Blackfin Pub — Restaurant in Comox

I met a friend there a couple of days ago to catch up over dinner and drinks. We were there early and ordered drinks and dinner, the food was good and we started what we thought was going to be a pleasant evening.

Halfway through our meal we were asked if we wanted another drink, which we both declined as both our original drinks were still half full. After dinner, a dessert menu was slipped to us but neither of us wanted dessert. Meanwhile, we were finishing our drinks and contemplating another one. Then another person showed up with our bill, but instead of placing the bill on the table for us to look at, she pulled opened the bill, asked who had what and proceeded to ring up our tabs for payment. We thought this was odd as we hadn't asked for our bill, nor did our server inquire if we would like it. It's not uncommon for one server to settle up before another starts during a shift change so we just assumed that's what had happened. We finished our drinks and waited for a server to stop by and ask if we would like another....

When our original server did finally stop by, it was to rudely tell us that we had to leave and we couldn't stay there any longer as there was a line-up out the door, they needed our table. And she wasn't discreet about it. It wasn't a shift change after all... So what started as a pleasant evening with a friend ended in humiliation and embarrassment for both of us. We had been seated at a table for 4, although we were a party of 2. Which left us wondering why we were seated at a large table if space was at a premium? I can only guess that they decided our party of 2 wasn't going to bring in enough revenue and it was best to move us out. There were other tables around us that had arrived before we did that were parties of 4 and we didn't notice any of them being forced out the door. It would also explain their rush for us to pay our bill and leave, although we weren't finished. But hey, at least I was home by 7pm?

And that line-up out the door? It was 4 people. I'm not sure if they were together or not.

EDIT: The owner reached out to me and reparations were made to ensure this never happens to another customer of theirs again. I'm satisfied with her efforts and have changed my review to 3 stars to "neutralize" my review. My bad experience was the result of one employee. My meal was excellent and we were having a very pleasant evening up to this point.

I sincerely hope the employee realizes the damage that could have been done to not only the reputation of her place of employment, but to the professional reputations of myself and my friend in this very...

Why is this pub busier than it deserves to be? This is a pub masquerading as a snooty restaurant with reliable, if uninspired, food and decent service — if you can make it past the generally condescending attitude of the greeter. Reservations are absolutely required and even sometimes successfully made if they bother to answer the phone or call you back. We attempted to make a reservation several hours prior but were forced to leave a voicemail. No one called back so we took our chances and showed up at our selected time. Based on the withering attitude of the greeter — and this is a perpetual problem— we were dismissed with a lame excuse about them “sometimes having phone problems” and they “always return calls” resulting in the fact that we did not have a table reserved and it was going to be a good 2 hour wait with the real message being communicated as “we are busy enough and we don’t care”. She literally told us to go somewhere else. We’ve endured this attitude for many years but no more. There are too many choices with other local establishments to have to settle for this. Another issue is their grilling “potential” patrons—sometimes several times— about the ages of their party. Nobody under 19 dare enter the premises. My daughter who is 27 ALWAYS gets carded even though we answered twice already that she is over 19. The Black Fin PUB (with a very limited selection of local or even quality beers, BTW) is a well established local eatery with a fantastic view of the harbour and mountains but with a serious attitude problem due to their popularity. Unfortunately, it’s like being in an abusive relationship: too many patrons put up with the bad for the brief moments of goodness. Clearly this place gets way more business than they deserve. We went up the street and enjoyed a fantastic experience at a little Italian themed restaurant with great views, terrific food and service and no attitude served...

When we tried to get a table at Blackfin Pub earlier in the week they were fully booked and referred us to their sister restaurant Dockside. This turned out to be by far the better option. We had a really good experience at Dockside and thought that since they were both owned by the same company that we would also have a wonderful time at Blackfin.

What a disappointment our time at Blackfin turned out to be. We did manage to get a table on the patio and it was lovely looking out at the harbour. The service was decent but not as good as the service the evening that we dined at Dockside. It was very busy and our server did try her best.

We ordered a bottle of wine and started our meal with a shared appetizer of brie with blackberries, peaches, ginger maple and citrus compote. It was supposed to come with Rosemary flatbread but it seemed to come with small pieces of pita bread with no rosemary. It was also the smallest piece of brie that we’ve ever been presented with. We probably should have sent it back but we could not find our server. There was only about l oz. or 30gr. of cheese. We each only got 2 very small bites from this $18.00 appetizer. For entrees my husband had Szechuan salmon and I had the steak and prawns. I tried a bite and it did not taste very good at all. My husband did not enjoy his salmon and thought maybe it was because of the seasoning but it definitely was not a good dish. My steak and prawns had overcooked prawns and one of the toughest steaks that I’ve had. It was very disappointing. When my husband commented to our server that the food was very disappointing she provided us with a complimentary dessert. We chose key lime pie and it was decent.

I would not recommend Blackfin Pub. Go to Dockside instead. The view is the same, service is better and the food is...