Chanterelle Bistro — Restaurant in Clarington

My wife and I visited Chanterelle Bistro for the first time last month for dinner to celebrate my birthday. The restaurant had been recommended by a number of people in a community group we are part of. We were very excited for our visit to this well-known establishment in Bowmanville, but unfortunately, the experience was somewhat underwhelming.

Upon entering the restaurant, there was minimal space for guests who have arrived to stand. With only one couple ahead of us, I had to awkwardly stand pressed against the door, and when I considered opening the door to stand outside, a loud contraption (likely a heater of sorts) above the door let out a startling loud sound. The ‘crammed’ feeling continued as we were seated. The table we sat at was very small, and close enough to the table next to us that we felt worried that we would elbow the people at that table. The setting feels like that of a re-designed home (both based on the exterior and interior), but lacked the comfort of such an establishment. The noise was a challenge for us. Other guests in the restaurant seemed like they were practically yelling, but the volume was seemingly amplified by the tight surroundings and lack of background noise. My wife and I had difficulty maintaining a conversation with each other because of how loud it was. Much later in the evening when the majority of the guests had filtered out, the staff began playing some soft background music, which I think might have had a strong positive impact on serving as a buffer for people talking and managing the sound of loud voices in the restaurant.

On to the food, We tried the crab cakes (pictured), and they were very disappointing. We try this dish in many restaurants, and we found the cakes themselves were not very good, and the corn relish that accompanied it just did not taste good. Our hostess was surprised when we shared that with her, but assured us our mains would be excellent. We ordered two different steaks along with a lobster tail. The steaks were fantastic. This was the highlight of the visit; they were an excellent quality and cooked to perfection. The lobster tail was also good. The sides that accompanied were not impressive at all, in fact the potato side they provided was an absolute disappointment. It lacked flavour and tasted quite odd. While the options looked intriguing, but we decided to cut our losses and skip out on dessert. The hostess who helped us was very friendly and the presentation of the food was well done (see pictures attached).

To sum it up - Pros: Presentation, staff, steak Cons: Volume, space, sides

Given the cost of eating here and the cons we encountered, it was disappointing to not have a positive experience, but we definitely fondly remember the delicious...

Reserved a table here for our 27th wedding anniversary as we wanted somewhere really nice for dinner and Chanterelle Bistro was highly recommended by others. This place more than exceeded our expectations. Upon arriving we noticed right away how elegant the dining rooms were. We were treated right away by very friendly and professional staff. We were seated and attended to right away. We ordered the Caesar Salad, Beef Bourguignon, and the Striploin Steak. The salad was perfect. Fresh crisp romaine topped with shaved parm, the dressing was amazing. My wife had the Beef Bourguignon and it was served with seasonal fresh veggies It was very very good. I had the striploin steak. It was served also with veggies and potatoes. Potatoes were cooked to perfection, veggies also were perfect. Steak was a 10/10. Probably one of the best steaks I have ever eaten. I ordered it medium rare and the kitchen cooked it exactly as it should be. Maybe one of the best peices of beef I have ever eaten! The wine menu here is by far one of the best anywhere in Durham. My wife ordered the rose’ and it was very good. I was also blown away by the beer selection. The beer menu featured great selections from Chronicle (also from Bowmanville) and Second Wedge (Uxbridge). All selections varied from darks, IPA’s, Blondes, to lights making it easy to pair with the wide range food menu. Lastly we ordered desert. We split the Banana Split. This is no Dairy Queen treat. This is a delectable fusion of flavor that must be eaten. Featured home made banana icecream, bananas topped with crème brule topping, fresh pistachios and sauces. (This place might be worth coming just for desserts in an evening) kitchen staff who created this also decorated our plate with a happy anniversary in chocolate and it was amazing, and it was a work of art.

Service wise this place is top-notch. I believe our server‘s name was Rachel and she was kind professional, and very attentive going above and beyond to make sure that our wedding anniversary dinner was memorable and perfect.

I give this place a 5 star review in all categories, the price was very reasonable for fine dining and I highly recommend this gem of a...

Two experiences to share from Chantrelles: Dine-in & catering.

Dine-in: My husband and I booked Chantrelles for catering our wedding and thought we should test it out in restaurant before hand; Somewhat unknown to the restaurant to get an authentic experience. We usually choose very nice places to eat at in Toronto (at a much higher cost than what they charge here) - they have great food and choice at reasonable prices. We each had the steak & lobster - both cooked excellently but the lobster was particularly amazing. The wine was great, and our server was knowledgeable - the pecan tart dessert was probably the greatest thing I’ve eaten - EVER. And the homemade ice cream was flavourful. We did have the crab cakes for an appetizer, I wasn’t a huge fan - not because they were made poorly, just not my cup of tea (which food is an art form, so if you don’t like it, doesn’t mean it’s bad, just not for you lol) - & the butternut squash soup was delicious!

Catering: We had a small wedding celebration in our back yard for 19 people & Chantelle’s by far had the best prices and most elegant menu to choose from in the Bowmanville area. The owner Becky was a delight to deal with and organized everything while answering all my questions. We had a buffet style dinner with two different meats, a salad and 2 entree options; we also ordered several appetizers (6 I believe) and all we delicious. The buffet option also came with 2 desserts per person. Her husband dropped off the food on the day of and set everything up for us before leaving. Which was a lot considering we also got plates and cutlery (for far less cost than the rental company we used for everything else). He was on time and friendly! Everything was cooked to perfection and there was more than enough food for us all.

In any service industry I think it’s wise to understand sometimes businesses have off days, or issues that aren’t known to customers but the Chanterelle’s staff has wowed us more than once and we will continue to eat here and recommend it. Great job 👏🏼 & fabulous business & marketing in the growing town of Bowmanville. (Wish we had more...