Had Appies and Drinks with friends. Happy Hour ends at 5 pm ! What ?? 5 pm is when most Happy Hours start ! Anyways,. the House Wine is okay. Very limited selection of drinks on special. The Appies in my opinion all tasted the same , because everything was deep fried except for the Pita Bread. Service was okay. Nice lady. I had the Cheesecake and it was grossly over priced for what I got. $12. What was I thinking . I wasn't. The room is nice enough. The location is what sells this spot. read more

Hello Vista 18 Staff, Just wanted to let you know that your serving staff did a wonderful service last Sat night for our 5:30 pm dinner.  There was one area of disappointment, the beef tenderloin that I ordered medium rare came out medium and there was a large cut on the tenderloin. I am not sure if that cut was a mistake but I have been to many fine steak houses and this is the first time in recent memory that I have been disappointed.  As I was dining with another couple with their child, I did not want to make a fuss.Again, I just want to bring this to your attention. I sent you an email on 2 October but no acknowledgement from Staff or management. read more

The view was amazing. Service was good. Food was good. But the cocktails portion size was laughable. My wife and I ordered martinis and they were barely to half the glass. Save your money and have water. Lovely atmosphere! read more

ended up with mild food poisoning along with my brother. We ended up in bed after that! contacted the manager he wasn't helpful. won't be back read more

Unexpectedly decided to try this restaurant while on a short trip with friends! Great views, great service, great food. Best tuna I have ever had and I have had some good tuna. This will be a regular when in Victoria. read more

Came here for happy hour. What A View! Solid selection of drinks

We were recommended this by a worker at Victoria Clipper. We arrived just around sunset and the view is incredible, no matter where you sit, since its glass all around. We all enjoyed our main course. I had the seafood hot plate and was great. I ordered the rabbit loin appetizer for the group of three. When it came, there were only two small bite size of the rabbit. The waitress knew we were going to share and never said anything. Otherwise the experience was great, and a little pricey. read more

Looking for an early breakfast, this was one of the only options open before 9am on a Saturday! Reviews looked pretty good and the menu diverse. It did not disappoint. There is a buffet option but I had my eye on the Dungeness Crab Eggs Benedict. Full of flavor but not too rich. Wonderful rosemary potatoes on the side. Decaf coffee was excellent. Restaurant sits at the top floor of a cute hotel. Wonderful views overlooking the city. Highly recommend. read more

Vista 18 - Wine Bars Near Me - Victoria, British Columbia

The atmosphere was great. Our server Brook was awesome. The food was scrumptious and the apple pie cheese cake was to die for. The only problem i have is i want another piece of cheesecake. read more

Quite disappointing. Really should have believed the bad reviews. Ordered on the happy hour menu: (tapas plates 2 for 1): ordered 4 items 1. What were supposed to be fried Balsamic cheese balls... with no balsamic involved. 2. Pork belly beignets, with no pork to be found... and overly savory. 3. Bourbon buttermilk chicken drummets, with no real buttermilk batter characteristics. Overly crispy and chewy to boot. 4. Prawn-tons. - the only saving grace. The mango salt yogurt dipping sauce was the only decent dish. If you're going for the view, it's mediocre. The seating barely allows decent window seats with the Bay views. Overall: Meh. read more

My husband and I went there with high hopes of a tasty meal and lovely view. We were underwhelmed by both, though the view was definitely the better of the two. Our server was fine, not exactly friendly but not offensive. Our starter of roasted beets and goat cheese with greens and a pastry turned out to be more greens soaked in dressing than anything else but overall it was the highlight of the meal. My husband ordered the risotto dish, which turned out to be overcooked rice (not arborio rice; it might have been jasmine or just plain white rice) in a flavorless broth. It was actually amusing that a restaurant would consider that risotto. My chili pasta was decent. We didn't stay for dessert. Pro: pleasant drink selection, very tasty bread. Con: essentially no vegetarian food, overpriced for the quality, lackluster music/ambiance on the weeknight we went. read more

I wish Winnipeg had a place like Vista 18: an elegant but friendly lounge, equally appropriate for a night out with friends or a good date. I'd seen Vista's website and drooled over its menu, but unfortunately visited around 10 at night after a filling dinner elsewhere. So we didn't try the food, but the drinks were perfect: a bracing old-fashioned for my companion and a martini concoction for me. I cannot remember the name, but it had "French" in the title, Chambord among the ingredients, and was a real surprise; this was not a sickly sweet "martini," but a tart, refreshing mix. The live music was pleasant and unobtrusive; we were sitting at a table right next to the two guitar players, but could still converse while appreciating the entertainment. We should have visited the lounge in late afternoon or early evening, to better appreciate the view while it was daylight and more visible. Still, it was a wonderful time here, and I was sorry we didn't have the time to linger longer over a few more drinks and small bites. read more

We ate at Vista 18 after the opera. We had a wonderful time at both. We were seated next to the window at the restaurant with a beautiful view of the city at night. I had spectacular sausage & calamari for an appetizer and rib eye for my entree. Dessert was a bit experimental. I was served whiskey soaked bananas and mini pancakes. Everything tasted delicious. Very good service too. We'll be back soon. read more

Why hasn't anyone told me about Vista 18 yet? Thank you, Yelp, for this one. I've been visiting Victoria for 8 years for both business and leisure. The perfect sexy wine bar with tapas and a live jazz band was something always eluding me in this city, but I think I've found my Nirvana. Vista 18 is located at the top of the Chateau Victoria, downtown. It was a dark evening and I could enjoy the view of the sparkling Parliament buildings from my table. The band was wonderful; that and the flattering lighting created a nice ambiance. Small plates are featured here: we ordered several to share, our favorite being the Prawn Shooters. Very cool presentation! Great place for a date. We'll definitely come back! read more

Happy hour is awesome. $5 for a sleeve of Hoynes Craft beer and two for one appy snacks. All tasty. Service excellent. View great. Regular menu is a little pricey - but the quality is there. read more

We stopped by on Monday night (5/19). Joe, the bartender, made us some good drinks. It was a slow evening and we were able to talk about many places, restaurants, lounges/bars in the downtown Victoria area. And of course we had a few laughs as well. The view from the 18th floor is phenomenal and should not be missed! read more

The City's Best! In a number of areas i find it the best... 1. location - right downtown, on the 18th floor of a hotel 2. view - AMAZING 3. food - delicious and beautifully presented 4. price - reasonable, for a hotel VERY inexpensive 5. service - especially one of the female servers - wow, can we say friendly and extremely POLITE. when everything comes together like this, it makes for the perfect dining experience! read more

Very poor food for the price. We met up with friends here from Vancouver for drinks & decided to try their menu. The prices were reflective of a higher end restaurant and the menu claimed fresh local ingredients so we decided to take the plunge. All four of us were very disappointed in the food. I tried their strip loin steak and it was tasteless. I also had a side order of prawns and they were the strangest tasting prawns I have ever eaten. And the amount of salt used throughout the dish was overwhelming. I'm still feeling the affects of the salt as I write this review the following morning. My girlfriend had the halibut with walnuts, sounded good but again was tasteless and not fresh. She did like the roasted rhubarb galette that came with it. Our friends food was burned and we all agreed that we won't be coming back for food here again. We all wished we had gone to Parika where we were originally thinking of going. The service was certainly friendly but was not very attentive as plates piled up on our table and were not taken away for some 20 minutes. We only were given a couple menus for 4 people, not really bad by any means, just could have been better and especially for the prices! BAD FOOD, OVERPRICED! WILL NOT EAT HERE AGAIN! The jazz trio that was playing was EXCELLENT! Absolutely loved the live music which helped improve the dismal tasting diners. REALLY GREAT TRIO! The views are marvelous as well from the all seating areas in Vista 18. May be a better place for drinks & stay away from the dinner food. read more

It's the spectacular view that keeps me coming back . . . Oh, and the food is good. Make a reservation to get a window table, as I did today for me and my friend. Be specific too - you want the best side - which is facing the Inner Harbour. Since it's the weekend, we got the one-page Brunch/Lunch Menu. My friend had an omelette with pan fries and toast. The omelette appeared smallish to me. I guess it was a two-egg; be specific if you want the 3 egg one I saw option of on the menu. You get to "create" by adding 3 additional ingredients, like ham, chorizo sausage, cheese. He said it was very good, nicely prepared and presented. I had the Oregon shrimp and Dungeness crab melt with yam fries. Delicious, and an over abundance of shoestring yam fries. Could have used a side dip for them, like the usual chipotle mayo or something. There was an adequate balance of seasoned, mayo-based shrimp and crab mix on focaccia bread. The only problem was the gruyere cheese melt over top. I forgot how stinky gruyere is - like a strong bad-feet smell - that I found it too overpowering for the seafood. My faux pas. I'd switch that out to any other cheese from one of the cheese works up Island. Never go to Vista 18 if you are in a hurry or watching time because, for all the years I have been visiting, it unfortunately has inconsistent and/or slow service. Always. So I recommend going with a Zen mind . . . go with the flow, the view is worth it. Extra bonus is the nice, updated restrooms with beautiful faucets and real hand towels. read more

Excellent ambiance with a good view and lovely live jazz. That pulled up my rating for this restaurant to 3 stars. We had a very, very bland meal. The seared tuna was absolutely the most bland tuna I have ever had - no flavor. The steaks and the fish stew were also fairly bland, although not as bad as the tuna. Portion sizes were good. This would be a nice place to go for drinks at the bar if you get there early enough for a seat, but I can not recommend the restaurant for the food. read more

Beautiful view, I had the breakfast buffet while in town for a conference. Lot's of variety, plenty of good coffee. Service was a bit slow, but they were slammed! Upon seating we were given a bowl of tiny tasty fresh baked muffins! :) Classy place with fancy towels in the bathroom. Next time I will go back for the evening Jazz + dinner. read more

Had desert and a drink there. The food is good, but the drink is water down. The area seemed very dated and the floor has a unpleasant smell. I wish they will remodel this place soon otherwise it will be tough to attract customers. Otherwise it's a ok place to visit. read more

My girlfriend has been doing some work for me for my movie Twitter account and blog and since I'm not a complete jerk, I thought the least I could do was take her out to dinner. Her idea: Vista 18. I'd never been and I'm a sucker for eating while getting height vertigo. Maybe it's just me. THE ORDER: Situated on the 18th floor of the Chateau Victoria Hotel, we were greeted by the hostess who directed us to a table just outside of the lounge. A little out of the way for privacy but not so679848 tate modern Vista 18: Up, Up and Where is my Server? far that it wasn't noticeable. We ordered almost every appetizer to share (they are small) and filled ourselves with a variety of different tastes. She enjoyed a Grasshopper martini while I partook in a little Jack Daniels and Coke. We were there for about an hour and a half before paying the $49 bill and making our way back downstairs. THE SERVICE: Um, were we bothering you? As your table, I didn't mean to interrupt your night as a server but I just want a little attention now and then. We waited at our table initially for about 10 minutes. No hi. No "be with you in a minute." Nada. It's not like the server was busy (there were only a few tables in the place) and it's not like no one knew we were there (the hostess did point us where to go). But we waited. Before I go on, I should mention the hostess. Now if you work in a restaurant or any service industry, you should have a pretty good awareness of your surroundings. Even if you're looking away, there has to be a moment where you look around so customers aren't standing waiting for periods of time. This hostess does not possess such talent. I'm not asking for Spider-senses...just the ability to do more than one thing at a time. It wasn't as bad when we came in but when I went to pay the bill and stood by the debit machine...nothing. And I was 3 feet away from her. Whatever she was doing was waaaay more important than a paying guest I suppose. (I'm just getting snarky). As for the service, it was A to B. What do you want? Here it is. Repeat. Besides waiting for a little server love, I felt I had to go to him when my coke carbonation was flat (heck, we'd waited for a hello. How long was the quality check going to be) and make the trip to pay my bill. It wasn't a bad experience per se but I did feel like we were left to our own devices with not much in the way of effort. What am I tipping on? read more

For some reason, the Chateau Victoria room service diner menu was completely different from what they were serving if you ate in the restaurant itself. The breakfast menu was the same though. The view: Comparable to Seattle's Space Needle, there are window views of the entire city. & since it's in the historical district, there's lots of victorian architecture & a view of the water as well. You can even see parts of the Castle & the Empress Hotel. Bring your camera. Feel free to ask the waitstaff about any buildings you see. If you can get chummy enough with one, they might actually gave you a bit of a tour. Now both Vista 18 & the hotel it's attached to LOOK upscale, but almost everyone dresses casually. I think they have a bar, but Clive's Lounge is on the bottom floor. Delivery/Takeout: Only if you're staying at Chateau Victoria. Type of food: Off-putting at first read; it's the fancy froo-froo food they make on Top Chef, & it's going to be filled with things you've never had nor heard of. However the portions aren't too stingy & you won't leave hungry. I had the Confit Rabbit with hazelnut butter, pressed spinach, preserved lemon, & chili vinaigrette. *My first ever rabbit; never expected that it would taste like a blend of duck & chicken. I would eat it again if I ever found a store that carried it. *The spinach was the perfect texture & not all soggy. It tasted even better with the vinaigrette. *The sweet hazelnut butter & preserved lemon were a nice way to balance the salty rabbit. *The cranberry juice was great. Don't think of the crappy bottled Ocean Spray stuff. Squeeze in the lime that comes with it & eat the sweet-tart whole cranberries that come with it. For desert, I had the rhubarb vanilla cake with strawberry thyme ice cream. *I figured Angelina's garlic vanilla ice cream was great, so why not? *You take a piece of the cake, dip it in the rhubarb sauce, & then coat it with the ice cream. Not too rich or too sweet. For breakfast I had the Mount Breaker Breakfast, but with different kinds of toasts instead of pancakes. *If you order honey for your tea, they get it from the bee hives on the roof near the greek restaurant next door. *They really have a way with grilling ham that I envy, or maybe Canada just has better ham in general. *They let you choose between 4-6 kinds of toast & it comes with two really tasty jams they made themselves. One was a bit like a cranberry apple butter & the other was the best orange marmalade I've ever had. *It came with a slice of kiwi, which I'd never had before. *The herby panfries were great, with a slight sweetness from tarragon, made better with the yolk from the eggs. *I would have to say that I preferred Vista 18 Mount Breaker Breakfast over Blue Fox Cafe's Classic Benny. read more

My wife and I went here for her birthday. When they realized it was her birthday we were told her dessert would be comped. We shared the mussels appetizer and it was excellent. My wife had the Lamb Osso Bucco which she said was excellent and my Pork Chop special was too. My wife's free Apple Cheese Cake and my Dark Chocolate Sponge Cake were both very delicious. Service was timely, friendly and knowledgeable. As everyone has mentioned the views are amazing. I really appreciated their excellent list of BC wines. It was our second visit and I was a bit tentative based on some of the reviews even though we had enjoyed our first visit that was a few years before. All in all from reservation to check it was again a first class experience. read more

Good service, good drinks, great view. Located on the 18th floor of the Chateau Vancouver, this place is great for an ultra fancy dinner or an intimate date. I only came for the drinks but was quite impressed with the helpful staff and their knowledge of the drink list, which is very extensive. I wouldn't go here for a causual cocktail, but when you want nothing but top notch quality, this place should not be overlooked. read more

I've never been here for a proper meal, but it's a cool place to go for late night drinks with friends with a nice view of Vic. It's fun when there's live music, but then I like to sit somewhere away from where they're playing because it's waaay too loud to have a conversation. Service has ranged from ok to excellent... server dependent I guess. Another reason for going late night is to catch their buy one, get one small bites menu specials, which makes their prices more bearable. Better give them a call to check, but I think it starts after 10pm! read more

We stayed at the hotel and ate lunch here for convenience. The food was ok- small menu, higher prices but a great view. Service was super slow. We were there for almost two hours for a "quick lunch". Nothing spectacular. read more

Only went here for some drinks, and were told we would then have to sit in the lounge. It was OK, since most every table had a great view of the whole City. This sopt is on the 18th floor of a locally owned and operated hotel. Kinda cool. We had some drinks, good LOCAL BC wines...a plus! An organic gin Juniper martini with blue cheese olives...yesssss! Felt so classy, but not sure if i would go back FOR dinner. Seems like more of a destination than a reataurant...but maybe the food is great? read more

A bit of a throw back to the '70's but had a really nice dinner here last week. The view is the main reason to come here but the food actually is pretty good. I had the Lamb Two Ways, a couple small frenched chops and a lamb shepherds pie. Both were excellent and a small order of garden vegetables rounded out the meal. read more

Delightful view as the sun was setting. Jason, our waiter, was awesome and attentive. Had delicious fried polenta that was crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside, perfectly prepared. read more

Vista 18 - What a fabulous view! - Wine Bars Near Me - Victoria, British Columbia

Great food and view. Good selection of interesting dishes. I recommend the tasting menu. Service was friendly but too casual in my opinion. They started setting up the room for tomorrow's big party while we were still enjoying our dinner. That's a bummer. They gave us complimentary dessert for our anniversary which was delicious. Try it out. read more

Went here a couple of times .. once in the morning, once for appies, once for drinks... Decided to eat here for breakfast one morning as we were staying at the hotel and it was a quick bite on a day where we had alot of things planned. The food (I had the crab benny) was great but I found our server to be a little over the top friendly. She also didn't have any idea about the check in offer (free mini-muffins) and proceeded to tell us it was scam and that this deal had just "attached itself to our restaurant" and that they no longer served mini-muffins. I let it go as it wasn't that big of a deal but found it a little odd that she said that it was a scam as earlier in our stay (the appies portion) the server quite readily provided us w/the check in offer. Over all the food was good and reasonably priced...for breakfast. Our experience for drinks an appies in the afternoon was quite different. We walked in an chose a table right by the window with a view of the harbour and neighbouring hotels and condos. It was pretty amazing and they had 2 for 1 deals from 3 to 5 PM. Kristen immediately came over and brought us a nibbles menu and took our drink orders. The mint lemonade was really nice. Showed her the check in deal and she took a boo and put in our orders. I had the crispy humboldt squid, which was really tasty except for the Greek relish. I should have asked, so this is no reflection on them, but it was all olives and I am NOT a fan. The root chips that you get for the check in deal though... so good! The lemon arugula pesto dip... drool. I'd really like that recipe...so good. Finally Martini Monday... oh how you were good and bad to me. Came up from an experience down at Clive's (to be discussed in another review) for the Martini's. Martini deal on Monday's is $7.50 per.... well I was all up in that.. tried 5 of 10 on their menu (6 if you include the sip of the hubby's) and they were all fantastic. Ashley, our bartender was quick and made our experience even better. I don't have enough good things to say about her and it was her first night. read more

I love going to this place because of the view & the only place I will actually order eggs Benny! My favorite fillet mignon Benedict it is so unique & savory! Frittata's are amazing & for dinner well there's just so much to choose from! Service is nice & steady.... Not a complaint yet! read more

Vista 18 - Fillet mignon Benedict & sausage, with a wonderful bottle of Veuve! - Wine Bars Near Me - Victoria, British Columbia

This is a very disappointing experience for us 4. The butter nut squash soup was not flavored and we had to salt it. Then the two fisherman stew (hot pot) dishes came overcooked. The two salmon dishes came burnt till it tasted bitter. We had to cut out the burnt part in order to eat the fish. The side order of mushroom was also bitter with the wine they used to cook it! Altogether a bad representation of a fine dinning. To make it worse, we had a table next to us, with 3 people talking at the top of their voices, making us unwilling listeners to their entire conversation.:-(( The waitress seems more attentive to the 2 tables besides us. We don't get refills for our water, but they get so much service for their wine reorders.:-(( read more

I was a bit nervous about going to the restaurant based on some of the reviews I had read, but as we were staying in the hotel we decided to give it a try. We really enjoyed it. We did not have a reservation but staff quickly put us in a corner window table and made us feel welcome. We arrived early (approx 6:30pm so we could see the sunset and see the lights of Victoria), initially it was quiet but it was clear there were lots of people coming in. Our waitress Michelle was friendly, helpful and gave just the right level of attentiveness. We found the menu diverse enough and the meal was very tasty. The meal had midrange pricing but we were happy to pay this as it was certainly better than similarly priced meals we have had as we crossed Canada. The view was fabulous. read more

Vista 18 - Orange cake dessert - Wine Bars Near Me - Victoria, British Columbia

Nice view from the restaurant. We had breakfast there. Service was good but I would consider the meal average.

Went here with my boyfriend for Valentine's day and it did not disappoint. The food was great and their VDay menu was fantastic. The view of the city made it feel luxurious. Highly recommend for a quiet evening for two over great food. read more

Vista 18 is on the 18th floor and has great views across the city, overlooking the harbour, the Empress, along Dallas Road and then back out towards Mount Tolmie. I feel like I must have written about the location before, but I haven't. It's probably the best view in Victoria, both during the day, and at night. I've had good drinks up there before on more than one birthday. The dinner menu isn't the greatest, for value or portion sizes, but as a lounge venue it works well. The breakfast is solid. The steak was cooked medium-rare to perfection. That browned savoury flavour on the outside from the Maillard reactions. And the pinkish, rare flesh in the centre. I love it when I can see the different stages in how meat cooks through... the graduations of protein denaturing, the reaction of the myosin breaking down on the outside, but keeping it firm in the middle. The strands of the muscle fibres being clearly seen on the surface, but turning into a purplish, slightly shiny mass in the middle. The science of cooking can make food even tastier. More at: http://victoria-in-person.blogspot.ca/ read more

Wow! Well, we were treated so amazingly well by the hostess and manager. The restaurant itself is amazing (spectacular views etc). But unfortunately due to our overtired child our dining experience was cut short well before we could even order food and enjoy it all, but the manager bent over backwards to accommodate our menu requests in our suite a floor below so my husband and I could still enjoy dinner. The food was amazing!! But truly, the people really made this experience so above and beyond for us. read more