The Masthead Restaurant

Was great. Two nights in a row. The food was awsome!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

45 minute wait after ordering at brunch, they didn't have half the items on the menu. There were only 2 or 3 tables occupied. The eggs benedict came out cold, muffin not toasted, no avocado and the egg yolk was solid. The potatoes were good, the 2 tablespoon serving they gave us. They comp'd our coffee and tonic water. Just....bad.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 1

Fantastic restaurant in Cowichan. We’ve been going for years for wonderful gourmet food. Really nice when they have a pianist playing live music.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Staff were very friendly, but the calamari was very overcooked (extremely chewy, rubbery, and totally opaque throughout)

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 3

Service: 5

My favourite in Cow Bay. Very high quality with a good menu. Very professional service. I especially enjoyed the jazz piano

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food was really not good, very limited menu. We got the calamari which was soggy, chewy, long, thick pieces of squid with a tasteless batter…probably the grossest calamari I’ve ever had. Ordered the fish and chips which were cold, and had very few fries. The few fries that did come with it were hard, crunchy and burnt. I was very disappointed to pay $40 for the fish and chips dish it would have been worth it if it had been freshly prepared and not contained only the bottom scraps and burnt bits from the fries basket. I felt bad for the one and only waitress, but it meant we had to wait over 30mins just to order a drink, our food took well over an hour. This was a really disappointing experience, we have little kids and never get to go out just us for a meal, we were celebrating our anniversary and were really looking forward to a nice meal out. Will not be back nor recommend this restaurant.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 2

Very slow and poorly organized service. Will not go back or recommend .

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 1

Absolutely fabulous dinner at Masthead tonight! Chef can flat out cook.

Atmosphere was lovely as we had an outside table (though inside very elegant as well) overlooking the marina with colourful boats and float homes.

We had calamari for an appy and chicken and steelhead as mains. Calamari was uniquely done with a very light batter and chunky pieces of squid. Subtle and extremely delicately flavoured, served with what was not store bought tzatziki! Both the chicken and steelhead were beautifully prepared. Crispy skin on both and tender flesh inside, served on perfect mashed spuds with lightly charred carrots, asparagus and broccolini with a delicate red wine sauce.

A small but well curated wine list provided one of my personal faves, Pirrimimma Petit Verdot.

Service was attentive though I feel they might have been staff light but not to the point of irritation.

A most memorable and unexpected experience! 10/10.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We went for a light lunch and a few drinks but were so disappointed. We wanted calamari and cesaer salad to share. It was an expensive place we thought this would satisfy us for now. We ordered beer for the adults and lemonade for the kids. The service was slow and after quite a wait were told they were out of calamari but how about cauliflower wings. Although we were disappointed we agreed. Then were told actually they were out of that too. So we decided to get the fish and chips. Much pricier but we were hungry. It came eventually without tartar sauce. They were out of that too. Then she miraculously produced cauliflower wings too. We’d already ordered the fish and chips so this was now ann additional cost. We accepted it but it made our bill higher. The cesaer salad at $18 was small and was just lettuce. No dressing or anything. We should have complained but didn’t. The beers were good but then they also ran out of lemonade. One drink for two kids to share. No wifi available and difficulty with the interact machine. The bill was $130 and nothing was comped despite this terrible experience. So disappointing. They should have given free beers or wings but nothing.

The duck is amazing! love this place and great service!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The candied sockeye salmon and the crispy skinned steelhead were delicious beyond our expectations. The service was superb. My husband and I sat outside on the sunny deck overlooking the harbour, and couldn’t have spent a more enjoyable afternoon.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Fantastic restaurant, love it here! Seafood's fresh and delicious, attentive staff and stunning ocean views.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The brunch sign drew us in and the atmosphere sent us out - decided to check out the reviews to see what’s up with this place. The location is beautiful only two people working during lunch / the girl who sat us was friendly and polite but we never interacted with the sole waiter - felt bad for the staff as they were obviously not staffed appropriately. We decided to leave after looking at the menu and waiting on service that wasn’t likely to happen for awhile - something seemed off almost funeral like with the atmosphere so we decided to leave and likely not to return.

This was the worse experience I ever had at a Restaurant in my 70 years. First very limited menu. Ordered the only thing that said Gluten free and told them I was. It was seafood chowder. When it came and she served it to me she spilled it on my lap. It also had a piece of non gluten bread on the bowl. It was so boiling hot I could not even eat it after stirring it for 10 min. Next we ordered wine .. she could not open the bottle so she went somewhere with it and came back and poured some in my glass. the foil on the bottle was all jagged at the top.. oh and It was not the bottle we ordered which we discovered latter. So many things wrong and unprofessional and just a sorry.. we spent $200 there . No compensation no nothing. I blame the owner that does not train their staff very well. Will never go back. oh and she came and said the credit card did not go thru.. well checked our bank site a few days latter and sure enough.. Charged twice.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 1

Very disappointing. The Halibut & Chips was $39.00 and on the dry side. Service was slow and amateur. The only good point was it’s in a beautiful location.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 2