Milltown Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Richmond

Friends need a place to chill and enjoy brunch before their flight home, so we finally had an opportunity to try Milltown Bar since it had been on our “want to go” list for some time now.

UPDATE: I am inserting this Sunday evening meal to tell you how pleased we are to enjoy the Prime Rib dinner special! It was absolutely perfect. The roast was as I ordered it and VERY tasty! The side dishes, allbeit a little small, we also VERY good. One thing not said on the menu for this “special” is that a drink needs to be ordered with the meal - so we were instructed. Nevertheless, Milltown Bar & Grill is on our return list and even “go to” for bar and/or pub food! [With this, I increase my 4 stars for Brunch to 5 stars for Dinner] Past review: The overall experience was excelent, including the friendly and efficient staff, allbeit they seemed shorthanded as many establishments are these days. Since this is really beyond their control, my rating has nothing to do with this problem. In fact CHEERS, because I feel that they did an excelent job at working as a team and making it all work as best as they could. Food service and atmosphere aside, the food portion size was very good and the quality was good. From the four orders we had an eggs benny and 3 specials which were two Belguim waffles with two sunny side eggs and pesto hollandaise sauce and pan fries. The Eggs Benny presentation looked appetizing and was said to be very good; “perfect in every detail” was her exact words. As for the Waffle and Egg special, the pesto hollandaise sauce was also very good, and I would ask for that again. I prefer my eggs “over easy” because I always seem to get some of the uncooked egg white on my plate, and it followed me again, so if I had to change something in the order, that would be my first request. My second request, would be, “are the waffles made ‘in house’ or are they from a package?” It seemed like these were prepackaged because their texture was dry and lacked the enthusiastic chew of a freshly waffled fried dough. The two waffles were also “sweetened” with a honey-glaze type coating, which didn’t compliment the pesto-hollandaise sauce very well. So final thoughts are, I wouldn’t suggest this dish or come back for it again. It seems, I ordered (we three ordered) the dish, we all wished we hadn’t. HOWEVER, all what I saw on others plates on the tables around us, would make me come back and try again. The atmosphere was also a bonus. This is a great spot to enjoy Vancouver’s outdoors - the Fraser River, trees, views of the mountains, and watching the planes from YVR...

This was my first visit here, my wife had been here before. We sat on the patio. We will be coming back, for sure! They don't take reservations, so we had to wait about 30mins. There were empty tables and we overheard the hostess explain that, the kitchen wouldn't be able to keep up if they filled every table. I said to my wife, that should mean that the food will be good. I wasn't wrong!

We ordered some mocktails from the drink menu, which was nice because we both don't drink alcohol. The Pina colada and the strawberry margarita were delicious. We shared a bowl of mushroom soup, which was also very delicious. The mushrooms were thick and the soup had large chunks of onion. It was creamy and served with a little crusty bun and butter. For entrees, my wife ordered the 2 piece fish (Cod) and chips. The fried Cod was huge and the batter was crisp and not to doughy. Their fries were nice and handcut with potato skin left on. They were hot and crunchy. The tartar sauce had a good dill and vinegar flavor which was not too overwhelming. I ordered the Battleship burger with truffle fries. The all beef patty was cooked perfectly and had a nice flavor from the seasoning. I choose this burger because of the bacon jam on it. I never had bacon jam before and it didn't disappoint! It was savory with caramelized onions and crunchy bacon. All the vegetable toppings were fresh and the brioche bun was delicious. The truffle fries were straight fire. Fresh grated parmesian cheese and truffle oil on the fries puts them on another level. They were served with a side of bacon aioli which I couldn't get enough of! The food was awesome and I can't wait to come back and try out more menu options like slow-roasted ribs, steak frites, or even a pizza!

The staff was all very friendly, from the hostess who gave us an reasonable wait time, to the waitress and the person who ran out our food. Our water was always filled without asking and the food came out hot...

Been here many times past couple years but this last time (early summer) left me feeling negative. Not a food issue, cuz we have always had good things to say about the food quality, selection, and the beautiful riverside ambience, up to now....however, last visit, upon arrival we were told that we would only have 2 hrs ? to have our meal, then we would have to leave since they were busy and needed to accommodate other patrons, which we thought was odd but have seen it done before elsewhere albeit very rare to see...but this place???....I assume this went for everybody but not sure if it was due to a special circumstance or not? At first I didn't think much of it as most patrons should be able to have their meal comfortably within 2 hours....as it turned out the meal was good as usual but since it was a beautiful warm summer day the whole experience seemed to fly by and before we knew it, it was time to leave as we were about to overstay our welcome even though we spent a bundle....we came a long way almost from New West just to dine here after a round of golf so it is out of the way but seemed worth it with no time restrictions that I recall in the past.

BUT....somehow, having that restriction placed on us has left us with a sour taste in our mouths...leaving the feeling of a much lower class of restaurant, contrary to our past opinion of this place.... a feeling of capitalism at it's worst???....and now, don't know how much more extra money they actually made that evening due us leaving early but unfortunately, now most of my party felt they won't ever be going out of their way to come here again out of principle....I know I know get a life already.....but if ya wanna be considered a classy place then don't do unclassy stuff for a perceived few more dollars profit? and probably thousands of bucks in just one lost...