Uptown Bistro — Restaurant in Saanich

As someone who has worked in the food and beverage industry for over five years I was generally unimpressed. Me and two friends were trying to find a brunch place and couldn't find anywhere without a hour or longer line. We called ahead to ask how long they served breakfast. They offer breakfast til a decent time so we decided to drive across town and check it out. Walked in and it was awkward all the workers stopped and started at us, we werent ushered to a table so we stood by the door for a minute until finally a server sat us at a dirty table. When he came to wipe it he wiped very uneffectively and getting lots of crumbs on our laps. We ordered drinks some juice, water, coffee and a Ceasar. Took about 15 minutes into our food order to get the drinks. The ceasar, and coffee were good. My friends were drinking the coffee and water, they both finished, the waitress offered to top up the coffee every couple minutes but never offered to top up the water at all, and would run away before she could ask for a refill. We all ordered Eggs Benny's, the food arrived relatively quick. Unfortunately two the the Benny's had egg shells in it, mine had a good half of a egg shell hidden under hollandaise, and lots of broken eggshell within the food. My friends had lots of little pieces off eggshell hidden in her food. Took a few minutes for servers to come by and check on us, even though our plates were pushed to the edge of the table, a generally universal symbol that you should come check on us. He didn't really seem to care and offered that he could potentially remake them for us. They under up remaking our meals, second time was better, not exceptional food, they were a bit stingy with the hollandaise sauce. We ate most of the food, when the bill came they didn't comp anything, usually with a mistake like eggshells in you food it should have at least a 30% discount applied, with the outside off eggshell in our food there would be a potential salmonella contamination. So to expect guests to pay full price is a bit rude. We payed and left a tip because we are service workers and decent humans, but I would honestly never go back or recommend to friends, I've actually warned a few people not to go there since our service was so bad for mediocre food. Some people seem to be leaving good reviews so perhaps they treat their...

Updated: I can no longer recommend breakfast. I don't know what happened. It used to be a great place for a classic breakfast. Now it's like some experimental kitchen serving unrecognizable dishes. I tried the French toast, a simple dish of bread, eggs, and milk, fried and served with butter and maple syrup. What arrived was thin slices of bread absolutely drowning in what I can only describe as thick orange goo of some sort, with a pile of bananas on top (a generous portion at least). It didn't resemble French toast in any way. A good example of "improving" on a simple idea until it becomes a disaster. I really should have photographed it because it was unbelievable. The flavours in this dish are supposed to be simple and delicious. Whatever this was ruined it.

By all means, come for lunch and dinner. The burgers are excellent, the steak pie is amazing, and the server is lovely. One of my favourites. You also can't believe the value. It's still one of the least expensive diners in town. But skip the breakfast as the chef seems bored with it and is trying to overcomplicate it.

Earlier review below:

Returned for dinner and enjoyed a wonderful steak and mushroom pot pie with a lovely flakey pastry crust. The service from Gurneet was friendly...

First time lunch today, very disappointing. Our waitress really did not seem to know the menu or what was in dishes. We inquired, but never got answers. I ordered the lamb burger, no bun, lettuce wrapped and a caesar salad, dressing on the side and a diet pepsi. Our food and drink came at the same time. My lettuce wrapped burger was not lettuce wrapped and they left off the toppings that were listed in the menu. My salad was covered in dressing and had really gross stale Parmesan dumped on the top. My diet Pepsi was regular, unfortunately, no one came back to check on our food and when I told the owner when he cleared our plates, he was argumentative with me. In the end, I left Uptown Bistro and hit McDonalds because I was so hungry.

Owner did not even take the wrong pop off our bill. My girlfriend subbed chicken for the lamb burger and they charged her extra even though the chicken is cheaper and they charged us an extra $2 for the caesar salad that was not made the way it was ordered, therefore, not eaten. Overall, not a good experience and I would advise if you have any dietary restrictions, to be be very, VERY cautious at...