Bearfoot Bistro — Restaurant in Whistler Resort Municipality

Wow! What a great experience. By far the most exquisite dining experience available on the mountain. It was an evening to remember, and the best meal we have ever had. We will definitely return.

My wife and I enjoyed a lovely evening here. We arrived right after opening, and were one of the first guests to dine. The dining room was dim, but not overly dark. Decorations and environment was classy, but not over the top. Early into our dinner, as more guests started to arrive, a live pianist started performing lounge music which was a nice touch. It was not too loud and elevated our experience.

Our waitress was very attentive and helpful. From food recommendations, to providing a sommelier to assist with wine pairings, the wait staff was on point. Every plate was explained to us, and we had a good balance of privacy and attention. Our waitress even went above and beyond to assist me with finding a Fresh Tracks early-bird ticket for the mountain the following day, as it had been dumping snow all day and night.

We decided to order the variable prix-fixe 3-course menu, and ordered all three courses up front, to allow the chef to stage our experience. For starters, I ordered the Wagyu tartare, and my wife opted for the mushroom soup. The tartare was full of flavor, extremely tender, and the plate was garnished with several culinary surprises. Everything was perfectly crafted, and delicious. The mushroom soup was anything but plain and bland. Garnishments were again on point, and excited all our senses.

For our main course, I splurged on the Japanese Wagyu, and my wife ordered the prawn, lobster, and crab plate. Being from Texas, I expected a sizable portion. Normally I would order a steak medium rare, but the waitress suggested to order it chef’s choice. I was hesitant, but decided to let the chef work his magic. When the plates were served, I was initially shocked at the small size of the entree. The Wagyu couldn’t have been more than 4 Oz. The meat was dark and crusty, and looked burnt. But as soon as my knife pierced the crust, it dropped through the steak effortlessly. The steak practically melted on my tongue. It was an assault of epic proportions on my tastebuds. This was the best steak I had ever had the luxury of experiencing. It was perfectly marbled, juicy, and complex. The fat had crystallized throughout the filet, and was effortless to eat. I went from doubting my choice, to being overwhelmed with flavor and taste. The cut was also perfectly sized, due to its richness. My appetite certainly would have been ruined had I eaten a normal portion of 8-12 Oz like I’m used to. On the side, I had mashed potatoes and more expertly crafted garnishments that complimented the steak. Everything was a piece of art, and tasted as such. My wife’s plate had large portions of lobster, prawn, and crab. All the seafood was cooked to perfection, and shells were cracked to ease consumption. The prawn was massive and juicy. The Lobster was tender and sweet. And the crab was succulent, rich, and tender. All items were cooked to perfection. We ordered the fries and bread plate as a side, but hardly touched them, since the main courses were appropriately sized and fulfilling.

For dessert, we splurged on the nitrogen ice cream. They created the ice cream table side by mixing the fresh cream mix, with liquid nitrogen. It was definitely an experience, with “steam” coming out of the bowl and down the table. Everyone around us was watching, as it was exciting and fascinating. The ice cream froze so quickly that there were no ice crystals. It was so smooth and creamy, and like nothing we had tasted before. There were a variety of toppings, from chocolate and caramel, pralines, chocolates, and berries, but honestly it was perfect without the toppings as well.

All in all, it was a wonderfully curated meal, that was an experience to behold. Every single item was expertly crafted, and was a culinary experience in and of itself. Certainly a premium experience, with a price to match, but was top notch...

The food was amazing, and our original waiter was great! However, my 1 star rating was unfortunately based on hostile experience we received by a waiter who was "told"/forced to assist us with our bills, and the terrible explanation we were given by a manager for the behaviour we received.... We had a large party of 13 for my bachelorette. A non-refundable deposit was expected. Once, the bill came we were given the option for the deposit to go back to the one account or for it to be deducted from each bill... We chose the latter since the money was collected already. Our waiter briefly explained that it may take a while and went off to process the bills. No further emphasis/explanation was given about the "extremely long process" to add the deduction back in.

With a large party, we expected the bills to take longer to process... 10 minutes later we were met with a tall slender lady with a cold exterior whom we've never seen before. She stood right beside my guest and began to count out loud with no greeting whatsoever. Then she proceeded to slam 1 bill in front of my guest and waved the card machine in front of her pressuring her to act fast..

My other guest politely asked if we will be receiving our other bills and she was responded with an enormous amount of condescend about how we somehow made this inconvenient for her therefore, only 1 card machine is available at the time. She continued to approach every transaction with hostility, a raised voice and condescend. She responded to simple questions with she “was told to do this” and that “she has other tables to serve” indicating that she was basically forced to do her job…. WE did not ask her to assist our table…

As she reluctantly completed 3 transactions, I no longer could stand her remarks and attitude towards my guest…I had to quickly inform her that we were not aware that this process was inconvenient for her… as our waiter gave us the option…I asked her why we were receiving this hostile treatment. She proceeded to respond in an agitated manner and stormed off. She returned with the same cold arrogance and attempted to complete another transaction!… One of my guest attempted to reason with her and explain AGAIN, that this option was given to us, NOT forced by us…The waiter responded with an attempt to belittle my guest and then we were forced to tell her we were not going to excuse her for her bad behaviour - whether we were wrong or right in choosing this option....

If this process was so extremely inconvenient, why was it offered?! Why is it an option, Barefoot Bistro?!

Shortly after that waiter stormed off ONCE AGAIN, I explained to one of the managers (bald-headed fellow) who basically agreed and supported the hostile treatment we were given… At this point our wonderful night and experience was ruined – we were stunned. The manager proceeded to tell us that the process was long in which we clearly noted and then he attempted to make us feel further guilty for choosing that billing option. Extremely passive aggressive, no apologies, completely eerie and egregious.

I hope this is reviewed and addressed among the team… I do not believe any of us will be visiting again after...

Here we go - fine dining.

Located in a side street in central Whistler, Bearfoot Bistro is easily accessible yet away from the hustle and bustle of the town.

We were promptly seated upon arrival in what can only be described as thrones. Whoever saw these chairs in that fateful chair shop and thought they'd buy a couple hundred of them for their fine dining restaurant, I salute you. This is a bold choice, clearly empowering the eater to feel like a Tudor monarch. Sadly this wasn't the case for me. My chair was erroneously strung. I was so low to the table I felt like a child.

To continue the Tudor theme, service was servant-like throughout - efficient, understated, yet constant. That said, I was actually disappointed when the waiter insisted speaking to us at the end of the meal on a topic other than the food. Maybe I'm slightly reserved, but I prefer when a waiter seeks not to make their presence known. They should be understated. This restaurant strikes the balance well overall though.

What didn't match the chairs was the ceiling. My school had a plastic ceiling more aesthetically pleasing than that. Other decor related gripes include the carpet - outdated. It was also too dark inside. In such a beautiful landscape, this restaurant might as well have been in Luton. Windows were distant, covered by blinds. Pianist was present but unremarkable. Wine list seemed slightly pretentious to me, inaccessible to any human with a day job (unless you happen to be a Sommelier of course). If you're reading this before dining, be prepared to read a short novel (circa 100 pages), upon sitting down to choose your wine. The wine cellar was clearly so extensive that the Sommelier himself may've got lost finding our bottle. It did arrive in time for starters though. Just.

Now the food. I unfortunately know too little about such high stakes food to give useful feedback on this matter. However, my surface-level interpretation would be that it was solid throughout. Quality over quantity applies on the starters, not so much on the mains - these offer both in equal share. The steak was superb. The finger-sized brownie was a bit claggy though.

I've realised in my short career reviewing restaurants that fine dining is an experience. This is obvious. For me though, the experience is simply not worth its cost. To a normal person like myself, the food tastes marginally better than McDonald's, and that's with all of the pomp around it too. So to justify the cost I must look at everything around it. This is what this review has tried to achieve. Looking then at everything around the food, I would simply never pay this much money to dine at any bistro, and sadly neither Bearfoot Bistro.

If you are more in tune with high quality food and appreciate having every one of your wishes tended to so intimately, you may of course disagree. The food and service were both 5 stars, but the overall experience considering the aforementioned, could...