Rundle Bar at Fairmont Banff Springs — Restaurant in Banff

EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING

First let me say, I’m a hospitality expert with over a decade of experience in fine dining restaurants and steakhouses.

I walked in with two others and took note of the signage that tells guests to seat themselves. As my group has travelled to the rocky mountains from Toronto we wanted a seat near the windows (and great views). My group waited my be bar as I scouted the tables, and lucky enough a group of three was just standing up to leave their table!! However I didn’t want to be rude and assume they were leaving or hover them as they got up so I stepped away and walked over to the POS island where THREE severs were. I asked the young blonde girl,l (who was just standing at the pos and had no orders open) if the table by the window still had an open tab or if they’d paid up. She looked at me and with quite the attitude said “That’s not my table” I responded by saying “Can’t you just take a peak at your screen to see if the table is open?”. Which after years in the industry I knew she could….. as she stumbled over her response Emily, another server said they’d clear the table off for us.

I’m not sure why this young blonde server was so offended I asked her about a table when there’s no host available? And why she was so quick to dismiss me? It would’ve taken her five seconds to answer me and make me feel welcome.

But, the table WAS free, the views are gorgeous, and we were happy try and shrug off the inhospitable encounter. So we sat down and it took over ten minutes for someone to come clean off the table… (shoutout moustache man) after THREE servers overheard we were taking the table INCLUDING our server Emily… So there’s really no reason it should’ve been left so long.

Anyways, ten minutes later our table is clean (we literally had to stack the plates and push them to the side to have anyone provide table maintenance) and before we could order out drink moustache man was flagged over by ANOTHER TABLE that hadn’t seen a server yet… So we wait for Emily, who finally shows up and and takes out food and drink order. The drinks come and we’re waiting for the three apps we ordered. The first two apps came in good time but we had to wait 30 MINUTES for our steak tartar to come… it’s raw.. why on gods green earth would it take 30 minutes to plate? By the time it arrived all the other food and drinks were done so we got our bills. You’d think that would be the end of the story but unfortunately not, we get our bills and two of the three drinks have an extra $8 up charge for premium liquor when we specifically asked for rail tequila.

HORRIBLE experience, absolute waste of $168, next time i’ll just burn the money and won’t be so upset.

FOOD REVIEW:

The dip trio: very basic great if you’re trying to eat healthy

The lobster roll: bland and tasteless, needed way more lime/aloi/herb ANYTHING to make a single $32 roll taste at all flavourful it’s mostly bread the stuffing doesn’t even fill the bun

Steak Tartar: fantastic come here to get a drink, the...

Ever since the Fairmont brand was bought out by Accor, the food quality across all the properties I have stayed at has been dramatically reduced and it seems like any hint of “Fairmont standard” has vanished. I am All Accor Platinum member and a consistent patron, staying at many properties for many nights over the past decade. In the last 10 years, the service, experience, and food has dramatically declined. Prior to the Accor buy out, we absolutely enjoyed “unrivalled, unparalleled, food and guest experiences” at Fairmont properties. All I could taste in our apps at Rundle lounge recently was “shaving off portion and quality for PROFIT” and it reaks. While the service was good and atmosphere nice, and while our server warned us how tiny the chicken wings were, so that they would be “easier to eat”, my party was shocked to find barely a morsel of meat on most of the wings - which were the flats of the wings that had been further chopped in half to be one bone. Had potential with the lime flavour but left a bad taste in my mouth. Also no hint of truffle in the black honey truffle sauce. Grilled avocado had potential but not enough sourdough was served with it. Dumplings were a good size portion but wrappers were thick and some of them popped and spilled with oil. The chicken and rice bowl was a sad example of what could have been a fun, tasty, hearty dish, and was served with barely 3 tiny pieces of chicken, plain rice, a few shreds of very plain, raw cabbage, few, barely pickled cucumbers, and two sauce garnishes that did not match the dish or taste good - a green coarsely minced cilantro one that had way too woody of a texture and a gochujang style sauce that tasted more like an Indian achar. Raspberry mocktail was served with a skewer of blackberries not raspberries as pictured. As other customers have noted, we felt a bit silly and unwelcome standing around waiting to be seated with many servers bustling around, only to be told afterward to seat ourselves, so perhaps a sign to do so would make people feel more comfortable, but seating ourselves would become awkward as the season progresses and the restaurant gets busier. Finally, we came to dine at Rundle so that we could have a walk on the patio for a few minutes but doors have all been blocked off and the only accessible one was marked as for emergency exit only. So while we were paying, dining guests we could not take in the outdoor view, but rather watched many folk sneak in via the gold floor check in entrance. At a minimum, patio could be marked as “Rundle lounge guests only” to reward paying guests and discourage tourists. This would enhance the atmosphere. Overall,...

Our high tea experience at the Rundle Bar in the famous Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel was absolutely outstanding!

My father and I have shared a tradition of daddy-daughter high tea since I was a little girl. Ever since, whenever we holiday together, we make the effort to find a lovely place to continue our tradition. The view at the Rundle Bar would have made this visit exceptional within itself, but that was only the start of what was one of our best experiences yet!

Both vegetarians, our high tea treats were beautifully redesigned to our shared dietary needs. All the way down to ensuring nothing on our stunning tower contained animal-based gelatin (which truly is going above and beyond from my experience!). Being 17 weeks pregnant at the time, the chef also ensured none of my treats contained unpasteurized dairy. And the bartender whipped up a custom non-alcoholic sip for me to enjoy while my father savoured over a glass of brute! The hourglass tea timer which ensured a perfect brew was also a delight. I could go on and on about the delectable, well-considered, elevated, and exquisite bites organized by sweetness level and richness, but I would be leaving out Rebekah C. and that would be a gross disservice to her charm and expertise.

Our server, Rebekah C. , was a pure joy. Our booking was during a quieter time in the off season, so we were able to enjoy her company, share stories, and discuss the excitement of soon-to-be motherhood (Rebekah currently expecting her third!) while enjoying our leisurely tea time. Rebekah is in the perfect industry for her personality. She enhanced our experience in every way with her depth of knowledge on the menu, including the adjustments made just for us! Her service was inviting, warm, professional - yet - personal, and all in all completely brilliant. If I could rate service 11/5 I would. And she would easily deserve it.

Thank you so so much for making this high tea memory so vivd and special to both my...