Breakwater Bistro & Bar — Restaurant in Victoria

What a shock to see such a formerly great cafe (Ogden Point Cafe) turned into such a disappointing place now. Went for lunch with my family yesterday and I'm sorry to say, I won't ever be coming back. The previous setup had all of their foods and tasty goodies in display cases that you ordered and then if necessary they warmed them up and brought them to your table. Now it's a sit-down restaurant style, with a lot of space wasted for a bar area that is underutilized but it's probably there to give off a trendy hipster vibe more than anything else. The menu is extremely limited, and although we chose the clam chowder which was excellent, we weren't interested in paying $9 for a plain hamburger for our young child, which then would have put the cost up to closer to $18 to add things like cheese and other condiments. They did allow us to get a "kids burger" which no one would know is even available, because it's not on their menu. As I mentioned, the clam chowder was excellent, however for $2 more you could get it with a baguette. We were both expecting that a normal sized 2 foot baguette would probably be cut in half for each of us, and you can imagine our surprise when we each got two shavings of a baguette for that $2. That's right, two slices that were about three quarters of an inch wide for $2. Nothing close to the advertised baguette. What was most disappointing however, was the service. We lucked out by getting the one waitress that didn't have a nose ring or gang tattoos. It took almost 50 minutes for them to scoop clam chowder into two bowls, and bring out a hamburger. During that time, I had to be subjected to watching the soy boy "bartender" prance around in his green t-shirt, with his man-bun, full-on beard, and skinny jeans, complete with reflective piping on the back pockets. The only thing he was missing was the thick plastic rimmed glasses and him waving a flag that said Gillette on it. The bus girl, was a full-on wannabe model, about 6'4" tall, and skinny as a beanpole, with an expressionless face like she was pretending to be on a runway in NYC. As a previous reviewer has pointed out, a restaurant should not be a showcase of the individuality of its workers, it should be about the customers. The burger also made my son sick, and he's had diarrhea since 2 hours after eating the burger which, probably sat out somewhere it shouldn't have for close to 50 minutes due to the staff members being more concerned about the image they're portraying than actually doing their work. So this is not a place I would recommend for anyone anymore. It is sad because it is at a fantastic location with an awesome view, especially in the outdoor seating areas, but unfortunately all of this is for nothing and is ruined due to the limited menu, and especially because of the poor selection of staff members who are allowed to put their narcissistic views of their self image on display at the detriment of the customers. You may think that I'm being a little harsh here, but don't take my word for it, go there once, and you'll see what I mean. You likely won't...

I was visiting Victoria and drove passed this packed cafe and decided to stop in with my dad for lunch. He ordered the Med Salad ($12) and I ordered the salmon burger ($15 +$2 upgrade for Caesar salad). My dad was paying so I turned around to get us water and grab a table. A young server barged out of the kitchen and cut me off, so I tried to move out of the way but couldn't quick enough as she bumped me then turned around and laughed. Me being me, I quickly apologized then wondered why I did. We got a nice table with an ocean view and the vibe seemed great. I brushed it off and assumed she laughed in a friendly way (watching her energy after you could tell she either hated her job or blatently hated her life.) The food was on par, nothing great for the price. The Med Salad was HUGE and my dad loved it but he always needs more dressing. Unfortunately nobody asked if we needed anything. I assume they don't give table service, just run and clear food. Halfway through my caesar salad I found a hair :(. I waved down a gentleman in a red plaid shirt and let him know in a very polite way. Hey, it happens! He apologized but didn't offer to replace the salad that was only half eaten. I hoped he had offered to atleast replace the salad or reimburse my father for the $2 upgrade but we never saw him again. Sadly, I believe this is a "tip first" establishment so we couldn't adjust due to service as it was already paid. I had to give one star because the taste wasn't awful, but the energy of the staff and lack of problem solving will keep me far away. It's sad because it has so...

I live in James Bay and frequently go to the Breakwater Cafe. It has always had good drinks and adequate food. Tonight, my companion and I ordered the poke bowl (sub chicken) as I’d had it a few weeks previously and enjoyed it. However, this time was different. The rice was ice cold and in clumps. We discovered this after eating some, but not all, of the toppings (maybe 1/2 the chicken, of which there was not a lot). As I said, I had had this dish there a few weeks prior and the rice was warm as, if you know poke, the rice is supposed to be. Our server (lovely), took the bowls away, apologized profusely for the cold rice (mentioning that the kitchen was sorry too) and asked if we wanted something else. We both ordered beet salads to replace the bowl and enjoyed the rest of our meal. After waiting a very long time for our bill, the manager brings it and we see she has charged us for the bowl and the beet salad. We are surprised and ask why the bowl is still on the bill and she proceeds to accuse us of eating all of the chicken and then to go on and on about how they always serve the poke bowl cold as that’s how poke rice is supposed to be. She then argues that some people like it warm and maybe I ordered it warm last time. I’m in shock at this point as I cannot believe she expects us to pay for something we didn’t eat and that the server took away (mostly uneaten) over an hour beforehand. It was a surreal and very...