Mysteriously Yours - An Adventurous Dining Experience

Often pretending to be Sherlock (Me!) with their own Watson (My adorable Mr. Fly), we are known among our friends to indulge in puzzles and mystery games. But when Mr. Fly heard about mysteriously creating a unique experience out of these games - and that too as a birthday gift - he just couldn’t resist! With advance reservations made (that’s a must!), Mr Fly was ready to surprise me with a dining experience I would not forget at Mysteriously Yours. 

All dressed up and clueless I set off to the Chelsea Hotel on 33 Gerrard St W, Toronto, ON M5G 1Z4 with mi amore, knowing that he plans some of the best surprises! Up we went in a lift of the hotel to floor number 12 and to a small registration desk where we were handed our name tags for the evening. The next stop was an elderly bartender who asked us our choice of drink for the evening. With some PINK vodka-filled dropper placed neatly in a glass full of lemonade, my cocktail was nothing short of a delicious science experiment! Initiation, I suppose. This initial hour is your time to sip on and enjoy their buffet spread. We found our seats in the main room which seated about a 100 people around white cloaked circular tables. Casual introductions to our fellow dinners at the table followed while we helped ourselves to a 3 course meal including shrimp tapenade, mashed potatoes, noodles, tender chicken in a savoury gravy,  beef ribs in Guinness gravy and a favourite to the sweet toothers - assorted cupcakes and chocolate brownies drenched in Bailey's Irish Cream chocolate ganache! I’d qualify the food as decent enough. But then again, the evening is about what comes next - a journey into the world of a murder mystery.

​The theater has different shows that run throughout the year. Ours was a Sherlock-themed one. The case of the evening was the mysterious death of a scientist who was to launch a time travel device at his very hotel! The eccentric wife who seemed to like indulging in a drink or two, his young mistress, the hotel manager, a clumsy journalist who seemed to find a story in just about anything, a hilariously past-his-prime Sherlock himself and a sharp-as-ever Watson enacted an interactive play with buckets of humour and intrigue. The mission was to guess whodunnit. And one of the characters was Moriarty in disguise!  My highlight of the evening was when Watson suddenly called my name out along with a few others and accused us of the crime! Turns out our offense was having adoring partners who had pre-informed the organisers about our special day. A nice touch where we were now being showered by greeting from our fellow detectives.  

As the mystery unfolded, we noticed how truly captivating this set of actors were. It was a typical three part story that emphasized how you were watching classic theatre unfold while being a part of it, and laughing your guts out on the way through. As Mr. Fly embellished later, the quality of this experience rested in the fact that they did not let the murder mystery culminate in a whimper. Just before Watson’s grand reveal, the audience is allowed a chance to put in their guess at the culprit on a chit of paper, along with the clues that led us to it. And yes, winners do get a prize. As the culprit (and Moriarty) were revealed, the clues truly made us all gasp at once! The most fascinating piece being the clues that had been laid out all through the play. 

Applause and bows ensue, and you get a chance at a quick photoshoot with the actors outside the room on your way out. It’s only your way out that you realize how tantalized and awake your senses feel - mind and taste buds particularly, both summed up in the smile plastered on your face! Mysteriously Yours is truly worth an experience - or several, as in our case.