The Feast — Restaurant in Salt Spring Island Electoral Area

Brutally honest review: The Feast, Monday Oct 21.

We were visiting Saltspring for the first time. We had seen The Feast on google and local maps before arriving and it was recommended by our server at another establishment we visited for lunch. I love the entire farm to table philosophy and it seemed very similar to another favourite restaurant of ours that we absolutely adore. Needless to say we were very excited to try some local eats with a gourmet farm to table experience.

We entered the restaurant and were seated at one of the tables in the front room. The atmosphere was very cozy and modern however the table and chair arrangement does not allow enough room for even an average size server or guest to pass comfortably behind you without squeezing past the back of your chair touching you every time. It produces a constant anxiety of trying to stay out of the way of guests and staff.

We ordered the smoked chicken feast, this was accompanied by a watercress salad, grilled corn, and butternut squash. At a 90 dollar price point it serves 2-4 people and I would agree the potion size is accurate to feed that many. For two you will have left overs.

The Chicken: the smoked flavour was nice the skin was crispy and delicious but ultimately the meat was very dry, and felt like a chore to eat.

The corn: over cooked and drier than any corn I have ever eaten grilled or otherwise.

The watercress salad: the watercress itself was light and refreshing however the dressing was so acidic and tart it completely threw the balance into a mouth puckering tail spin that could not been recovered from.

The butternut squash: Was the best part of the dish but it doesn’t take an amazing chef to prepare. just cook until tender and season appropriately, it is a simple dish and will turn out amazing 99% of the time.

We browsed the wine menu but passed on it as the options were way overpriced, not sure how you can justify selling a glass of wine for what is basically the price of the bottle at retail. A complete price gouge In my opinion.

We probably could have excused the mid level cuisine if not for the service, it was truly the worst part of our visit. I have never felt so invisible in a restaurant as I did at the feast, I waited so long to have my water refilled I got up and did it myself. Before I got up to do it myself I gave the staff every opportunity, even moving my empty glass to the outside of the table and trying to make eye contact with any of the serving staff. The staff repeatedly walked past our table and weirdly gave triple the service they to the table next to us. Instead of responding with any level of concern at me filling my own glass the staff seemed mildly irritated that I would attempt to serve myself in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, if you don’t want to serve me water that is fine but leave me the pitcher then and I can simply do it myself. I can tell you I have been to other restaurants on our vacation and my glass has not been empty. Our section in The Feast was not even half full as it was a Monday it actually seemed quite manageable.

In closing I would not recommend the feast. The experience falls short of the gourmet dining they are marketing and just seems overpriced for what you get.

TLDR: Paid too much for dry chicken, overdressed salad, a cramped dinning room and...

My husband, baby and I came for my husband's birthday dinner on the weekend. It was pretty busy so I'm glad we made reservations to sit in the courtyard patio. It was super cute back there and cooler (temperature wise) than being inside. There were some shady spots and some spots in the sun.

The staff and our server were lovely and accommodating with our baby and his stroller. In case anyone else is planning to come with a stroller or wheelchair, I wanted to point out we had to carry our stroller up the stairs in order to go to the restaurant. Not sure if there was a ramp somewhere so best to check with the restaurant first.

Neither my husband or I drink alcohol so we ordered the apple and pear sodas. They were good! We even looked up the brand of the sodas and made a note to purchase some when we head home to Vancouver.

For appetizers we ordered the fired oysters and the spicy octopus. Let me tell you, I don't even like oysters (my husband does and since it was his birthday he was allowed to order them lol) but these were so good!! The cream, and flavour of the sauce was delicious. The spicy octopus was super tender and not overcooked. At first I didn't like the slight orange flavour but afterwards I didn't mind it so much.

We ordered the Halibut which was a ton of food for two of us. The bread and butter were so good. The salad and veggies (potatoes, zucchinis, carrots) were so fresh. The halibut was delicious as well! We packed more than half to go because we couldn't finish it.

Our baby needed to go back to the airbnb for his bedtime so I ordered the lemon tart to go. It was also great!

This was basically the first time my husband and I went out for dinner since our baby was born 6 months ago and we're glad we...

If I could give it 0 stars I would. This place was the worst food we ever eaten in 2024. The pork feast was pork meat uncooked with the majority of it being fat “grissle”. We asked to have it cooked and it was returned uncooked, again, with less fat but, still fatty. We couldn’t cut the pork meat, we had to ask for steak knives, and the meat was still too tough to cut, it was still uncooked and full of fat. The pork feast was with cooked radishes with no flavor, very sour apples and a yogurt base. It was tasteless and horrible. I booked indoor and was taken to a tent that was leaking on chairs. I added photos with proof of my reservation “inside” and a chef’s review of the fact that medium rare is just chewy and raw…When I asked to be changed inside, they put us by the door, where people would come in with their wet attires, dripping on my dress. It was my birthday and it was ruined by this expensive, pretentious and horrible food. The bus person was nice and gave us two glasses of “bubbly” on the house to “make up” for the tent experience… Although we told the waiter the food was horrible and we only ate the corn, we were still charged $70.00 for it. Let’s say if you want a great meal don’t go to the “Feast” because you ain’t going to feast… at least, we didn’t. The atmosphere was as horrible as the food with the seating we got. We will never be feasting there ever again!!!

Response to Rochelle: thanks for your response. I stand by my experience as a customer and you stand by yours. For the readers here, you may wish to check out Manor Dining which had excellent food and atmosphere. Fine dining with a flair…

Rochelle, when I pay $70.00 for dinner I don’t pay for pork fat which I have to cut off!...