Victoria Harbour House Restaurant — Restaurant in Victoria

Fine dining prices but definitely not fine dining- over priced for mediocre food and lacklustre atmosphere. Our party ordered a range of appetizers, meat and fish entrees, and a pasta. None of the dishes would be rated above a 5/10 with the expectation of the French onion soup. At this price point you would expect the plates to be plated well with a reasonable sized and flavourful side, but what were received was what can only be compared to a mid-level self serve wedding buffet. While the chicken and fish were cooked well they were lacking in flavour. The gluten free pasta, was fine but nothing you couldn’t get at a low level Italian restaurant for half the price. Gluten Free beware: while the restaurant says they offer gluten free options the majority of the menu is not available due to the use of gluten in the cream sauces. They said the minestrone soup was gluten free but it had pasta in it, so we had to send it back. The restaurant’s claim to fame is that it has been around for 45 years, and it doesn’t seem like they have made any upgrades/ changes in that time. The dated wood and worn out carpet made it feel cheap not purposefully vintage or charming. While the wait staff were friendly that is about it. No signs of high level service (eg. runners so plates are all set at the same time, table wasn’t ready for reservation time, overall felt like they were short staffed). The “view” was definitely nothing special considering all the other options in the area, it was set pretty far back from the water and harbour buildings blocked most of the water view. Overall, our party said this was the worst meal of our trip and yet the most expensive. If you’re looking for a better meal might as well go to the milestones. The food, view, and atmosphere would be better and the prices would be the same or less. I hope the restaurant is able to take the constructive feedback and put more effort into their dishes (the side dishes, flavour, plating), update the restaurant and serving style, and bring back the restaurant to it’s...

wish i could give this place zero stars. abrupt service staff, over cooked and over priced food. i’ve never had such a disappointing dining experience. my family had a large reservation for 12, which we gladly said we would take two tables of 6, 3 tables of 4, just as long as they were in the same area. we arrive to the harbour house at the time of our booking and we are seated at one large table set for 12. the waitress then rudely tells my aunt “you can’t sit here because i need to be able to get passed.” to which we were all thinking “… why would you put a chair where you needed to walk??”. my other aunt had her sleeping 8 month old in a car seat next to her, and the waitress decided our side of the 12 person table was a good place to shout the specials out at us, next to a sleeping baby. luckily, he didn’t awake. alas, have some spacial awareness. the wine list is honestly embarrassing, i am a server at a chain restaurant here in BC so i know that their wines were overpriced. $11 for a 5oz??? robbery. improper wine service, cheap wine chillers, and dirty, unpolished wine glasses. then the food arrived, my mom ordered the steak neptune and the béarnaise sauce was curdled and bright yellow, upon politely informing the waitress that it was not what my mom expected from a $55 dish, she did not even apologize or acknowledge that there had been anything wrong with the sauce. i know what food looks like after it has been sitting under a heat lamp, and that was it. i also know proper protocol for when a guest has a problem with a food item. the waitress did offer to put in an order for something else on the menu, but she was cold and unapologetic, it was more like “how dare you have a problem with this perfect meal.”. i ordered the seafood fettuccini, and one of my mussels wasn’t even open. i wouldn’t have had a problem with any of this had the food not cost an arm and a leg. i will not be returning and all 12 of us will be telling all of our family and friends to STAY. AWAY. better off going to an earls or even a...

Classic tourist trap that gets away with horrible food

I was very excited to try out this beautiful restaurant. I had walked past it many times on my way to work and one night decided to take my fiancée there for a special date. Yes it is in the touristy area of Victoria, but we decided to give it a try. The menu looked promising and wow, what a charming and welcoming dining area!

Huge mistake....the food was beyond terrible and not at all what you'd expect at that price point (just short of $200 for the two of us), or at any price point for that matter...

I started with a glass of Chardonnay from Quails' Gate and it was served freezing cold and tasted like it was diluted with water or ice cubes. After leaving it to warm up and breathe for several minutes, it did not improve....Big red flag, but I had never tried this particular wine before so decided it might just be a matter of personal taste. I did raise the issue with our waiter, but he simply suggested I order another wine and didn't offer any compensation.

The first bites of our food confirmed our fears of having fallen into a tourist trap. The Coquille St Jacques was awful - watery sauce, too salty, and the seafood chunks were severely overcooked, almost like rubber. My partner had the crab cakes - they were burned and flavorless. The main courses were even worse. The trout amandine was overcooked and the side of rice tasted like bland minute rice, like you would get at a school cafeteria. And the Seafood en croute was SO salty that it was almost inedible.

If the owner reads this and wants to tell me that it's a matter of opinion, please don't. The food didn't taste good, and as a restaurant it is a basic requirement to serve food that is of good quality and tastes good.

Overall, a shockingly disappointing and terrible culinary experience. We bitterly paid our bill and left feeling utterly dissatisfied. Save your money (and your taste buds), go literally...