some quite awful (totally different) seasoning. Because our group was 8+ a gratuity was applied automatically. It ultimately cost me $35 for an appetizer that I didn't enjoy, with terrible service. Lucky for me, onion and garlic cause inflammation and not anaphylaxis.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
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