Vista 18
740 Burdett Ave.( 18th floor)
250-382-9258
I have been to Vista 18 over four times now, and you may have noticed from my recent reviews that I am started to lose my patience with restaurants in Victoria, Vista 18 is one of those restaurants who is poking me, pushing my buttons. I’ve had some good desserts here, and the drinks can be good too. I had a full dinner here a couple of weeks ago before seeing the symphony perform at the Royal Theatre. I’ll try and keep this short, but believe me, I could go on for a few pages.
The drink I ordered was good( I think it was called an Antioxidant), and the bread basket was actually really nice, warm seedy breads, with an olive butter. The service was actually good. We had a table of five, and we ordered appetizers and a bottle of wine along with cocktails and dessert( over 200 dollars for the bill at least), so I’m glad the service was up to par. The food in my opinion didn’t live up to the price though. I commend the Chef for using local ingredients. We had mussels, spot prawns and an order of yam/sweet potato crisps for appetizers. The crisps were tasty( especially the dipping sauce) but I would have prepared them to be served hot( right out of the frier) rather than cold. The prawn appetizer was a laughable portion on a mountain of bread, and I found the sauce to be quite fishy. I didn’t try the mussels, but they were good from the table census.
The most intriguing and most annoying detail of the evening was actually the same thing, the tasting menu. The menu appears to be three courses, with an option of salad or soup, an entree and dessert for $20.99. My friend and I were impressed with the price, so we decided to do that. When the server came to take our order she then informed us that $20.99 was the price for two out of three courses. What? So we ended up having to pay for a dessert on top of it, so it make the price more like $32.00. What an idiotic and misleading strategy to hook customers into that trap. The salad was pedestrian, didn’t surprise me at all, the dressing was bland. My friend liked the steak, but I thought the portion was small, and the quality of the meat was mediocre. The dessert we had to pay for on top of the two courses was very delicious, and well-prepared. You can see where I stand. I liked some aspects of the meal, but why can’t it all be outstanding? I don’t think I will go here again. 50 dollars of my hard earned money for a relatively blah experience. The decor is kind of outdated too, but who knows, maybe people keep coming back for the spectactular view. This place has a lot of potential, but I think next time, I will try a cocktail at Clive’s downstairs.
Cheers
