Shelter Restaurant — Restaurant in Tofino

This is a challenging review to write. In many ways our dinner went well. In other ways it was a disaster. I should start by saying that in our over 20 years of visiting Tofino we have eaten at the old Shelter many times. So when we heard at Christmas that it had burned down our family talked about it the way you might talk about the death of a family friend. Therefore we were delighted to hear that the restaurant was going to relocate and that it wouldn’t pass into memory. We made an online reservation for our group many weeks in advance. Parking at the new location is tight, which we had already heard about so we arrived early. When we were seated we were taken outside which was a surprise to us. The day was cool in Tofino and we knew we’d be cold even with the heaters and asked to be seated inside. After discussions with staff (one of whom was abrupt and initially not very accommodating) we were asked to come back in 30 minutes and we would be seated inside. 50 minutes later we were seated inside and things improved considerably. Liam our server was terrific and efficiently took our drink orders. Our meals were generally up to the standards we expect at Shelter although our salmon was at least medium and not medium rare and two of our diners had their meals arrive some time after the rest of the group. Liam was aware of it and brought them as soon as they were ready. One of the diners had an insect (not the flying kind) in his meal - the plate was immediately removed and a fresh meal was brought to the table although this took a long time and as a result he ended up eating when almost everyone was finished. Again Liam was aware of this and the diner did get a free beer. At the end of the meal we were told that it was customary to apply an automatic tip to groups of six or more. Two problems with this. First, there were three cheques at the table - no cheque was for a group even close to six people. Only the table as a whole totaled over six. Second, the tip was for 20%. This seems excessive. Even if the automatic tip is 15% you can still add more (I have done this in the past). Considerable discussion ensued at the table but we decided to pay the bills as presented and not dispute them.

Suggestions for management:

Change website and online reservation system to make it clear that there is outdoor and indoor seating and make it possible to make a selection. Warm plates for hot courses so they don’t cool off so quickly. Work with prep staff so all meals come out at the same time for one table. 15% auto gratuity, for a bill of six diners or more.

Will we be back? Yes. And we will hope for a...

Had a decent dinner here tonight. My partner and I ordered chicken wings, the Tofino surf bowl and two Guinness. We were disappointed when the Guinness came out with a head on it that was quite unsettling. I’ve added a picture to this review to help you understand. Guinness should never have been served looking like this. We chose not to send it back to not be difficult as well as we had already been in the restaurant for at least 20 minutes before our order was taken. I have a dairy allergy and found it difficult to order from this menu. When ordering the bowl I told the server about my allergy, she noted it for the kitchen but did not give any aid to ordering with the allergy. I asked if the yogurt sauce could be replaced at all, even with avocado. the server just said it would be an extra charge and said nothing else at all to help the situation. I opted to not get the avocado and she mentioned the teriyaki vegetables would be enough anyway bluntly. The food came out and it was good. I enjoyed the bowl, my partner found the chicken wings to be small, not a lot of meat on the bone. The server came and took the plates and offered the dessert menu. This would not of mattered as we never got a check in to see if we would like to order any. We had to signal to a waiter, that was not ours, to get the bill, as again, we were not checked on for some time. When it came to paying my partner paid for the meal. He handed the machine back to the server who then said she’ll wait to give him the receipt without asking if he wants it. She then stared him down and asked if there was any issues with the service. My partner was startled as she had an unsettling tone and is now, in a way, shaming my partner for the amount he chose to tip. My partner startled and uncomfortable just briefly mentioned the guinness to avoid the conversation. The server mentioned we could’ve sent back the Guinness, he mentioned he didn’t want to make anyone upset. The server then cleared our table and walked away without saying anything. We understand that there is an expectation these days when it comes to tips but if we do not get the quality of service or food that we expect we should not then be shamed for a tip less then the “expected amount”. At the end of the day a tip is...

Wanted to love this restaurant given all the high reviews and hate to leave a bad review, but as a tourist with high hopes visiting with friends, we were extremely disappointed with the service we received the night we walked in for dine-in service.

From the get-go, the hostess was cold and tried to look busy when we asked about available seating, as well as if fresh oysters were served. We were in disbelief she did not know whether there were oysters, but looking past that, we were distraught that she tried to look busy rather than walk 20 metres to ask. She was literally waiting for another group to walk up rather than give us a definitive answer! Given it was already 6 pm, we decided not to let this experience get to us and to dine in considering it would be difficult to dine elsewhere as well. Also, getting to the parking was a hassle and we didn’t want to deal with that right away again. Little did we know that this treatment would continue to follow throughout our dining experience.

Unlike our dining neighbours, we were not offered dining napkins (outrageous considering we both ordered the mussels with sauce to start - and we arrived and ordered first). Service was extremely poor despite being seated right at the diagonal point of the bar right next to where the beer is poured; we were never checked in on by the multiple waitresses and bar attendants there. Freshly shucked oysters, if available, can only be purchased as a dozen for some reason, which is unlike my experience at other restaurants that also offer the option of half a dozen oysters - causing us to spend $42 on oysters that were not even that fresh. We also ordered the tuna stack but it was lacking an element of acidity so it was very bland, also the chips failed to hold the tartare making it difficult to eat.

Overall food was actually decent but after the poor experience, we failed to have a good time as it completely overshadowed any positive element of the meal. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone, especially if you are a minority. It certainly felt like there was a different level of service to other dining guests based on a...