Notch8 Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Vancouver

I was really disappointed with the service and overall experience at this restaurant. On Friday (Oct 9), six of us made a reservation for 7pm to celebrate our friend's birthday. We all got dressed up and were excited to try out this restaurant. The restaurant's ambiance was beautiful, and the table was ready right away. We valeted our cars, and the guys were helpful and kind, as well as the host and other servers that night, but during our dinner, we felt the restaurant fell very short of our expectations.

At the beginning of the night, we ordered cocktails. I ordered the "Gin & Tonic 2.0 cocktail" (to be honest, I hardly even noticed the 2.0 part as beside it was also 2.0 oz) to which I ordered as "the gin and tonic drink." Our server asked which gin I would prefer to which I stated, "Oh, I'll just get the Empress since that's the one noted in the drink." When she finally brought us our orders, she had brought me just a regular gin and tonic drink, which I was confused about, but I totally understood the confusion and realized that I should've been more specific. When she walked by, I mentioned that I had actually intended to order the cocktail and not just a regular highball and that I was sorry for any mix-up. She responded in a frustrated tone, "you said gin and tonic. If you wanted the cocktail, you should've said 2.0. It's called 'the 2.0' and you didn't say that." To which I apologized. She offered to bring me a new Gin and Tonic 2.0, which I appreciated since I had only one sip, to which she again mentioned, "again, it's the 2.0. If you don't say that you'll only get what you ordered, a regular gin and tonic," as if trying to teach me a lesson. I felt it was pretty condescending and unnecessary.

For dinner, I ordered the 'Fried Chicken Friday" special, which was the Korean Fried Chicken Bao, while the rest ordered the steak and lobster. Everyone except one person ordered medium rare, and all of those steaks were cooked at varying levels- from undercooked to overcooked. One of them was nicely cooked, but most of them were not medium rare, which for $45, you would expect a near-perfect steak. We didn't want to ask for a remake as we had already waited a long time for our food. I asked how many bao's came with the special, and she said just one came with it and suggested a side to bulk it up, so I ordered a side salad as well. I thought it was weird that it only came with one as I had seen a picture of it, and it was pictured with two; however, I assumed she knew better. She described the dish as "a biscuit thing with fried chicken on top," which is inaccurate, but it wasn't a big deal as I knew what it was. When we received our food, it ended up coming with two instead of one, which wouldn't have been a big deal, but I wouldn't have ordered the salad as well if I knew it was going to be two as it ended up being too much. It was a pretty good dish for the price, even though the chicken was super salty.

During this time, their restaurant was being renovated, so the washrooms were quite far away. You had to fully exit the restaurant, go downstairs down a long hall where the spa to use the restroom. It's not a big deal, but just an inconvenience. However, the restroom was really gross. For a nice restaurant and hotel, I expected a clean restroom, but there was hair on the sink and we had stayed at the restaurant for over 2 hours. When we all went again at the end of the night, it was still there. I understand the staff gets busy, but we were just disappointed as it does play a role in our experience.

Overall, we wished that our dinner could've gone a little better. We had called in ahead to let the restaurant know it was a birthday, and we had told our server. The people next to us were also celebrating a birthday and had a candle and little dessert come out which we were not offered or told about. We thought since it was a special night, our server would have put in more effort to make the night feel that way, but maybe she was having...

AFTERNOON TEA, The good: Vegan option as offered at any higher end hotel worth their salt (thank-you). Attentive service from the warm and genuine Estella (teapots were refilled, take-out boxes were brought without asking, she was extra kind to my kid). Whimsical decor that changes with each seasonal menu. A secret hideaway from the hustle and bustle of downtown Vancouver (you literally enter the tea room through a secret door in a false bookcase). An atmosphere in which you can actually hear your table mates speak. The vegan panna cotta was lovely. The brightly coloured popping pearls on top were a huge win. Bravo.

The bad: Weak tea. We're talking let-the-tea-pot-steep-until-its-cold-but-it's-still-flavourless-and-barely-colours-the-milk kind of weak.

Disgusting pakoras. To the management and kitchen: if you see an item returning to the kitchen repeatedly uneaten (because I know no one else was going to choke these down without a dipping sauce), as a chef/cook/manager, that's a pretty good indicator that they AREN'T EDIBLE. As one member of my party remarked, "It's like sawdust."

Lack of communication from reso to host to server resulting in impersonal service. The server never seems to know that they are receiving a vegan guest/party. Every time, without fail, we are seated at a table set with the traditional menus for tea. Despite communicating in person to our servers that we are vegan/plant based/don't do dairy or eggs etc etc, we are often served pitchers of real dairy cream with our tea and must re-order our milk...Would you serve real dairy cream to a guest who cites a lactose intolerance? I hope not! What is going on in the kitchen? Where is the leadership for service?

Perhaps the most frustrating part of this experience, is there seems no way to avoid it. I write our vegan requirements in the online reso notes. I call ahead closer to the date to reconfirm our requirements and ask if they are aware of our requests. I have in times passed addressed the hostess personally upon arrival. I always get the "yes yes yes" and then we always get the "Um...oh...er..." when we arrive at our table.

Did I voice all these issues each time? Complain to our servers about the lack of creativity in the food? Make my frustrations known in front of other guests? Absolutely not. No one wants to make a scene when trying to create a special memory with friends and loved ones. So we just smile politely at the server when asked, "Is everything alright?" because when we go to Afternoon Tea, we come to visit with one another and not haggle with the Fairmont's food program.

For all these reasons, I'm not sure I can recommend Notch8 for a seamless and relaxing afternoon tea when there are other establishments in the city that offer the same and better for less. And even if you are not vegan, perhaps especially if you are not, why would you come here when you can go...

I have been wanting to try Notch8 for over a year now as I always pass by it on the way to work. Since it was Dine Out and also my birthday weekend, I figured it was the perfect time to check it out. I tried to book online but it required a $50 CC deposit to secure the reservation. Instead, I called and made the reservation over the phone which didn't require a CC on file. I mentioned it was my birthday and that I would like to be sat near the live music if possible. Upon arrival we were greeted warmly and also sat promptly by the hostess. The restaurant decor was lovely and had a nice atmosphere, especially with the live music. However, our table was sat quite far away, in another section of the restaurant, far away from the music. This was disappointing since it was one of the reasons I chose the restaurant. We were also sat at a large table for 6 even though there was only 2 of us. This seemed to confuse our server since she began to pour waters for the whole table until I told her it was just the two of us, which she seemed a bit annoyed about. We ordered our drinks and about 5-10 minutes later, our server came back and said we were given old menus and that the drink I ordered no longer existed. I changed my order. My drink came out first and after 5 minutes, my partner's beer came. I ordered from the Dine Out menu, 3 courses for $49 and my partner ordered the chicken as well as the Notch8 bread appetizer. Our appetizers came out and the french onion soup (which I substituted for the Potato Leek soup) was delicious but the bread was very bland and definitely not worth the price. We had to ask for butter as it was quite dry, Our mains came a little while later. Both our entrees, the Arctic Char and Chicken were so underwhelming as well as bland. There was no salt or pepper on the table and we were not offered pepper for our meal, although I noticed other tables were. We were not quality checked until after our meal was finished. My partner did not finish his red cabbage as it was just not good. I had the profiterole for dessert and it was nice. From my prior experiences while going out for my birthday at a nice restaurant, the staff often do something for birthdays, even if it is just writing happy birthday on the plate, however, this was not the case. I understand it was a Friday night and during Dine Out but the restaurant was not very busy. We were there for almost 3 hours and coupled with the mediocre service and underwhelming food, it was just an overall disappointing experience. I hope this was a one off and that the restaurant and staff were just having an off day. I do not think I will return to this establishment and I would caution others as well, since it is easy for tourists and others alike to be drawn to Notch8 due to it's location and promise of 'fine dining.' There are better restaurants in the area, which offer better food and...