Windjammer — Restaurant in Moncton

I didn’t take photos of all our dishes, only a few from the pairing menu. I was initially hesitant to share feedback or mention the price I paid for three, but upon reflection, I believe this is valuable and constructive feedback based on the overall quality.

Had been eagerly anticipating my visit to The Windjammer, having spoken so fondly of it to my family. I wanted to treat them to a refined culinary and wine pairing experience during their stay in Moncton, something I personally value and don’t mind investing in when the quality reflects the price. Unfortunately, our experience fell short of expectations.

To begin, I was surprised by the lack of bilingual service. My mother doesn’t speak English, and I found myself translating each course and wine pairing, which disrupted the flow of the evening. Midway through the meal, someone stepped in to speak French, merci!

Our first course, the oysters, was unfortunately overpowered by garlic.

The second dish, a combination of pancakes, tomatoes, and avocado, was overly oily and lacked both flavour and aroma. When I shared this feedback, the staff kindly explained that the menu was designed as a “build-up of flavours,” suggesting that the later courses would be more expressive. While I appreciated the professional response, I do believe that in a tasting menu, each course should stand on its own in presentation, texture, and flavour, while still progressing harmoniously through the meal. Unfortunately, that balance was missing.

The third course was confusing in presentation, not my vibe to be honest. The dish, a mix of chewy meat rolled together, lacked refinement, though the flavours were an improvement from the previous plates. It had an Indian-inspired profile taste, which I personally enjoyed, and it was the best-tasting dish so far. But wasn’t outstanding.

The following course, French toast, was beautifully presented but lacked depth of flavour.

The main course, however, was a highlight. The cod was perfectly cooked, delicate, well-seasoned, and balanced. I also tried the Wagyu, prepared medium as requested by my mother, and it was exceptional, pairing beautifully with the red wine. This was the level of execution and flavour I had anticipated throughout the evening.

Unfortunately, dessert ended the meal on another low note. While visually interesting, it leaned too heavily on a sour cream cheese flavour, aggressive sour features and the crispy flakes tasted stale. Despite leaving the dessert largely untouched, no one came to check in.

Although I shared feedback mid-meal about the lack of flavour, the evening overall did not deliver the refined, flavour-driven experience I had hoped for. For a bill totaling over $600 for three guests, the quality and consistency simply did not align with the price point. I don’t mind paying for excellence, but this experience fell short. I wouldn’t order the wine and food pairing menu again, though the Wagyu, cod, and Caesar salad were excellent and would recommend over a tasting menu.

On a positive note, the Caesar salad was excellent, fresh, balanced, and well-seasoned. The staff were lovely, the wine selections were enjoyable and I was in good company.

I truly wanted this to be a memorable evening for my family, but instead, it turned into a lesson in expectations versus reality.

Thankfully, we found humour in it all. I’m just relieved it wasn’t a client dinner, as I would have felt uncomfortable hosting one under these circumstances.

As someone who frequently dines at Bar Le Beau, beside the WJ, I would, without hesitation, choose The Beau over The Windjammer next time. The seafood chowder itself beats all of the pairing menu I tried at the...

Horrible service and little to no skill in the kitchen.The chef destroyed not 1 but 2 cuts of chateaubriand due to improper cooking. We ordered med-rare and the 2 attempts we were given were very far off. The servers were argumentative when questioned about the cook on them as well. They said that the internal temp was 130* so it has to be med-rare….so in other words as long as the center is 130* that’s a properly cooked med-rare. It made no difference that the majority of the meat was well done. The cow that provided this meat died in vain, twice. We complained both times and both times the servers made us feel like we were in the wrong with no admission of them screwing up. The chef made us 2 cuts of tenderloin to correct the errors, and they were cooked properly, but that’s not what we ordered. The bill came and we were charged in full for something we didn’t even eat and for something we didn’t order. Please see the photo posted on how uneven the cook of the steak was. Rare in some places, well done in others, just all over the place.

Service was awful. I had an empty drink on the table for 1.5 hours and was never offered refill or something different. Well why didn’t I just ask if I wanted another drink? Because at a “high end” restaurant like this, I should not have to, it should be noticed. I wanted to see if anybody was paying attention The lady that presented the châteaubriand had no idea how to cut it, it was embarrassing watching her try. The rest of the team was unfriendly, inattentive and unwilling to make things right.

Little Louis’ being this restaurant’s main competition, would have been beyond apologetic and rectified the situation. This highlights that the Windjammer is a sub par restaurant comparable to Applebys that wants to charge top dollar despite lack of skill in the kitchen and poor service.

A truly awful experience…and on my birthday as well. We will never be back and we will make sure to advise anyone we talk to, to...

We have been going to the windjammers for 30 years now and I'm not sure that we will return. It was my birthday and my husband had made a reservation and when we got there , they didnt see our name so we had to wait, finally Frederic recognized us and to greet us and said, no worries, we will accommodate you but until he came that young girl was gonna send us back.They changed chef's about 4 months ago the waitress said but they also changed all the staff except the heart of the restaurant "Frederique". The service and food used to be out of this world, it was an experience to go eat there. We go there usually for birthday's and special events, appx 4 to 5 times a year. The waitress did not know her menu and told us " we dont have fois gras " they do have it but they changed where they put it in the menu. She forgot to bring us utensils, we had to ask. I had to get up and ask for butter, they didn't check on us hardly. We ordered a tomahawk steak that was 135 00$(just for the steak not the sides). We had asked for medium well and it came still very bloody and probably the chewiest steak I ever had and so full of chunks of fat. When they asked, I was honest and said it's actually quite chewy and most of it is fat. She said I'll talk to my supervisor, when she came back she didn't say a word and pretended like I had never complained and gave us our cheque. We payed for our meal and will not go back*do not order and waste your money, go to the Keg To the management, Frederic cant serve everyone alone, he was running around that night from table to table to help the staff that should not be on the floor before learning the menu or have proper etiquette. We were there appx. 3 hours and didnt have dessert because it was beyond slow and frustrating. I used to brag this place to everyone that would listen but I won't be bragging it for the same...