Cactus Club Cafe — Restaurant in Burnaby

My husband and I have been loyal guests at Cactus Club North Burnaby for years, especially during Dine Out Vancouver, so it truly breaks my heart to write this review. This last visit was a rather disappointing dining experience I’ve had in a long time, and I feel it’s important to share.

Even though we made a reservation, we ended up waiting 30 minutes to be seated. Not a great start. To their credit, a server brought out a sampler to keep the waiting guests happy, which was a thoughtful touch. But still, we came prepared to eat, not wait.

When we were finally seated, coincidently it was at the same table we got 3 years ago —a cozy southeast corner with a view of Burnaby. Sadly the experience was not the same . But right away, I noticed my spot was missing a fork. mistakes happen, perhaps it was a diner from a different table who took the fork.

The prawn ravioli appetizer was the shining star of the evening, just as it always is. That sauce is pure magic. Unfortunately, everything else fell flat. Our steak, ordered medium rare, showed up medium well. Disappointing. Then there was the black creole chicken—spicy for some reason—and served with long peas instead of asparagus. I'm pretty sure that's what it was last year. Why mess with a good thing?

To make things worse, the atmosphere was ruined by an unbearably loud table next to us. It felt more like a noisy cafeteria than the cozy, upscale vibe we’re used to.

Dessert was also off, we ordered the chocolate peanut crunch bar with ice cream, but it came with no spoons! We sat there watching the ice cream melt, helpless and annoyed. Eventually, we got the spoons, but at that point, our patience had melted away too.

The absolute worst part of the night came at the very end. My husband used a gift card to pay, and our server’s attitude completely shifted. After he selected the tip—based on the multiple issues we’d experienced—she took the payment machine from his hand and went away. Afterwards she came back, applied the gift card, and handed him the card dictating the balance which seemed off. It turns out she had CHANGED THE TIP without his consent! To make matters worse, she left without providing a receipt, leaving us to sort out the discrepancy on our own. If we hadn’t been in a rush, I would’ve demanded to see a manager.

I understand that times are hard with inflation and costs of living... but changing a diner's tip amount is just outright wrong!

The food, as always, had its bright spots, but the service and overall experience were just unacceptable. This wasn’t the Cactus Club we’ve come to love, and I honestly don’t think I can bring myself to come back for Valentine’s Day.

Cactus Club, please fix these service issues. Your reputation is built on more than good food. We come here for the whole package, and this time, it just...

Went in for dinner and had the worst service. After looking at other reviews it seems we’re not the only ones who have experienced this at this location.

We had a reservation and were sat right away, which was nice, and once at the table the server got us water right away, which was also nice.. Aaaaand then it went downhill after that. It took a long time to order drinks, a different server came over and took our drinks order, and then someone else dropped them off awhile later. Our server came back at some point and took our food order. Food came out within a reasonable amount of time. The Cajun chicken Caesar salad was very bland, although the chicken was cooked perfectly. I wasn’t offered pepper for the salad. To our server’s credit she did quality check the food, even though it was only after having two bites of chicken and then didn’t see her again after that. I left 90% of the salad on the plate because it wasn’t worth eating. The server made no attempt to ask if the salad was okay or clear the dish. Eventually after sitting at the end of the table forever someone asked me if I was “all finished with that” and took it away.

Whenever we needed another beverage we had to flag someone down to get it, and if our server stopped by she’d take one person’s order and then leave without seeing, or evening giving us a chance to put in, another drink order.

I should note we were in the lounge in a high traffic area, many of the staff, including our server, were constantly walking passed the table.

Towards the end of the evening our server came over, and I thought it was to take another drink order since our glasses had been empty for awhile but instead it was to tell us that we had to leave because we were coming up on our reservation end time (it was 9 pm at this point). I asked if an exception could be made because we would still like to order food/drinks and there was no one waiting for tables (and last call was coming up quick since it’s COVID). She said no it was policy so I said “okay that’s fine” at which point she turned around and rolled her eyes. From there, we didn’t see her for 20 minutes. ??? Confused. If we had to leave not sure why it took so long to get our bill. After she gave us our bill it took her another 10 minutes to take payment. I’m just left confused about the whole thing.

Out of the 6 or 7 servers that either took our order or cleared dishes/glasses there was only one friendly one.

I can’t say we would return when there’s a lot of other great options...

Was her for the Steak Frites last week for lunch and a Bellini. I also had a Bellini.

Although I ordered the steak medium rare and this time it came well done. The waitress did bring me another steak but it took 25 minutes to come at which point I was full from eating the fries and asparagus. I substituted asparagus for the kale salad.

I went in today and ordered the steak frites again this time with the kale salad. Ordered the steak medium rare again and it raw in the centre this time. This time it was a half an hour wait and it was not even busy. Again I packed it to go as I was not hungry anymore by the time it arrived. Lessons learned do not order the steak here.

I came with my offspring this time and so we also ordered Lemongrass Chicken Salad without the peppers to try it.

The flavours were delicious. The grilled chicken was tender and moist but I didn't taste any lemongrass. The salad and noodles were also fresh and the salad dressing was interesting and tasty.

I was shocked at the size portion of the salad when it came and it even looked small in the plate. It also only had 3 small bits of avocado and just a dusting of peanut crumbs that I saw as we finished the salad. There was maybe a half a cup of noodles and 2/3 cups of chopped salad.

I know prices have gone up, so I understand the small portion of chicken, however lettuce and noodles are not very expensive. I wish they made it bigger and had thought to take a picture.

It is me or have the sizes of food portions diminished substantially in the last 10 years or even after the pandemic?

I wonder why the Lemongrass Chicken Salad did not taste much like lemongrass?

The restaurant was nice and cool so we decided to sit on the patio. It got really hot as the glass partitions hindered air flow. Don't know why they have those up as the tables from one level to the next level are far enough away in the open air.

My Bellini today had a lot more Rum in it than last week. It was fantastic and hit the spot although it sure melted fast! Lol

I thought I would write a review this time around, as this was the second time the steak did not come out right, and the first time we tried the New Lemongrass Chicken Salad. It was good but could be amazing if it was a bigger portion and there was Lemongrass in...