Peak Cafe — Restaurant in Banff

my family and i came here as a last resort since it was late and most places were closed. when we saw it was a vietnamese restaurant, we were super excited because we had been eating lots of fast food. when i stepped in, the first thing i noticed was that it was not very cozy and inviting. my cousin said that it raised red flags that there was a crepe/waffle/pancake menu printed right there on the wall (not that there’s anything wrong with those foods, it’s just not something you would ever find in an asian restaurant). the service was alright, they all seemed a bit irritated but i couldn’t blame them because it was an hour before closing time. the wait time was ridiculous, and by the time our food arrived, we had barely 30 minutes. what really made me upset was the food. as a vietnamese person, i take a lot of pride in our cuisine, and always look forward to trying different variations of the delicious food our country has. i was quickly disappointed however. we ordered three plates of fried rice. mine was unflavoured, my dad’s was overly salty, and the third person didn’t really say anything about it, but there were still chunks of white rice in all three bowls (which means that it wasn’t properly mixed if you don’t know). i dont think you should call yourself a vietnamese restaurant if you can’t even make fried rice correctly. the wonton noodle soup was also way to salty, same with my dad’s small bowl of wonton soup. my oldest cousins pad thai did not taste like what a pad thai would. it was salty and nothing else. my aunts stir fried vermicelli, it was dry and flavorless, and her broccoli and beef was very salty to. my second cousins rice bowl’s pork, yes it was crispy, but not for a long time. it was also very dry and once again, salty. The spring rolls were completely tasteless. the Vietnamese coffee was not Vietnamese coffee. it’s literally something you could buy from tim horton’s and call it a day. actually, scratch that, tim hortons coffee is better than what this place produced. the coffee tasted watered down, which is disgusting. real vietnamese iced coffee is rich, and full of flavour, which is the complete opposite of this. even the cup they used to store it was obviously bad quality, we easily bent it. overall, very disappointing dinner. im not someone who’s usually picky, and i can eat very salty, but they’ve somehow managed to make food that even i can’t handle. sure, we left with full stomachs, but we were completely unsatisfied. worst meal of my life, no exaggeration needed. if you’re looking for authentic vietnamese cuisine, this is not the place you should go to. i definitely wouldn’t come here again, nor would i ever recommend it to anyone. [edit: my dad has been having stomach aches and throwing up since he ate here. this is a health hazard, and i’m not sure if it happened to anyone else, but it happened to him. do a quality check on your food because this is absolutely...

Terrible experience all around. I originally was quoted 10 extra minutes for my food, which I said was fine. My mother was served her bowl in 15 min and ~30 minutes later I still didn't have anything as numerous people had ordered at the til and left with their food/drinks. This place legit forgot my sub and when the lady eventually made eye contact, you could see her remember and then search through receipts clearly trying to figure out what I had ordered. My mom kept saying "they forgot", "they forgot!" as she watched them scrambling and serving other customers. I walk up to explain my order and sat down to continue hearing my stomach growl. About 55 minutes later when I am served, I find out they made the sub incorrectly. I explain this and they tell me they'll make a new one. They didn't. They proceed to just pick off jalapenos and serve me the same food (which I predicted they would do) but with extra cucumber and cilantro to "cover" their mistake. The first bite burned my mouth of course, earning them an outstanding 0 points! At this time, we had already been there for 75 minutes and my mom had finished most of her bowl a while ago commenting on the lovely stale chicken. I was going to request $ back but my mom was so fed up, she just said "dont worry about it, it's not worth waiting another 45 minutes! Let's get out of here!" and stood up to leave. We left unsatisfied. BTW, they gave my mom the same sauce after she requested a different one and the bubble tea I did have, was mediocre at best... Overall, this place is a waste of time and money. I highly recommend you save yourself the hassle and just go to mcdonalds across the road. Yes, even Mcd*cks...

Food: We ordered Pho, vermicelli bowl, and spring rolls. The flavoring on all 3 dishes missed the mark on how these dishes should taste. It was like the cooks saw pictures of vietnamese food and took a crack at it.

The pho broth tasted nothing like how pho should be, but it was edible.

The grilled pork in the vermicelli was not even close to being what thit nuong is supposed to taste like. Was not even the right cut of pork and was very dry.

The spring rolls were so thin that you couldn't even tell there was meat inside.

Service: The cashier was pleasant enough. The interaction was limited. Nothing bad or good to say here.

Atmosphere: It was on the warm side. Maybe the AC was broken which why they opted to leave the door open. Our table was cleared but not cleaned. Came on a weekday and it wasn't busy.

Overall the experience was so-so. This being a mountain town I was not expecting super authentic vietnamese cuisine. I would say this is more of a fusion where the cooks/chef took liberties at what they think viet food tastes like. I would not recommend if you're looking for familiar bowl of...