Wild Orchid Bistro — Restaurant in Alberta

Okay, this may sound terrible now, but I review pretty much every restaurant I visit, so this one as well. And this is not going to be a bad review overall. In fact, I would still recommend this restaurant.

THE GOOD

The service was really good. Our server Hailey (I believe) was genuinely nice and very attentive. So that was 5 stars.

Scallop sashimi and tuna sashimi were really good.

The decor was nice too and the rolls looked scrumptious.

THE BAD

The sushi was really expensive. We had 3 rolls (2 with 8 pcs each, and 1 with 3 pieces and some sashimi (2x scallop, 2 x tuna, 1 x salmon) along with a glass of white wine. All in all, our bill was a $102. Little on the high end, for sure.

The rolls. Oh boy. I've had a hundred spicy tuna rolls in my life, but never one like this. The tuna was a very thin slice on top of the inside-out roll, the inside was cucumber, avocado and something tempura. It was different, but given the price, and the amount of tuna, I think this roll should be renamed to "cucumber avocado something fried" roll. In general, the rolls are very veggie driven and still too pricy for that.

Now, one thing that bugged me was that the plates weren't clean. There was some oil on them or like they hadn't been cleaned properly, and I just dislike eating sushi from plates that aren't absolutely clean. Pet peeve. And I think this is something that's easy to avoid.

We had to wait quite some time, but then again, all the plates were serves at once, so I understand.

BIAS, AND WHY THIS REVIEW IS NOT FAIR:

The reason my review is not fair is because we live in Vancouver where you can get sushi that is 3 times better for a lot less money. And this comparison is unfair, because this is Canmore, Alberta, and for what it is, they're doing a good job given they don't have access to the ocean that easily. Would come back regardless...

Disappointed with the decline in quality – hoping it was just a bad night

I’ve always loved coming to Wild Orchid Bistro because, as someone with celiac disease, it’s amazing to eat everything on the menu without fear of cross-contamination. My husband and kids (who don’t have celiac) usually eat gluten-free with me and enjoy it just as much.

But unfortunately, our most recent visit — the second within a month — was really disappointing.

We had a 5pm reservation and were seated within 10 minutes, but the hostess/bartender just dropped the menus and walked off. It took another 5–10 minutes for a server to come take our drink order, so we ordered our food at the same time. Drinks came after 15 minutes, and food took over an hour to start arriving.

Yes, the restaurant was busy — especially for just opening at 4pm — but sadly, the food was a letdown. Most dishes were 5/10 at best: bland, lacking any seasoning (not even salt), and overwhelmed with oil — the edamame, tempura, fries, sauces — everything was drenched to the point of making us all feel unwell. Fried food is expected to be oily, but this was excessive.

The only standout was the tuna and salmon sashimi — super fresh and delicious. Everything else missed the mark.

And to top it off, four DEAD FLIES came out of the soy sauce bottle as I poured it — which was honestly just shocking. (Didn’t get a photo of that, unfortunately.)

I’m hoping this was just an off night. We’ve had great experiences here before, and I’d love to keep supporting this place — especially because safe gluten-free dining is hard to find. But this visit really...

Full disclosure: I’ve never actually written a review before, but the level of disappointment with this meal made it necessary.

We (two families) ordered two large, nearly identical meals for pickup, and unfortunately, not a single item scored higher than 2.5 stars in our books.

Shinto Roll – 0/5 The description was exciting, but the actual roll was underwhelming. A tiny piece of tuna on a plain, dry, and flavourless roll. We didn’t even finish it.

Ginger Beef – 2/5 Dry, chewy, and unpleasant. Another dish we couldn’t bring ourselves to finish.

Ahi Poke – 3/5 Visually appealing, with a bit of complexity in the presentation, but the taste just wasn’t there. No flavour at all.

Japanese Beef BBQ – 3/5 The flavour was actually decent, but the portion size was ridiculously small. They also packed the bread in the same container, so it arrived as a soggy mess. Barely touched it.

Tuna Tataki – 2/5 Very small portion, and again, completely lacking in flavour.

Beef Tataki – 2/5 The sauce had potential, but the beef itself was thin, cheap, and flavourless. Definitely not the quality you expect for a dish like this.

Lobster Roll – 3/5 The garlic butter flavour was nice, but the amount of lobster was disappointing.

To their credit, they did forget our lobster roll but were kind enough to resolve it quickly and deliver it to our hotel.

Final thoughts: I understand the appeal of a fully gluten-free menu, and we had two celiacs in our group, but even they agreed this meal was small, bland, and overpriced. We really wanted to enjoy it, but overall, it just...