Shaughnessy Restaurant — Restaurant in Vancouver

I don’t recommend this place as your wedding venue.

Issue with Vendor Access - DJ, florist, and all my friends had to rush setting everything up wihtin 1 hour and that caused sooo much stress. The timeline doesn’t make sense to me. One hour is insane. What kind of wedding venue does this?

Leakage - My wedding day was raining. Water was leaking from the roof and two of guests were affected by the rain during the ceremony. I CAN’T BELIEVE this. We complained and the owner actually said that we need to contact the City Hall because it’s their responsibility. They gave me $250 refund but that’s like nothing compared to how much I spent that evening. I spent so much on this wedding and felt like nobody from the restaurant was even trying to help or facilitate the wedding.

There was a small issue with my headtable. Based on their floor chart they sent me, I was told that 8 people can fit in to the table, but learned that it’s not the case TWO DAYS BEFORE MY WEDDING. I couldn’t change my seating chart that last minute , so two people from my wedding party had to sit on the side of the headtable. I learned that TWO DAYS BEFORE. Not acceptable.

Now, another issue- there were only two children in our wedding and they charged for three meals. The owner i spoke to was insisting that they are correct, but there’s no way that one of the kids would have eatened second meal on that evening. Again, they are givining me a trouble for such a small issue. They actually said “it’s only twenty one dollars” and what’s-the-big-deal attitude.

I strongly don’t recommend here.

--- In response to below comments from Shaughnessy:

Leakage: You said you are happy that you refunded some cost to me, but look, you were not happy to give that refund. Yes, you compensated $250 in the end, but it was obvious that you didn't want to compensate for it. Instead, you wanted to give your restaurant gift card. Unfortunately, I will not go back to your restaurant so I didn't need your gift card. The actual issue here is not the end result, but your attitude and the entire process of handling the issues. The owner said that we need to contact the City to complain about the leakage. I thought you are joking. Plus, the amount you compensated is nothing compared to how much I spent.

Vendor Access: My florist and people with the sound system couldn't access the dining area freely until 3:30 pm. Just so you know, guests arrived starting from 4 pm, so they all had to rush setting up. Do you know how stressful to watch people rushing to set things up in half an hour? Just in case you don't know what your staff told me, here is what your event coordinator informed me on August 21st, 2018:

" For vendors, the earliest I can allow access to the space is 2pm. I would be able to offer the magnolia room for 1pm if there needs to be flowers arranged etc. The actual dining room won’t be open for set up until 2pm with guests leaving by 3pm latest (we work around the tables that remain)."

The Manager verbally confirmed this as well. I understand that you are a restaurant, but you should be responsible for what you tell your clients.

Head Table: I know that there's a set layout and we have to work around it. What I'm saying is that you should have told me that the head table won't fit 8 people in the first place. You sent me the table set up layout and we were going back and forth until the rehearsal day. We learned that 8 people won't fit in the table on that evening. TWO DAYS before my wedding. By that point, all my table chart were done and too late to change the sitting.

Kids Menu: I had only two kids in my wedding and I am 100% certain that they didn't order two meals for a kid. Who would order two meals for a kid at a wedding? I checked with my friend and she also confirmed she didn't. Even though it could be a mistake on the server's side, the owner didn't apologize and instead argued with me. She was extremely rude. She initially offered a gift card (AGAIN!). It shouldn't be that difficult to get "my...

We recently had lunch at Shaughnessy Restaurant, but sadly it did not meet our expectations and was extremely disappointing in terms of both food quality and service.

I ordered the crab salad on a croissant with truffle fries, but unfortunately, both components fell short. The crab salad, which should have been a light, delicate seafood dish, ended up being overdone, losing its fresh texture. I’m not sure why it needed to be served hot or toasted to such an extreme level. The over-browning of the entire plate detracted from its delicate flavours, making it taste more like mushy tuna than crab. As for the croissant, it missed the mark entirely — it lacked the crispness and flakiness you'd expect, leaving it unappealingly dry and browned to the point of becoming inedible.

The truffle fries were another letdown. Some were nearly burnt, while others were greasy and soggy, suggesting the oil wasn’t fresh. The truffle oil combined with over cooking and saturation significantly detracted from both the taste and texture, leaving a simple side dish far from the indulgent experience it should have been. Unfortunately, I ended up feeling ill after consuming the crab salad and greasy fries, which further soured the entire experience.

Service was also an issue. While our waitress checked on us once, we didn’t see her again until it was time to bring the dessert menu or pay the bill. The slow service, paired with the lack of follow-up, added to the overall disappointment.

In hindsight, I realize I should have brought this up with our server, but I hesitated to complain and risked making the meal even more problematic for us. I chose not to spend additional time explaining the issue, waiting for a manager, and then for a replacement dish, especially as I wasn’t feeling well afterwards. Honestly, I was surprised the kitchen served it that way in the first place. After reading other online reviews, it seems this has been a recurring problem that really needs attention.

My sister’s vegetable quiche was unremarkable, but the side salad stood out. Crisp and fresh, which was a welcome contrast to the otherwise underwhelming dishes.

The only redeeming factor was the atmosphere. Dining on the back patio with a nice view of the garden provided a peaceful setting, but that was not enough to compensate for our lacklustre lunch.

Given the premium prices, the food quality and service could definitely be elevated. While the ambiance is charming, both the food and service fell short of expectations and didn't quite match the high standards one might anticipate. The owner needs to address quality control issues with the chef and kitchen team in order to ensure dishes are up to better standards. Or the restaurant will lose business in the long run. With improvements in these areas, Shaughnessy Restaurant has the potential to provide a much more enjoyable dining experience for future guests.

Following my review, Shaughnessy Restaurant requested its removal, describing my Google review as “unfortunate” and offering a return visit as compensation. I declined, as I stand by my feedback and believe that suppressing critical remarks undermines both customer trust and business integrity.

While they issued an apology, their response appeared more focused on protecting the restaurant’s reputation than addressing the substance of my concerns. The owner questioned why I had not raised these during the meal, a point I already explained in my initial review.

I provided my experience publicly because honest feedback is essential for accountability and improvement. I invited further dialogue, but they did not follow up. I do not plan on returning, and my review remains unchanged in the hope that future customers avoid a similar unfortunate experience, which was a major disappointment. Based on my experience and the response that followed, I cannot in good faith recommend...

We went on a weekday for lunch and unfortunately had such a poor experience. We came for a birthday lunch for my mother in law. The restaurant itself was lovely with a great outdoor patio and very clean. The food was quite tasty - the salad appetizer and truffle fries tasted delicious. Our entrees were generally good - the pesto chicken delicious and juicy but the carrots were very undercooked and hard. The ribs were tasty and super tender. The chicken po boy sandwich was a bit dry and didn't have much slaw on it but had a good flavour. The biggest issue for the poor rating was the service. This was a weekday at lunch, and when we arrived most people had food at their tables already. We were seated and nobody came to check on us for 15mins. Finally someone dropped off some water but didn't say anything to us. A hostess eventually came to ask for drinks and told us the specials. When our server came she didn't introduce herself at all, didn't apologize for the wait, and she never checked on how the food/experience was during the entire meal (I think the hostess said her name was Jenny). Nobody cleared our starter plates when we were done, and we had to prompt a server to take it away before he left the table after he brought our mains. We were also given the dessert menu by a different server and after 10mins, we had to flag somebody down to take our order because nobody bothered to check back. And at this point, only about 50% of tables remained on the patio. We ordered a creme brulee to share and my husband loves creme brulee but he couldn't even finish this one. The custard was curdled instead of smooth and it was luke warm instead if cold. The only time our actual server was prompt was when she took our payment. As for the other servers, none seem to have any interpersonal skills that most servers should have, sure they did well with filling our water glasses but none of them ever asked how our meal or experience was or if we needed anything, especially since we were already neglected by our own server. I understand restaurants have been dealing with staff shortages during covid, but this wasn't a busy afternoon and for a place like Shaughnessy with "fine dining" you would expect better. Also why have 3 people fill waters and deliver food only and not be attentive to tables? What a wonderful way to celebrate a birthday lunch. So even though the food was decent it's not worth it for the horrible service. Go to Season's in the Park by QE for similar style of...