House of Dawn Steakhouse

Worse experience ever. The steaks were dry and overcooked. Had a lot of fat and gristle in the steaks. Horrible experience when the manager decanted our white wine. It totally ruined the flavor and aromatic of the wine. Also saw the manager on his phone what seemed to be looking up how to make cocktails. Also seemed unprofessional for the chef to be walking through the restaurant in a bright pink neon t-shirt.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Food, service and ambience were great. Sone dishes are too salty, Scotch Egg with spaghetti and the lobster termador spaghetti were both too salty spaghettini. Bison carpaccio, mushroom risotto, halibut, beef tartare and other dishes were excellent. Portions were generous to share. Overall excellent. Please cut down the sodium as many have medical conditions and salt should be restricted. We will visit your restaurant on October 19. Looking forward to this. Thank you!

Service: 4

Absolutely the worst steak I have ever had.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 3

If you like a good piece of steak and you do not want to travel outside of Richmond, this is the place. Very spacious place, nicely decorated and a team of very professional staff! You can tell everything is done perfectly when the owner is there serving the customers too!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We went to House of Dawn in Richmond for my friend’s birthday. The bison Carpaccio, prawn cocktail, sautéed mushrooms and truffle fries, was very enjoyable.

The ribeye, however, caused quite a bit of confusion. When it arrived it had no rib cap, which is personally my favorite part, so not getting it was a bit upsetting, especially given the price. Both our server and manager agreed something looked off, then the chef came out to say we were all wrong. It turns out the cap is removed because of dry-aging. Fine, that’s their choice, but it should have been explained when ordering and clearly communicated internally. This mix-up wasted time for everyone and was inconvenient. The steak itself was good but didn’t taste like a traditional ribeye, which made the situation frustrating.

The manager handled it well by offering a discount off the steak and a free dessert for the birthday, which we appreciated. Service was friendly and the food was good, but the lack of staff knowledge and clear communication left a mark. I would return for the food but hope the kitchen and staff are more transparent next time.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 3

Edelyne showed us a great time, and showed us what the House of Dawn’s sizzling steaks were all about! Well-recommended on the strawberry trio, and planning our next reservation already.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Absolutely beautiful restaurant in of all places a strip mall. Service was above average, you can tell they are trying to be a top notch fine dining restaurant. Are they there yet? Almost.

The amuse bouche was a complete miss for me. The flavour and the texture did not work at all. Thank goodness that was not an indication of what was to come.

We ordered a variety of dishes from fresh Oysters & Kanpachi Crudo to start. Followed by the Chocolate Steak with a few sides (onion rings were perfectly crispy), Surf & Turf (the tenderloin was perfectly cooked melt in your mouth but the lobster tail was embarrassingly small) & Lobster Thermador. Ending with Tiramisu & Creme Brule for dessert. We also ordered a variety of cocktails. For the most part everything was well prepared & well presented. The flow of each course was well timed allowing us plenty of time to enjoy each dish & better yet the company.

From start to finish we were there for just over 2 hours, but we had a lot of catching up to do with our friends so it was definitely time well spent.

Overall it was a solid dining experience, albeit an expensive one. Was it worth the money? Yes & no. While you can tell they use quality ingredients, you can also tell they add a premium to account for the amount of staff they have on the floor. Cut the number of staff, make the menu slightly more reasonable, get rid of or change the amuse bouche & you'll be that top notch fine dining restaurant you are meant to be.

@inspiringfoodie

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 4

It was our first time trying and the whole experience was amazing!! We ordered 28days butter dry age on recommendation by our server Indra and spot on dish, it was delicious!! We also got Surf n Turf which tasted really good too!! He made us feel very special on our special occasion and explained the menu very well. Had a great time and will visit again soon.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Excited to try House of Dawn in Richmond!
Tried their 28 day dry aged beef🥩 Crispy out and tender in!
One point is a bit disappointing: their broccoli is definitely stale… since you can see it is discoloured in the picture (yellowing greens…)

Apart from that! Still worth the visit for their sizzling torch experience!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 4

This place is fantastic!!! The vibe, the ambiance, the service and the food are all amazing! We got the surf n turf, prawn cocktail, halibut, 6 oz fillet, scallops, Cornish game hen and it was all scrumptious!! The drinks are amazing too

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We started our meal with the Wagyu beef tartare, which was absolutely outstanding—an easy 10/10. The lobster Thermidor with fettuccine was also excellent, rich and flavorful, earning a solid 9/10.
For our main course, we shared the 30oz striploin. It was cooked perfectly and served sizzling on a hot plate with generous amounts of garlic butter. The presentation was a highlight—our server seared the first slice of steak along the edge of the hot plate before serving it to each guest. A thoughtful touch. It was accompanied by a chimichurri sauce that paired very well with the beef.
For sides, the broccolini was decent (6/10), and the onion rings were solid (6/10) but nothing remarkable. The mushrooms, unfortunately, weren't to our taste—odd flavor, and we rated them 3/10, though our server mentioned they’re quite popular with other guests.
We ended the meal by sharing the tiramisu, which was very enjoyable and well-balanced—not overly sweet. A strong 8.5/10.
Service at the table during the food presentation was great—friendly, warm, and attentive. However, during the meal, service fell short. We waited too long for water and drink refills, and it took quite a while for cleared plates to be removed. While we later found out the restaurant was short-staffed, it seemed more like a lack of coordination rather than an actual shortage of staff.
Overall, it was a very good dining experience, and I would definitely recommend House of Dawn to anyone looking for quality steak and standout starters.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 3

What a shock to find a very high end steak house in a strip mall in Richmond. We had the prawn cocktail and ribeye for entree and it was amazing. Service was excellent and the room was nice. The open ceiling took the atmosphere down 1 notch for looks but I think it may have made things less noisy and easy for conversations. I would be back for sure.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Great steak, rest of the food is above average.

The service was horrible.

No one came to take order, refill water or clear the appetizer. Waited about an hour for entree to come.

For the price I would expect high end dining experience but the servers were all under trained and lack of smile

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 1

Tried their chocolate dry aged steak, $160, asked for medium rare. It came undercooked, the effects of which were made more evident by a thick tendon covering a quarter of the steak. The server was made aware of the issue, though management actively avoided our table. Our complaints went unanswered. A $35 steak elsewhere would have been a better night.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 2

After waiting over an hour, several of our steaks came with a thick gristle through the center. For over $160 a steak, this is unacceptable. Another one of our steaks was half thick fat. Ridicoulous. Our server while very professional was also unable to help fix the issue of the food because it was only his second day. That's right there was no one else more senior who can help resolve the issue other than the manager who would not even speak with us. Sent his second day employee to deny us our request to have the food fixed.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 1