The Observatory at Grouse Mountain, Vancouver > Reviews (1)

The Observatory Restaurant - Grouse Mountain - Vancouver

I recently spent three weeks in Canada. For two of those weeks I was staying with some friends in Vancouver. We had been to several different bars and restaurants while eating out in the city, but on this particular night, my friends had promised us something a little special! I was told it would cost a bit more than usual but would be well worth it for the experience.

My friends booked us into the Observatory Restaurant. If you are spending sometime on Vancouver and want to try something a little bit special, then this place may well be just what you looking for!

What Is It?

The famous Observatory restaurant sits atop Grouse Mountain. If you are unfamiliar with Vancouver, Grouse Mountain is one of the three ski resorts that sits on the Northern edge of this beautiful city. What makes this restaurant something special is the view that it offers dinners whilst they are eating there meals. From the main seating area you can see out over the city. At night the city lights up and you can see for miles over the wonderful sprawling metropolis below.

Grouse mountain itself also offers excellent Ski and Snowboarding in the winter months, along with an out door ice rink, plenty of other winter activities are also available. In summer there is the famous Grouse Grind, a staircase winding its way up the mountain. If the 2830 stairs are not your idea of fun, then the gondola is the quick and easy way to get yourself up there.

So How Was It?

My personal experience of the Observatory was not quite what I was hoping for. We made a reservation for a Wednesday evening and made our way to the foot of the mountain. The gondola usually costs $30 to ride but when you have pre booked the restaurant you get it for free, which seemed like a good deal. The ride up the mountain was very spectacular as the city fell below us. The Gondola itself is huge, there are just two carriages, one goes up and one comes down. As we entered the huge carriage we were greeted by our friendly Gondola operating type person. There were about five other people who also boarded the Gondola with us, they all looked as they were going for some late night flood lit snowboarding. The Gondola man gave everyone his little speech, telling us all the mountain stats and the history of the Gondola. Even though he was very professional you could tell he was sick of saying the same thing over and over. So we told him to put some more feeling in to it and starting winding him up! He was up for a laugh though and started talking to us and asking us all where we were from. He was very friendly and made our ten minute trip up the mountain quite good fun.

As we approached the half way point on our Gondola ride, we could see the low clouds gathering. Gondola man told us not to worry as the top of the mountain was above the clouds and this should not effect our views from the top. However as we entered the thick cloud and pushed on the cloud got thicker and thicker.

Upon arriving at the top of Grouse we were still in cloud. Our Gondola man told us it may well clear, but we got the impression he was just trying to get out hopes up.

We left the gondola and went out onto the slopes. It was around 7pm and all the mountain top was lit up by floodlights, with the dense cloud it created quite and eerie effect. We quickly made our way over to the large building to our left as it was very cold on top of the mountain and we weren’t really dressed for cold weather. The building on top of the mountain is pretty big. The restaurant is up some stairs but on the ground floor there is a regular bar and eating area for the skiers and snowboarders, as well as toilets. The building was really nice though and the decorations were all deep pine and looked very warm and inviting. We didn’t get chance to look in the down stairs bar but it looked very warm and inviting.

We followed the signs for the Observatory and made our way up the winding staircase that lead up to the restaurant. There we were greeted by a friendly waitress who offered to take our coats and hang them in the back for us. We were then led into the main dining area.

I was surprised how quiet the place was. To say this was supposedly a world famous eating establishment, it was empty. Out of the twenty or so tables there was only one that had people at it. A group of about ten people sat cheerfully chatting away, although it looked as if there meal was coming to an end. Anyway we were led over to our table by this massive windows that supposedly had the best view in Canada. However all we saw was thick cloud and gloom!

The Food

We had already decided on a pre set menu. Although we were told we could only have this if all five members of our party were having it. I thought this a little off as it meant we didn't have much choice as if we didn't want it, it would spoil it for everyone else. Anyway the pre set was $125 and included 5 courses, each with a different wine which we were told would complement the food. This is something that we had seen on the website and we had heard rave reviews about this menu, as this was supposedly a one off special meal we decided it was the one to go for!

Now I should mention that I'm not a big fan of fancy food. Most of the food in Canada I loved, I like good quality hearty food. I was usually eating things like Buffalo burgers, spicy chilli, curry and all kind of good simple food. So this meal was out of my comfort zone, but I was willing to give it a try, despite the rather high cost!

After we were seated we waited about ten minutes and then the servers brought out a small glass of sweet sherry. Along with this they brought out two baskets of freshly cooked baguettes and a few plates of butter. The bread was amazing, I was really hungry and very grateful that there was something to munch on. The bread was still warm and tasted perfect, the butter was really nice and it was just what I needed. The Sherry was Ok but to be honest its not my favourite drink.

After our bread and butter we had around about a ten minutes gap and then our first course arrived. Fingerling potatoes, niçoise olives, quail eggs, mustard seed mignonette, with a small glass of fortified wine, and I mean small! The food was not nice at all, there was only a tiny portion in the centre of my plate, and whilst I know this is the style of these restaurants I just don't get it! It tasted Ok but lacked any flavour. The wine was nice, but as there were only about two mouthfuls I was a little disappointed.

After my disappointment at the first course I was hoping for better with the next. Again there was about a ten minute break and then the second course. Veal Cheeks, toasted polenta, Taleggio cheese, wild BC mushrooms. And this time a small glass of white wine. Again a very small portion that tasted ok but nothing to exciting. Three mouthfuls and it was gone. I was not keen on the wine either as it tasted very bitter and I‘ve never really been a big fan of white wine.

Third was Wild Mushroom & Chestnut Ragout, brioche, micro greens, roast garlic. I thought this sounded nice, however this was the worst of the lot, I really didn't like this one and left some of it. My friend who was sat next to me has similar ideas about food herself, we started to try and formulate a plan to escape and go and find a kebab from somewhere! The wine with this course was a red and this time was quite nice, but again we were only given a very small amount.

Pause For A Brief Interlude!

After this we had what was called an intermission, we were given a blob of sorbet on a spoon which for me was the highlight of the meal! It was very nice, but only a small blob. It was pineapple flavour and was just so refreshing, it really cleansed your pallet or that’s what the servers told us! But to be honest I was with them on this one and could see why this was included in the meal. We decided to try and get our own back on our friend who had suggested this place. So while he had nipped to the toilet, we replaced his sorbet with a blob of butter! On his return though he disappointed us by working out what was going on, plan foiled!

Our intermission lasted about twenty minutes. Next was the main course, Lamb Loin, confit shoulder, cassoulet, heirloom carrots. This was quite nice, and very nicely presented. The lamb was cooked perfectly and tasted great, but again there was not really enough. Just as I was getting into it, it was finished. We were given another nice glass of red to go with this course which I did enjoy. This was probably the best course of the meal. The lamb was neatly cut into strips with everything neatly stacked on top. The sauce was nicely drizzled around the meat and it looked good, but to be honest I would have rather had more food and it looking normal, but that’s just me.

After the main meal there was quite a long wait. They brought out a little more bread which I was grateful for as by this stage I was wasting away and seeing there were no kebab shops on top of the mountain, I was seriously considering eating one of the serving girls!

They were all way to slim to give me a good feed though I decided. Finally we came to the dessert. Spiced Ginger Pudding, toffee ice cream, fleur de sel meringue. This was pretty nice, very tasty, not very big but full of flavour. I did like this dessert and the wine that went with it was excellent. At least the meal finished on a high!

General Feelings

By this point the restaurant was empty apart from our small group. I think if it had been a little more lively we may well have hung around and had some more wine. But it was just dead of any atmosphere, there was no music playing, it felt really odd. We did have a quick coffee, which was Ok but nothing to rave about.

The service we received was good but the staff seemed a little snooty. This was the first place I went to in Canada where I hadn't felt truly welcome. As each course came out the staff described what we were eating and told us about the wine, but if you tried to engage them in conversation or crack a joke they just weren't up for it. We almost felt as though we didn’t really belong in a place like this, which for me personally I suppose is not far wrong. But that said, I would have thought a nice smile from the servers and some friendly chat would have gone a long way.

The Restaurant itself was nicely set out, with obviously stunning views on a clear day or night, but it lacked any atmosphere. The restaurant gets its name from the position it commands over the city and the massive windows that go all the way around the top of the building. I imagine on a clear night when the place is full of lively busting people this would be a really nice place to sit and enjoy the food.

The price for me was crazy. After adding tax and the of course having to give a tip, the meal cost me $160, which is just over £100. I think that is the most I have ever paid for a meal, and yet if I had to come up with a top 100 meals ever, this would not even get close to making it in there! On the way down me and my friend were trying to work out where we could get our kebab from on the way home, and by 11pm I was actually hungry again.

Part of the appeal of the set meal was the wine. Having 5 glasses of wine sounded great when its included in the price, but on reflection we probably got less than half a bottle each, and for that price that seems very poor. There was a bar there so I suppose we could have ordered more wine, but it felt strange doing that when every half hour they were bringing us a glass of ‘their finest wines from around the world’. There was no bar in the restaurant either, I know that’s often the case in places, but I think it’s nice to have a bar area inside the building and I like to see exactly what’s on offer rather than just consulting a drinks menu.

Home Time At Last!

After we had finished our meal and paid our bill we made our way out of the restaurant. The lady who retrieved our coats was very friendly and asked if we had enjoyed our meal. She was probably the nicest member of staff we met in the building!

We asked her if we could order a taxi to come and get us when we arrived back at the foot of the mountain, she was all to happy to go and make the call for us.

As we left the warmth of the building we went for a look around the mountain. The slopes were now shut as it was after 11pm although most of the flood lights were still on, again they gave the mountain an eerie glow with the thick cloud all around. We wandered over to the little out door ice rink, we had a quick play on there for five minutes while we waited for the Gondola to return. It really did look like this would be a fun place to come back to in better weather, either in the day time or in the evening.

When our Gondola arrived we hopped on board and our friendly Gondola man asked how we had got on. A few of us said it was lovely whereas me and Kebab girl complained we were starving. He told us he had never been to the restaurant but would rather go to a steak house than eat all that fancy crap! I pronounced the man my new best friend! When we arrived back at the foot of the mountain we said our goodbyes and went to find our taxi. Even though it had been about half an hour since we had ordered it, there was no taxi in sight. It took us another half hour to get in touch with the taxi firm and book another one. They said they had had no call about a taxi at Grouse mountain. We decided not to worry and just waited in the cold for our ride home. Not a great end to the night!

In Summary

I would like to go back here given the chance, hopefully on a clear day or night and maybe try something else. But I would certainly not recommend the set menu. The overall experience of the night was good, I loved the setting and the Gondola ride was fun. But the food was really quite bland and the service was the worst we got in our three week visit to Canada. This place promised so much and it had the potential to be a really great night out, but for some reason it just never quite lived up to expectations.

If you are ever in the Vancouver area and you don't mind splashing out, then this place is probably worth a visit. Grouse Mountain itself is a great place and there is so much to do, so maybe get up there and give the Restaurant a miss as there are other places to eat up there. Maybe we just came on a bad night and were unlucky?

If you do want to visit the Observatory it’s probably the easiest restaurant in the city to find! It is on top of a mountain after all. Grouse mountain lies to the North of Vancouver and if you head in that direction it’s pretty well sign posted. There are also some directions on the website, just go to www.grousemountain.com Here you can find directions to the mountain and lots of details not just about the restaurant but also about other things to do while your up there and other places to eat and drink. Or if you click on the ‘world class dining’ tab it takes you to the page for the Observatory. Here you can see sample menus, wine lists and other things that will give you an idea of what to expect.

You can also make reservations which at certain times I imagine is a very good idea as I expect the restaurant gets very busy on weekends.

Overall as you have probably worked out by now I was quite disappointed in the Observatory itself. But as I said overall I did enjoy the experience and sometimes its good to take yourself outside your comfort zone and try something different. But all this fancy food and fine wine and stuck up snooties is not for me. Think I will stick to my Buffalo burgers and Yam fries next time I'm in Canada!