The Mackenzie Room — Restaurant in Vancouver

I just read through the the other reviews and I have to say it reminds me why I detest the general public's total lack of understanding of food in general (I'm a former film cook so I have a general understanding what it takes to put out a quality product for people with extremely high expectations), & a total inability to grasp that food costs have gone up 35%, employees 35%, rent and general expenses at least 25% if not considerably more. Sadly, I own a small business and deal with the staggering level of ignorance of the general public whose expectations have gone through the roof while they pinch every last penny. Don't get me wrong, the last few years have been brutal on everyone, but I can tell you that the people to "hate-on" aren't small restaurants with custom menus from scratch while you pay almost the same amount for cactus club pre-made crap regularly without a moment's thought because of a tight short skirt. The amount of complaints I saw in the reviews that said, "we asked for a bunch of specialty stuff, change orders for our odd number diner's, that the Restaurant WAS BUSY,?!?!? exemptions were difficult (an empty chair is money that they lose! I understand that people who don't run businesses are ignorant of that fact, so I'm explaining it. Custom menu items slow everything down which also cost more money while messing up the production line.) So when they're asked to kindly keep it moving as empty seats and special orders don't unfortunately keep the lights on at a restaurant they get a pissy two star review despite ALL the effort put In to accommodate those people 's needs but with zero consideration for the restaurants necessity to keep things moving to make money (I'm diabetic now and unfortunately I have to ask a whole bunch of super irritating questions about the menu which I as an ex-chef, Absolutely hate but in the last 5 years as all the ingredients have become considerably cheaper to meet food costs , everything has much more sugar added as it's always a cheaper way to make things, but I sadly I can't eat it. That's not the restaurant's fault that I am sick and life is unfair, but more importantly, I super appreciate how irritating special requests are & tip accordingly. I mean, could you imagine that you are forming a set of stairs and a person comes in halfway through the last piece of the concrete being set and asking if they mind adding a completely different set on the side, " I mean you're making them anyways right?!" I have a lot more to say, but I don't want it to blow back on the restaurant as my personal bitterness towards the general public's complete and total lack of gratitude for small businesses is massive. My point is that ALL the horrific stuff that AMAZON, APPLE, LYFT & ALL THE CORPORATIONS THAT DON'T PAY A NICKEL OF TAXES & haven't paid ANY TAXES! Are the problem! I've been at this location a number of times the last few years and has everything been perfect? F No! Nor has any restaurant, where everything's been perfect at any point, ever!?! However, is the food original and made with genuine love? Abso-f**-lutely and I'm just flabbergasted that people could give a two-star review over such Petty things as "the food was great but I felt rushed" Really?!?; If you had any idea of how much it cost to staff, a restaurant, cover rent, cover all of the overhead, not to mention any of the issues with equipment for the constant problems running a restaurant?!?! You would be shocked by the fact that these people tried this BIZ at all! Because it's absolutely not worth it cause no goddamn money in restaurants unless you make cactus club Pre-Made factory frozen garbage. Sure enough you two-star m** bitching that you didn't get everything instantly and perfectly the moment you wanted it, with your specialty orders, with five goddamn seats is why these types of places will eventually close down and while the rest of us rightfully cry about not having anywhere good to eat anymore....... YOU will be also the first people to say what happened? Ugh. I...

Summary: Very unique thoughtful dishes, great ambience, and amazing service to round out a memorable experience! Checked out Mackenzie Room to celebrate my birthday and was very happy with the decision!

We tried the Dine OUt menu and opted to sub the Pork dish for the Sablefish as my partner is Pescatarian.

Ambience: 5/5 Cozy atmosphere with great furnishings Felt very at home and made for a comfortable environment to enjoy the amazing food Was a cooler night than usual in Vancouver and it got a bit chilly when patrons entered and left the restaurant. This is being really nitpicky though and I wouldn't say it took away from our experience Music level was perfect and we didn't find that background noise level was too loud as mentioned in other reviews (it being a Monday evening could have been part of the reason)

Service: 5/5 Went in on a Monday evening so it wasn't too busy. We were greeted very warmly and all the staff were very friendly and came across as genuine. All the food came out quickly and our plates were cleared promptly without making us feel rushed whatsoever

Food: 5/5 While I'm definitely partial to protein-heavy meat dishes, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the Sea Urchin (Chicken of the Sea) and Parsnip (Wesley Snips) dishes. Each dish was very well balanced, and the flavors were unique.

That said, the standout dish for me was the "Chicken of the Sea" because everything from the presentation and taste of the brioche bread, all the way to the texture of the hazelnut buttered sea urchin combo were incredibly well crafted. I already want to go back just for this dish!

The Salmon (Sir Salmon Rushdie), Sablefish (Surf and Surf), and dessert (Quince of Darkness) were all delicious and the portion sizes were very reasonable too. The next most memorable item for me after the "Chicken of the Sea" would have to be the "Russian Cigarette Paper" in the dessert - never had anything like it and it was fantastic!

I was on the hungrier side and ended up ordering the Lamb Tartare (Hello Clarice) dish for myself - gotta treat yourself, especially on your birthday right? The dish was fantastic (loved the strong acid flavours that came through). That dish definitely put me over the top, but I had no regrets!

I'm definitely planning a return visit with some friends to try the "I want it All".

Drinks: 5/5 My partner opted to try the wine pairings with the Dine Out menu. She was very happy with each pairing, though she did find one of the wines on the sweeter side. She also very much loved one of the South African dryer wines that was served with the Sablefish.

I tried the "Aggie's Manhattan" and thought it was very well balanced. It had the perfect amount of flavour while being spirit-forward. Ended up ordering a 2nd one as it was delicious!

Overall Rating: 5/5 I had to write a review for our experience at Mackenzie Room as it made for a very memorable and DELICIOUS meal. I've been putting off writing my first review, but I HAD to write one for the Mackenzie Room after how great the whole...

We came with reservations for 6pm. We were promptly seated in a very full restaurant. I ordered the pearl martini. It was a little too strong for me and had a bit too much onion flavour.

We got the I want it all! For 89$ per person. The showstopper salad with legumes, cheese and salsa Verde. It was really fresh tasting. very big portion.

The chicken of the sea was complex and delicious. But I was really disappointed with the black squid brioche. It lacked the fluffiness that you usually get with the brioche. The texture just wasn't right. But the sea urchin with the hazelnut was a really good combination. I liked the addition of the fruit as well to help cut through the sea urchin. I would recommend this dish if it wasn't for the brioche.

The garden state was probably one of the best dishes of the night. I loved the puree on the bottom. It was really good and addictive. It needed a tad more chicken skin for a bit of extra crunch but other than that. I also loved the asparagus. This was perfect.

The faux tartare was disappointing. The beef had no beef flavour. I liked the crackers. Very crunchy. But other than that it was disappointing.

The pierre Elliot credo with the hamachi was okay. Nothing show stopping but the flavours were there. Needed a bit more sourness for it to taste fresh

The straight outta comte was not bad. I loved the fingerling potatoes and the endive.

The arctic Charley was okay. Not my favorite. I loved the crispness of the skin. I didn't think the sauce Vin rouge went with it.

The de la sole with leeks truffle and pate brisee was okay. It needed way more truffle flavour. The Cauliflower cakes were creative but didn't tie well with the sole inside the pastry. The sole itself was very flaky and light. A bit too seafoody for us.

The down the rabbit hole was quite interesting. The mortadella inside the rabbit was very interesting. The chicken skin wrapped on the outside of this dish was pretty good. I loved the contrast of textures. The mortadella was a bit tofu feeling but interesting.

The full English with the morel mushrooms was okay. The lamb didn't have much lamb flavour but this dish tasted pretty standard, nothing special.

The desserts pear necessities and pink chiffon desserts were okay. The pear necessities was kind of one dimensional and tasted mostly like chocolate. The chocolate part on the bottom had a kind of weird texture. I didn't have enough room for the pink chiffon . The creme diplomat was delicious though.

Overall the service here was really good. The food started great and ended on kind of a disappointing note. If I visit again I would not get the I want it all because it's just too much food. Off their current menu I would recommend the garden state, chicken of the sea, straight outta comte and down the...