Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery — Restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake

Ravine has become to successful and no longer cares for its loyal customers.

My wife and I had a reservation to eat at Ravine's restaurant on August 21st for 12.30pm. On arrival, we were shown to a table for four in the centre of the tent by the hostess. We asked the hostess if we could be seated instead at one of the 6 open tables for two facing the vineyard, since it was just the 2 of us having lunch. She replied that she would need to confirm with the check-in desk because tables had already been assigned by guest. We replied that we were happy to wait for confirmation. When she returned however, she told us that the tables were actually being filled based on the availability of servers and that our experience would be “better” at the table for four since we would receive faster service. Please note that at no time did we indicate that we were in a rush! This made no sense to us so we asked her to repeat herself in case we had misunderstood. My wife then asked if we should have requested a table for 2 (despite it being obvious since the reservation was for 2!) when booking, and she replied that no - it was on a first come basis, which contradicted what she originally said. This was all very confusing but not wanting to spoil the occasion by prolonging the seating process further, we agreed to stay at our “assigned” table.

During our time at the restaurant however, we noticed that absolutely every other couple who arrived was seated at one of the tables for 2 overlooking the vineyard and by the time our lunch was done, all but one of those tables was in fact occupied, despite plenty of other free tables for 4. In fact, we were the only couple not sitting at one of these tables! Even more frustrating was that some of those tables were being overseen by our same server and we observed that they all received the same level of service as us, and there was certainly no delay in receiving their food or drink, as the hostess had indicated would be the case.

Overall this was a very disappointing and frustrating experience for us and as we feel that we need to express our displeasure at how we were treated. Despite receiving excellent service in their wine store and from our server at lunch, our mistreatment by what was either an incredibly uninformed/unaccommodating hostess or a ludicrous seating system, has resulted in us no longer recommending Ravine to others and removing Ravine from our must-visit when we are in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

On top of the poor customer service we received, including follow up calls and correspondence from Ravine, the food is no longer as good as it previously had been. The Pizza, which had been a staple at Ravine, is now too doughy, the Margherita pizza, which was out of this world before, was just okay and the garden basil pesto had zero flavour.

If you like being treated as a number Ravine is the...

I'll begin this post by disclosing I'd been awarded a large sum in Ravine gift cards by my employer in recognition of job excellence.

Taking those gift cards into consideration, last night (Sept 25) my husband and I enjoyed a lovely dinner with and additional charcuterie board (I would marry that liver pate), as well as the recommended wine pairings. Our service was great, our server delightful, friendly and attentive. My husband and I aren't big drinkers, and didn't realize the wine pairings came as full pours rather than tastings -- we enjoyed trying the wines, but didn't finish half of what was brought (also, we were driving home that evening to Burlington)

Then came time to pay the bill.

Feeling a sense of freedom with the gift cards, I added a bottle of the 2020 House Reserve to our bill to bring home. After the bill was presented, I handed over my gift cards and told the server to "take the whole amount" (the remaining funds on the gift card as gratuity). Rather than one large summed gift card, I had five individual gift cards all with smaller amounts (AND I have five more gift cards at home).

Due to our server being busy, she asked, who I can only assume was management, to help her process them. From there, this other employee addressed us in a condescending tone "have you been saving these up for a while?". I responded matter-of-fact that I "saved up nothing", but they were a reward for job excellence. TWENTY MINUTES pass by and the manager (?) comes over to tell us she's having trouble processing the final gift card. This sounds like user error on her part. I expressed that my concern was that our server receive her gratuity (which was the majority of the balance of the final gift card). That's when the server informed me that "they all top pool" there.

So, not only is the individual condescending, has difficulty processing a several gift cards in a row....but she now shares gratuity for OUR server's excellence ?! This is unacceptable. I communicated this to our server as we left, expressing that our gratuity would be shared with her ineptitude.

All in all our meal was fantastic. Just don't give management the impression that you're poor because you're paying with a gift card. I certainly hope they're not there the next time we're there with another several hundred dollars...

On our Saturday visit, they even had a duo playing Nora Jones type songs, adding a calming melody while overlooking Ravine’s vast vineyard.

A generous portion of wild pink shrimp arrives on the Fogo Island shrimp toast ($19), practically smothering the two miniscule triangles of rye toast on the plate. Tossed with crème fraiche, a host of herbs, a bit of shallot (?), and slivers of chili, it’s a refreshing starter that wasn’t overly seasoned, so the shrimp’s flavours were retained. The dish just needed more toast to add that crunch and to balance out the creaminess of the sauce.

Presenting a fair portion of the main protein but less side ingredients tends to run throughout Ravine’s menu. The salad niçoise ($27) had plenty of flaked hot smoked steelhead trout around the plate but little salad greens to compliment the salty black olives and fish. Smartly, Ravine leaves the creamy boiled potato and crunchy green beans unseasoned, so I did end up spearing pieces of those with the fish and olives.

Still, more of the greens would just help create a fulsome bite, especially if this is supposed to be a main dish. The soft-boiled egg was beautifully prepared with it’s glistening molten centre, for this ingredient I would have liked a sprinkling of salt as the smoky trout didn’t pair well with it.

Ravine’s fish and chips ($25) was delicious, the non-distinguished “lake fish” so fresh and very lightly battered so the crust easily breaks away as you cut into it with a fork. And while the fish itself was super crispy, the chips could use a double fry to make them crunchier.

With the lighter starter and main (I had the salad niçoise), there was plenty of room for a slice of coffee cream pie ($12) for dessert. More espresso is needed in the custard layer as I found the coffee tastes rather muted compared to the cocoa powder and smear of sauce on the plate. Although the crunchy espresso brittle makes for a pretty presentation, it needed to be thinner and preferably crumbled around the plate to make it easier to incorporate into the dessert. Overall, while decent, the pie didn’t leave me...