10 Acres at The Pier — Restaurant in Sidney

My mother lives in Sidney and we have been going to 10 Acres since it opened and have never had anything but an enjoyable experience. Tonight was the opposite. After being greeted by the host with the warning “once you sit down you cannot switch tables”, the four of us were seated inside. After ordering drinks, the experience began to go quickly downhill. Our order consisted of the mushroom pizza, the Aglio Olio Pasta (Spaghetti with oil and tomatoes), the Falafel Bowl and the Thai Curry Bowl. The pizza ($25.95) was as good as always and the thai curry bowl ($29.95) was tasty and a decent size. This said, they should be at these price points. On the other hand, the Pasta, at $24.95, was at best an appetizer sized portion and unpleasantly salty. The falafel bowl was a sad joke and I wish I’d taken a picture. It consisted of three flattened falafels with some sauce and a tiny salad served on a plate. I note that we asked our server if she would recommend the falafel bowl and her response was that “it was popular”. Once our server took our order, she did not return to our table until I called her over mid-way though our meal to order two glasses of wine. For clarity, she did not check on us after our food had been delivered by another server nor did she come over when our drink glasses were empty. It's also worth noting that she had to walk by our table in order to reach the rest of the tables in her section. She took the order of a 5-oz red and 9-oz chardonnay then returned minutes later saying that she couldn’t remember if my mother had ordered a 5 or 9 oz glass of wine. 15 minutes later, the wine had not been delivered to our table. I was able to get the attention of a busser and asked him if he could track down our wine order. He returned with two glasses of white wine and we told him that this was not what we ordered. He left the wine on the table and said he would check on it for us. By this time, we had finished our meals. I was able to get the attention of our server and told her that the wine delivered to our table was not what we ordered and that that since we had now finished we did not want it anymore. She moved the wine to the edge of the table and walked away. Some minutes later, she returned, picked-up the wine and left not apologizing and barely even looking at us. At this point, I was frustrated enough to call over the manger and explain why our experience had been so negative. He removed the falafel bowl from the bill and gave us a further $20 discount. While the manager’s gesture was appreciated, I’m not sure that it was sufficient. Nonetheless, I paid the bill and we left. I come to Sidney at least 4 times a year and, on each visit, we would eat at 10 Acres at least once and sometimes twice. My mom, living in Sidney, obviously visits more often particularly since she has a close friend living in the condos at the Pier. Based on my experience yesterday, there is going to have to be a significant change in the way the restaurant is run in order to convince me not look elsewhere for restaurant options when I’m in town and I know my mother feels likewise. Finally, let me add that I know that one bad server experience does not a restaurant make (or break) and we have definitely had good server experiences at 10 Acres in the past. But the combination of our server experience last night with small portions (even in their “Large Plates” category), mediocre food (some, not all) and high (and seemingly often increasing) prices will make me think hard about returning to 10 Acres either here in Sidney or...

Incredibly poor experience. We were sat at a table that was not near any heaters outside and when we asked to change tables to one directly beside where we were sat, we were told it was against policy to change the hostess choice. ( i understand to a degree but this was before we even sat down and saw all the empty table). Finally half an hour later, after seeing the surrounding tables still had not sat tables, we started asking again, finally they reluctantly agreed to let us change tables as long as we sat in the same seating order even though we all had only gotten 1 drink order so far. The food took a really long time to come out, service was slow and almost all the staff had an attitude (host to bar to server)... However the young girl running the drinks was lovely. The starters were alright, we were upcharged for more chips and asking for extra sideplates for the Ceviche even though the small handful of chips it comes with is not adequate for the amount of ceviche you get, even for a single person to order. (even though we made it clear the ceviches was for 2 of our party to share). Finally after over an hour we received our main dishes, and the steaks were very over done. They were both well done, and not medium or medium rare as requested. When she came back around to ask how things were we were honest and said some things were not that great. One of the steak dishes was taken back by the waitress to have it remade but then 5 minutes later, she brought the plate back to the table and asked what we wanted to do with it, cause she thinks two of the steaks got mixed up to the wrong person. WHAT??? That was such an awkward interaction, as she stood over the table with the old food in hand asking us what we wanted to do with it? We said well If it wont be remade then please remove it from the bill and the rest of us will continue our meal. A few minutes later I found a little black fuzzy like a pet hair or sweater fluff in my food, which I pointed out to my party but ultimately decided to let it go, but then right after i found a LONG brown hair in my potatoes. Our party watched me pull this long stringy hair out of my food. We immediately let the waitress know and she really accused me that it was my own hair. I am blonde. She barely apologized and seemed really confused when I asked that she please take my plate away. The manager came out and while he did apologize, he seemed way over his head and said that he's quite new and has been getting alot of feedback/complaints and admits the owners have interesting policys. The 2 steaks were comped off the bill, but none of the other 4 guests received a discount or apology for the overall bad experience. Apparently the fish and chips were alright, but were upcharged $4.50 for tartar sauce. I would never go here or another 10 acres...

Dates of service: Oct 17 and 19, 2024

Service:

First I must commend the excellent service from all of the very capable and friendly servers at this upscale Sidney, BC, restaurant. In particular I cannot say enough about our main server, Taylor, who provided genuinely friendly, intelligent, competent, and in the case of my very senior mom, compassionate and understanding service. He was very tuned in and attentive to her considerable specific dietary preferences, and worked closely with the very talented chefs in the kitchen to accommodate Mom’s sensitive palate! Taylor, in a word, delivered exemplary service from start to finish on both occasions and is a role model for those in the hospitality industry. The management at the 10 Acres at The Pier would do well to do everything in their power to both reward and retain this exceptional individual.

Menu:

Their clam chowder is exceptional. Rich, creamy and well balanced , with plenty of clams and veggies, in just the right proportions. It was a bit thinner, but still acceptable, on our second visit; I do prefer the thicker version though.

The Thai curry on pasta I felt was lacking in the flavours I expected in a Thai curry. I.e. lemon grass, cilantro and coconut milk. It also needed a little more zing to it. The pasta itself, thin linguini I believe, was perfectly cooked and was ideal for the smooth creamy consistency of the Thai curry sauce.

On the second visit I had seafood cannelloni which were absolutely scrumptious. The crab filling was generous and delicious. The tomato sauce was superb. I used the two huge slices of toasted garlic butter baguette to endure that absolutely none of that sauce missed the gastronomic journey to my very well dated tummy.

A delicious and generous perfectly prepared cappuccino capped off my meal on both nights.

Atmosphere:

An added bonus was the clear view of the rising full supermoon out of the seaside-facing window opposite our table. What a delightful adjunct to our two great dining experiences at the 10 Acres at The Pier restaurant in beautiful Sidney, B.C.

The hard surfaces throughout the restaurant make for a relatively noisy acoustic environment which some might find intrusive. If you like a lively, hopping place with fine food and great service, and don’t mind having to speak fairly loudly to be heard by your dinner compatriots, this is the best choice in Sidney, B.C. Not inexpensive, but worth it!

In closing:

Thanks again to Taylor and the very talented and creative culinary staff at the 10 Acres at The Pier. See you again soon!!

Andy Hoffer Visiting from...