Sunflower Lodge — Restaurant in Mission

⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

Had the prime rib dinner for two last night, and while the meal was perfectly adequate, I couldn’t help but feel that it lacked visual appeal, contrast, and a sense of delight.

The main course featured creamed duchess potatoes and creamed spinach alongside the prime rib, but the combination of textures and colors was too uniform—soft, rich, and monochrome. The overall color palette of the meal, unfortunately, blended into the brown-on-brown aesthetic of the plate, table, and room, making the presentation feel visually unremarkable. Something as simple as serving the meal on white plates would have provided a much-needed contrast, and incorporating vibrant or crisp vegetables—perhaps sautéed carrots, roasted beets, or even something as unexpected as fava beans or enoki mushrooms—would have broken the monotony and added both freshness and a touch of novelty.

The smoked gouda tart, which had potential, ended up as another brown element on the plate. The pastry was quite firm, making it difficult to cut, which detracted from the enjoyment. A slightly more delicate or flaky crust could have made a difference.

The salad was another missed opportunity—it was simply a dressed mix of leafy greens with no contrasting flavors, textures, or elements of interest. Some toasted nuts, shaved fennel, or citrus segments could have elevated it significantly.

While the service was generally fine, there were a couple of oversights: no spoon was provided for the soup, and individual plates were not offered for the shared dishes, which made things a bit inconvenient.

Overall, the food was solid but uninspired. A few thoughtful changes—more color and texture contrasts, better plating choices, and small elements of culinary surprise—could take the experience from ordinary to exceptional.

Would love to see some refinements in these areas, as the foundation of the meal was good, but it lacked that extra touch of vibrancy and excitement that makes a dinner...

It's so seldom that I share my review on google but this one has to be posted. Yesterday, we went to Fraser River Heritage Park, Mission from Burnaby for the Pilgrimage to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. We were at this restaurant before it was opened. We ordered 3 Fried Chicken Sandwich for $24 each. For this price, it's too pricey! We don't have a choice, this is the closest that they told us. So we ordered and we said it's for take out. The lady went inside to ask. She came back and said it's ok. After we paid, she told us to just wait outside. We didn't even ask why, we just followed what she said. However, the wait time was quite long. Imagine the situation here, we paid a ridiculously amount of sandwich, total of $75+ and just wait outside? Where in Canada you would experience that? That's very unacceptable. There's no bench or chairs outside! All the people who just ordered coffee or something else for to go have to wait outside. Do they charge for the sit if we waited inside? There were no people dining in yet that early morning. I don't know but even my 12 year old daughter wanted me to write a review with our experience. This is not the kind of service we should be expecting from a fine restaurant like this. I'm sorry but this our bad experience coming to Mission and never again that we will wait outside at this restaurant. Neither recommending it to friends.

Also, my daughter wanted me to add that they have no respect because we heard their music from outside while the Mass was celebrated. For us, this should be...

I wanted to eat at this restaurant out of curiosity since this used to be the Blackberry Kitchen. I was nonplussed to see the layout of the establishment was remarkably the same as before. When I arrived, I received a table right away.

I ordered the Classic Breakfast out of caution with their Parallel 49th coffee. The coffee was better than Blackberry and saw myself having a second cup of it. The breakfast was overall great. The salad was decent even though it was just romaine and arugula dressed with lemon vinagrette. The bacon was very good being crispy and succulent like it should be. The baguette toast was despite being a little well-done while the potatoes are very tasty by how well-seasoned it was.

The service by the staff was less than satisfactory though. I was given a table in a small space by the window, which made it hard for me to receive service, even when it was not that busy at the time. Even when I raised my hand for attention and said excuse me when one of the waiters were close, by I was still ignored. I want to think that service was better than this most days here. I was right during my second visit, when I was at a better table and service was significantly better than last time.

The Sunflower Lodge is an exceptionally good restaurant that will help fill the hole that the Blackberry Kitchen used to be for many customers. I highly recommend anyone to come eat at the...