Roar — Restaurant in Tofino

So we went here for a 96th birthday the night before a wedding and all the people in our group were left understandable unhappy with not only the service but also how much we were all charged for the food. First the service was slow, the restaurant wasn't overly busy, they had a handful of empty tables. When we first got there I looked at the bar to see what types of Rums they had and saw they had sailor Jerry spiced rum, so when the waitress asked what I'd like for my drink I told her I'd like a spiced rum and coke. 10min later she came back to our table and told me they didn't have spiced rum just white and dark. Confused I looked again thinking maybe I had been mistaken, but I wasn't and there was still a bottle of sailor Jerry. I pointed it out to her amd she went and told the bar tender. After that I still waited another almost 10min for my drink. This was how the rest of our night went when it came to the service. Now when they booked this dinner the restaurant sent the person planning it a menu for us to all pre order our meals before we got there. Because me amd my wife were trying to budget our weekend so that we could experience more stuff while we were in Tofino we decided to go with a plater because the menu they had sent us said it was $90 for it and that it feed a max of 4 people when they other individual dishes were all around the $70 mark. So we, and others that went to this dinner all decided to go this route. In total there was going to be 3 platers (2 meat and 1 fish). Before they came out the brought out some appies people had ordered while i had stepped outside for a second. When i came back there was a salad waiting for me, i didnt remember ordering one but according to my wife and another person we were there with the waitress insisted it was for me when asked. So not being one to waste food i started eatting it. When the waitress came back the person that was with us that was told the salad was for me asked where her salad was, the waitress said she would check and let her know, she came back a minute later and told her i had stolen her salad. When both my wife and the other girl setting with us told her that she told them it was for me, she refused to accept her mistake and counted to insisted that i had stolen her salad. Later When they finally brought out the platers well after everyone else at the dinner had gotten there food and almost finished they placed all 3 players on a separate table but didn't tell anyone who's was who's so it ended up being a free for all between 11 people. The plater me and my wife ended up getting was disappointing because most of the meat was fat, almost a good half of it. The potatoes were still a bit under cooked. By that point we, as well as others in our group were very disappointed with the quality of the meal as well as the service. Then the final jab came when we got our bill. $273.... they charged us $90 per person when the menu they sent us did not say that it was $90 per person. When the manager was talked to there was nothing he could or would do for us because we were not guests of the hotel the restaurant was at. This ended up decreasing the amout of things we were able to do during our stay in Tofino because like I said we were trying to budget. The next day I talked to the others that had also got the platers and found out they also had the same experience but worse. We had ended paying the least amount when it came to the platers even tho they were all the exact same size meals. Our 1 plater for the 2 of us was $180, the other two platers cost $360 each for the EXACT same size meals. This place was 100% a rip off and recommended people go somewhere else for food like the shed or long Beach log resort restaurant for food. Better price, better service, better food and all around a...

My husband and I came here for our honeymoon dinner because we had a fantastic experience for our engagement dinner here a year and a half ago.

We had a glass cup that clearly had a lip mark on it and asked for a new one. The server gave us a new one and gave us an explanation: that sometimes there are marks in the cup when they come out of the fridge after being sanitized. That’s fair, but it was clearly a lip mark.

The featured dishes were described very well, but almost to the point of pure exaggeration of what we were about to receive. Today it was halibut for $45. I was disappointed because we basically got a small piece of meat less than the size of your palm and small head of lettuce, with a little bit of corn and peas and puréed sauces. It tasted great but the proportions were so small for this price (relative to the other dishes like their salmon or duck confit, which were around $36). The featured halibut dish just didn’t feel like it was worth $45. It was underwhelming and horribly disappointing.

The other featured dish was mussels and they were really delicious. For a full pound it was $28. Great value. The server recommended that we pair it with fries. We got a small cup of fries that looked like they were sitting for a while at the bottom of a bowl under heat. And they were $8 (compare this with a dinner plate for $26).

The server came back and asked if we wanted dessert and we said yes. They went to get us a dessert menu but came back more than 10 minutes later and asked us if we wanted the bill. At that point we just wanted to leave.

From a distance, the other dishes looked much better and of greater value. The halibut was a sales transaction, don’t fall for it.

Overall, I think Roar dropped the ball since we last visited. We were looking forward to the seared albacore tuna salad that we had 1.5 years ago. That was absolutely delicious! Unfortunately today’s experience didn’t live up to the hype. We were going to eat there again tomorrow but just cancelled our...

My husband and I visit Victoria and Tofino about twice a year. We love staying at Hotel Zed in Victoria but had never been to the one in Tofino. We decided to book a Valentine's dinner at Roar this year. We went in a couple of hours early as the wonderful team in Victoria said to go in and try to find the hidden arcade there. We walked around the hotel and were greeted with the friendliest people. We found the arcade and spent some time in the disco before we settled on the huge couch just outside of Roar for a couple of drinks and to play a few games of crib. They have an array of different games and it's such a cozy place to hangout while being warmed by the two large retro fireplaces. Jacob was exceptionally attentive and friendly! We could not say enough great things about him or his amazing hospitality. When our dinner reservation time came up, we were brought to a lovely table that overlooked the kitchen staff. What an amazingly organized and hard-working team! They were so in sync that it was incredible to watch them prepare all the food. Our server (Cammy or Tammy ~ I'm sorry, we couldn't quite make out her name) was wonderful! She was very friendly and just the right amount of attentive. We ordered the calamari as an appetizer. My husband said that it was the best he had ever had and I absolutely loved it as well. The portion was large and the batter was light and tasty. We also loved the dip that it came with. So good! I ordered the short rib as my main meal and my husband had the burger. My meat was fork tender and just melted in my mouth! Everything on the plate was delicious and worked together perfectly! So so good! My husband's burger was perfectly cooked and amazing! He loved it! We will definitely be back again, the next time that we are in Tofino and will stay at the hotel this time. ** We also loved that the hotel is so dog friendly! I got to visit with two sweet pups while we were in the lounge, playing...