Eva Schnitzelhaus — Restaurant in Victoria

Achieved a rare joy of eating dinner at the bar tonight. Most often my meals are accompanied, a ‘table for three please’. A ‘table for two and a half’, if I’m in my dad joking mood. Myself, a 20yr ago, expat of the BOH/FOH, I relish the experience of eating dinner on a barstool in a nice restaurant such as this one. When one sits at a table, we give in to a world designed for us. The decor, cutlery, linen, tables, music, the ambiance is intentionally created for us by them. We sit at those tables often too closely, private conversations often heard, if interesting, eventually regretful we heard them at all. To avoid mostly all of that, choose to eat your meal, by yourself, at this restaurants bar. Designed for function and purpose, little else, sitting at this one without any tv’s, is the place to be and likely no reservations required. Allow yourself then to be in the employee’s world now. Choosing the bar to eat your meal, you get to see the man behind the curtain. (Wizard of Oz ref) You’ll hear the spray of water from the dish pit hitting dishes. You hear the bell ring when food is up. You will see the hustle of a waitress pouring her own pints, as I did, you may see a glimpse of the chef if you’re lucky. You will hear voices you cannot see spoken, you’ll hear subtle sounds of metal, glass and porcelain, if you listen, you won’t make much sense of it. You’ll hear muffled conversations, ‘did you drop waters off to table six?’. Sitting at the bar eating your meal, you might feel as I did tonight, a feeling as if your on their team now and hopeless to help. If this restaurant’s phone had of rang, I’d have picked it up and asked who’s calling. Sitting at the bar to eat in a place like this is living vicariously as though you’re one of them. Being bored and obliviously sat and waiting at table six for your glass of water, you can do better. Do yourself this favour, order as I did. Two pints, Pilsner and Hefeweizen, in that order. Start with the Cured Herring on Rye appetizer. Order the Jagerschnitzel main with the chosen sides of spaetzle and greens. And sit at the bar to eat your meal by yourself or with one other max. If this place is packed full at the bar without anyone sitting at any of the tables, I’ll know that you owe me a pint for all this good advice I’ve given...

Having dined in fine restaurants all over; Europe, New York, and Vancouver. Worked with some of the best food and beverage managers and Chefs in Canada . . . this was the worst customer service experience I have ever had. Arriving at an empty restaurant with a reservation at opening on Jan 14th, 2022 to 1 couple ahead of us who did not have a reservation we were seated at the back while they were seated at the best window seat in the room. Out of curiosity I asked how their seating and reservations worked. The host, after explaining their time block booking, which made little sense but we accepted none the less, went on to tell us "What a weird question for you to ask", flabbergasted my wife asked him why he would say such a thing, to which he replied "Because I can", to which he added "I don't like you guys, you are being condescending. . . looking around the restaurant". Having never met this fellow in our lives I couldn't believe what I had actually just heard from the host of a restaurant and industry that is customer driven. Honestly the worst treatment I have ever received in any industry, and had he treated one of our customers that way for simply asking a question would no longer be in the industry. I will be suggesting to anyone I meet to avoid this place at all costs. I am only thankful he showed us who he was prior to us spending any money and we were able to get up and leave. My only regret is not being able to leave zero stars on this review. . . In reply to below from owner. . . to be clear. . .there was zero effort put into reseating us, and in fact once it was explained to us we were fine with that, It was the fully rude comments made to us by the House Manager that we even dare to ask about our seating, and then go on to say he was entitled to talk to us in that manner and tell us he didn't like us . . . he doesn't even know us? As I said . . . coming from a restaurant background it was one of the most bizarre things I've ever witnessed. Your reply doesn't address that, nor do you seem to even care about the treatment of...

I finally managed to get a reservation - first attempt was a walk in during Taste of Victoria which was a no go.

The food was fantastic. I will agree that the schnitzel should be pan fried verses deep fried as it was too greasy and slightly over cooked - but still nothing to prevent me from returning to eat again. But without knowing the kitchen setup up & staffing, there may be a reason why it is not done in a pan. Having said that, there was great crunch on my pork (I went traditional as it would tell me what kind of cooks they are as simple food should be able about the food & it was). Let me tell you the roesti alone is WORTH the trip. The Gods broke the mold after the creation of this alone.

It is a small location & I did enjoy the decor. Typical little modern hip bistro feel in Chinatown with a great mix of windows, wood & concrete.

Downside: you just cannot walk in an get a table. I would recommend down the road that the management opt for a better reservation system as there is no way to change it & I did not the email confirmation. At one point I needed to change my time, but left a phone message & email, neither of which got returned. When we arrived at 7 pm, there was no record of us & the staff had to go check for my messages. Luckily, they were able to seat us & we went on to have a fabulous evening with great German beer. It did our culture proud.

I found the floor staff awesome & friendly. All the diners were having a great time.

Nice to have a equal to superior replacement to the old establishment no...