Confederation Lounge & Patio — Restaurant in Edmonton

I very rarely edit, or update my reviews of an establishment, but in this case I felt that it was necessary. Which is genuinely tragic, given that my previous review was a five star rating.

The Confederation Lounge used to be our favourite place in the city to spend an evening. We have been patrons for nearly a decade, and had always loved to spend an evening, or afternoon lounging on the patio sipping cocktails, or enjoying an Old Fashioned by the fire. We have even attended their annual Christmas tree lighting, and our youngest daughter has had the privilege of being their official tree lighter twice.

However since the renovations the space has completely lost its soul. They have traded classic cocktails for trendy drinks that frankly taste awful, and given up beautiful comfortable furniture with a classic feel, for trendy pieces that are horribly uncomfortable, and make you want to leave within your first half an hour, just so you don't have to continue sitting on them.

The patio, once beautifully adorned with gorgeous wrought iron pieces, now looks just like any Sandman Inn, and has also become a fire hazard with those utterly useless fire tables that for some reason sit right in the middle of the walkways, and provide next to no heat whatsoever. That's not even to mention how ridiculously useless the chair, and table set up is with the majority of the tables sitting lower than the chairs themselves do.

None of that is even to mention the new menu.

Having tried several items on the new menu, there is not a single thing I would order again. The flavours seem to be attempting to channel Asian cuisine inspiration, but are falling flat in the execution. That's speaking as someone who is a chef, and grew up in an Asian family.

That doesn't even touch on the ridiculously high prices for miniscule food portions. Don't get me wrong, I am more than happy to pay good money for smaller portions of high quality food, but the new menu dishes sadly do not even approach a level of quality that I would deem worth it to pay these kind of price tags.

All of these issues culminate in one very sad reality. The fact that the Confederation Lounge has sold its soul in an attempt to be trendy, and as a result is really no longer worth the time it takes to visit.

The only redeeming quality is the fact that the serving staff have as always remained impeccable, and completely above reproach. There is no equal to the service you will receive as a guest, or patron here. However sadly that one redeeming quality is not enough to entice us to continue to be regulars at this once fabulous establishment. A fact that is rather heartbreaking given the many years of happy memories, and family moments we've shared with the Fairmont family at the Hotel MacDonald.

A place that was once our first choice to visit on an evening out, birthday, or anniversary. Whether it was for a drink on the patio in the summer breeze, or a warm night in by the fire, while you watch the snow or rain falling outside, is now one of the last on our list to visit.

Were they to improve upon these issues, and reclaim some semblance of the character this establishment used to hold, I would happily become a customer once more. However in light of the fact that they seem more preoccupied hosting Jonas Brothers parties, than maintaining any semblance of class, I sadly doubt that will be the case.

Our city has lost a once beautiful gem in her crown, and like a diamond setting being refitted with cubic zirconia, it has been replaced with a cheap facsimile of her...

Well….there were 4 of us celebrating our 70th birthdays arriving from BC. We had made reservations the day before with Kaitlin and we were delighted with her attentiveness. Now we arrive at the restaurant. The view? Amazing!!! Unfortunately it was a bit windy and the sun was playing peek - a boo with the clouds so we asked if the heaters could be moved closer to our table. We were told no they were wired in. No blankets? We come from BC where our weather is much warmer and most of our outdoor patios provide blankets. I guess we are not as hardy as Albertans. The decor? At first I thought I came to Chuckie E Cheese. The chair cushions in the out door patio were horrifying. They were so soiled I was almost afraid to sit on them. But we persevered- the service and the food would make up for the cushions - right? WRONG! Our server looked very harried and unhappy. And definitely not happy to see us. She either needs a day off or retirement. But on we soldiered …. Let’s order some food!! We ordered a lunch each along with 2 glasses of wine. The food was just ok and overpriced. My pot pie was lukewarm but who cares - the view was great. Now for the coup d’grace. Our server came back , asked us if we wanted any dessert and when we responded no thanks she asked if we wanted the bill. We said “separate bills please”. Well that was a very new concept that she was not familiar with. She said and I quote “ I will bring you a bill all together and you can tick off what is yours and then I can separate it”. Huh???? She took our order 20 minutes ago and she can’t remember?? Well that was too involved for 4 senior ladies so when she came back we said we did not really understand how we were supposed to do this. With a withering look she took the pen, looked at me and said “what did you have?” This went on for all four of us. EVERYWHERE SPLITS BILLS !!! Even bottles of wine!! Sheesh! Have I gone back in time to the 1960’s? Now who’s getting frustrated???? Us!! After a very long time she came back, we paid, remarked on what a major disappointment our lunch turned out to be. We loaded our friend into the wheelchair and went and admired the view and got on with our day. We cannot recommend this patio to anyone and as a closer our server needs to remember without us, the customers she would have no job. In closing we are all happy we get to celebrate such a wonderful milestone...

It would appear that the Fairmont has decided to lose our business going forward.

About a year ago, my wife and I decided to have dinner on the patio at the Hotel Mac for our anniversary. After having waited 45 minutes for our drinks to come after ordering, and another 45 for our first appetizers, we left and went to Bodega to have a wonderful meal. Admittedly, this was a very busy hot day during new COVID restrictions - we gave them a pass.

Today we decided it would be fun to take 2 of the kids there for one of their birthdays for lunch. Made a reservation, and arrived expecting fun. There were only 3 other tables inside the lounge (6 other people), and then about the same outside.

Our server was friendly. We ordered our non-alcoholic drinks. These took just over 10 minutes to arrive to us (they were great when we got them). We ordered our food shortly after ordering drinks, and had to wait roughly 35 minutes for that to come.

Once the food arrived, we were disappointed. The chicken fingers and fries ($12) were mediocre, the Lentil Burger ($28) was equally mediocre, and the salad accompanying it was basically a very small bowl of mixed greens with an olive oil dressing. No other veggies.

The $28 Tandoori Chicken sandwich came with a small amount of so-so fries. The sandwich itself was really one 8" piece of round naan bread filled with a small amount of tandoori filling, then folded and cut in half. Not very filling or tasty.

My son loved his Alberta Beef Burger.

But overall, you can see that the value for the food just is not there. In addition to that, the chairs we were sitting in were clearly quite old (I could feel a nail in the seat of mine), as were the tables which were quite damaged, despite the lounge having had a recent "reno".

The real nail in the coffin is the fact that in order to make it convenient for the servers going out and back in from the patio, the door was left open for the entire lunch, until towards the end I asked if it could be closed. It was 12 degrees outside, making it absolutely chilly inside. Then listening to the bartender and other staff complaining / discussing the scheduling and days off from the bar was off putting.

$160 for lunch for 2 adults and 2 kids (with tip, no alcohol) should really involve a sense of occasion. After today, I would much prefer to go to someplace like Joeys where the food is better and the value is...