I had steak and eggs. The steak was roast beef which was fine but somewhat bland. It came with chimichurri which was good. My eggs were cold. Potatoes were great and so were the greens. Coffee was fantastic. Service was average.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Robert Filuk
Pleased with menu and service
Parking: Whiskey sour a definite choice but margarita not so much
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Apple Salad
Mike Key
Not great. Pretty expensive for a small plate of mediocre and sometimes truly bizarre food. We were there for brunch which was a limited menu so I thought it would be well executed. Unfortunately everything I ordered was cold. I got steak and eggs. The eggs I ordered over easy came out sunny side up. The roast beef was ice cold and there was maybe 3oz of it with a mint forward chimichurri on the side. Mint and beef do not go together. I ordered a side sausage which came out before my food. It was also cold. There was a half dressed salad that tasted like salt and oil. The potatoes were really good though.the only hot thing on the plate. My wife ordered a side of potatoes that never came. She also said her gravlax toast was stale. My coffee was good as was my wife’s. So…maybe just go for coffee? I can’t vouch for dinner or lunch there. Perhaps you’d fair better during those services? The restaurant is pretty cool though. It’s in an old train station and has a nice long bar. Our waitress was nice and at least refilled my coffee. So the experience wasn’t all bad.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Clare Wang
Rustic burgers and fries in a tea house/old english pub like setting. Really lovely. They also carry really nice prints from local artists
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lauren B
I recently moved to Nanaimo and have been on the hunt for the best brunch spot. I can confidently say I found it! Great atmosphere, friendly staff, AMAZING FOOD. Try the rösti, it'll change your life.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Charlotte B
This is our date night go to. They have a great selection of wine and cocktails. Everything changes seasonally which keeps it fresh and exciting. The space is very welcoming. I love the focus on local in everything they do and especially the time they take to feature local artists. Service is great and personable (I get the sense that it'd be a fun place to work). I recommend getting a handful of dishes to share, but you also can't go wrong with their burger.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jason
Tonight was a disappointment. It started with getting attitude from the hostess because wee showed up 15 min early to our reservation. I can accept that because I understand the stress that can cause, but then... A walk in showed up after us, and was seated right away. They got a preferable seat against a wall, while my wife and I were at in the middle of the room.
Service was decent, and prompt after that, a little fast for my liking as my wife and I hadn't had time to look at the drink menu, after asking for a few minutes, we were given enough time to determine our drinks, as well as our meals.
The food. Fishers are ment to be shared here, and it's an type of dinning I love. Sharing food with my wife is something I enjoy immensely. We ordered five of their dishes for the evening. The first two arrived together. Because it wasn't an established tasting menu, the flavors were very contrasting and didn't work together at all, I don't blame the restaurant for my choices here, but having the dishes served individually would have been a much better dinning experience. The beef tar tar was tasty, and I enjoyed it a lot. The apple salad was also lovely on its own. Both were smothered under a layer of shredded parm that made them visually unimpressive, but they tasted nice. The third dish was a mushroom tart that was uninspired, visually bland, and severely over seasoned. It tasted like mushroom sot sauce and over cooked tart shell. To say I was disappointed in this $12 tart is a huge understatement. Our 4th dish was there potatoes, they were delicious, perfectly cooked, well balanced, and perfectly seasoned. The dill and other herbs on the plate elevated everything. The white sauce they were served with was delicious. I could have eaten 10 of these and still wanted more. It was also the most attractive dish of the night, even if it was young potato's, a white sauce and some green herbs, it still looked great. Our final dish, the lamb loin, another disappointment. The lamb was perfectly cooked, but to make it look bigger it was stuffed with unseasoned spinach, that was just a mushy block of unpleasantness. It was served with frozen peas, carrots, and crispy fried young potatoes. Once again their potatoes sang, nice and crispy, I really liked them. But they were drowned in their demi glaze, and that was the most disappointing thing of the night. It was clearly made with a convenience powder stock. For $38 I expect a real stock, it's not hard or expensive to make. It really annoyed me that they would cook a pice of lamb so well, and drown it in such a unpleasant demi. All in all this evening was a real disappointment.
I am a chef, I graduated top of my class, and I love food. I love cooking it, and I love eating it. I have no problem with spending big money, on good food. As long as that food is thought out, balanced, and no corners have been cut. Using a stock powder in a demiglaze is unforgivable, and an insult to good food.
(Edit, in response to the owner. I recognize that Valentines day is a busy weekend for restaurants. That's why I made sure to be prompt to my reservation. I have no problem that I would have to wait a few minutes for my table, I was a few minutes early. I do however have issues with the attitude I was given by the hostess for being prompt, and the real insult was that the walk-ins, that showed up after my wife and I, were immediately seated. So clearly there was a table for two ready and available when my wife and I showed up. That wasn't a 'hicup' that was an insult.
Valentine's Day is not an excuse for poor service, it's a reason to have your staff put in extra effort to make your customers experience better)
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 3
Linda Kovacs
Great dinner amazing food really enjoyed our meal.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Dave R
New to the island. This is such an amazing find. Everything was great. Will be back often. One of the best pork chops I have ever eaten, and the apple salad was also incredible.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steak Frites, Olives
Jonathan Kinney
Amazing service. Great atmosphere. The food was very good.
Our go to for special occasions or when friends are visiting. Food and service is always excellent. Just wish the menu changed more frequently.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Gwyn Wheeler
This was superb from beginning to end. The staff are friendly, the food is so good. What a lovely dining experience.
Dietary restrictions: As a celiac, I ate with zero concerns and the menu was open to everything for me. Which is a rare treat.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fried Chicken
J H
Service was excellent! One of the best burgers I've had! The patty is magic.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Deb Marchione
Was not expecting the burger to be THAT delicious! Soooo good 😊👍😊👍
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ryley Staff
The Black Rabbit Kitchen is a very classy place to enjoy a robust menu of delicious meals. Very clean and professional environment with an extremely friendly and welcoming staff. Be ready for a great dinner date or evening meal with friends when you dine in.
I had steak and eggs. The steak was roast beef which was fine but somewhat bland. It came with chimichurri which was good. My eggs were cold. Potatoes were great and so were the greens. Coffee was fantastic. Service was average.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Pleased with menu and service
Parking: Whiskey sour a definite choice but margarita not so much
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Apple Salad
Not great. Pretty expensive for a small plate of mediocre and sometimes truly bizarre food. We were there for brunch which was a limited menu so I thought it would be well executed. Unfortunately everything I ordered was cold. I got steak and eggs. The eggs I ordered over easy came out sunny side up. The roast beef was ice cold and there was maybe 3oz of it with a mint forward chimichurri on the side. Mint and beef do not go together. I ordered a side sausage which came out before my food. It was also cold. There was a half dressed salad that tasted like salt and oil. The potatoes were really good though.the only hot thing on the plate. My wife ordered a side of potatoes that never came. She also said her gravlax toast was stale. My coffee was good as was my wife’s. So…maybe just go for coffee? I can’t vouch for dinner or lunch there. Perhaps you’d fair better during those services? The restaurant is pretty cool though. It’s in an old train station and has a nice long bar. Our waitress was nice and at least refilled my coffee. So the experience wasn’t all bad.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Rustic burgers and fries in a tea house/old english pub like setting. Really lovely. They also carry really nice prints from local artists
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I recently moved to Nanaimo and have been on the hunt for the best brunch spot. I can confidently say I found it! Great atmosphere, friendly staff, AMAZING FOOD. Try the rösti, it'll change your life.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This is our date night go to. They have a great selection of wine and cocktails. Everything changes seasonally which keeps it fresh and exciting. The space is very welcoming. I love the focus on local in everything they do and especially the time they take to feature local artists. Service is great and personable (I get the sense that it'd be a fun place to work).
I recommend getting a handful of dishes to share, but you also can't go wrong with their burger.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tonight was a disappointment. It started with getting attitude from the hostess because wee showed up 15 min early to our reservation. I can accept that because I understand the stress that can cause, but then... A walk in showed up after us, and was seated right away. They got a preferable seat against a wall, while my wife and I were at in the middle of the room.
Service was decent, and prompt after that, a little fast for my liking as my wife and I hadn't had time to look at the drink menu, after asking for a few minutes, we were given enough time to determine our drinks, as well as our meals.
The food. Fishers are ment to be shared here, and it's an type of dinning I love. Sharing food with my wife is something I enjoy immensely. We ordered five of their dishes for the evening. The first two arrived together. Because it wasn't an established tasting menu, the flavors were very contrasting and didn't work together at all, I don't blame the restaurant for my choices here, but having the dishes served individually would have been a much better dinning experience. The beef tar tar was tasty, and I enjoyed it a lot. The apple salad was also lovely on its own. Both were smothered under a layer of shredded parm that made them visually unimpressive, but they tasted nice.
The third dish was a mushroom tart that was uninspired, visually bland, and severely over seasoned. It tasted like mushroom sot sauce and over cooked tart shell. To say I was disappointed in this $12 tart is a huge understatement.
Our 4th dish was there potatoes, they were delicious, perfectly cooked, well balanced, and perfectly seasoned. The dill and other herbs on the plate elevated everything. The white sauce they were served with was delicious. I could have eaten 10 of these and still wanted more. It was also the most attractive dish of the night, even if it was young potato's, a white sauce and some green herbs, it still looked great.
Our final dish, the lamb loin, another disappointment. The lamb was perfectly cooked, but to make it look bigger it was stuffed with unseasoned spinach, that was just a mushy block of unpleasantness. It was served with frozen peas, carrots, and crispy fried young potatoes. Once again their potatoes sang, nice and crispy, I really liked them. But they were drowned in their demi glaze, and that was the most disappointing thing of the night. It was clearly made with a convenience powder stock. For $38 I expect a real stock, it's not hard or expensive to make. It really annoyed me that they would cook a pice of lamb so well, and drown it in such a unpleasant demi.
All in all this evening was a real disappointment.
I am a chef, I graduated top of my class, and I love food. I love cooking it, and I love eating it. I have no problem with spending big money, on good food. As long as that food is thought out, balanced, and no corners have been cut. Using a stock powder in a demiglaze is unforgivable, and an insult to good food.
(Edit, in response to the owner. I recognize that Valentines day is a busy weekend for restaurants. That's why I made sure to be prompt to my reservation. I have no problem that I would have to wait a few minutes for my table, I was a few minutes early. I do however have issues with the attitude I was given by the hostess for being prompt, and the real insult was that the walk-ins, that showed up after my wife and I, were immediately seated. So clearly there was a table for two ready and available when my wife and I showed up. That wasn't a 'hicup' that was an insult.
Valentine's Day is not an excuse for poor service, it's a reason to have your staff put in extra effort to make your customers experience better)
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 3
Great dinner amazing food really enjoyed our meal.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
New to the island. This is such an amazing find. Everything was great. Will be back often. One of the best pork chops I have ever eaten, and the apple salad was also incredible.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steak Frites, Olives
Amazing service. Great atmosphere. The food was very good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Our go to for special occasions or when friends are visiting. Food and service is always excellent. Just wish the menu changed more frequently.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This was superb from beginning to end. The staff are friendly, the food is so good. What a lovely dining experience.
Dietary restrictions: As a celiac, I ate with zero concerns and the menu was open to everything for me. Which is a rare treat.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fried Chicken
Service was excellent! One of the best burgers I've had! The patty is magic.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Was not expecting the burger to be THAT delicious! Soooo good 😊👍😊👍
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The Black Rabbit Kitchen is a very classy place to enjoy a robust menu of delicious meals. Very clean and professional environment with an extremely friendly and welcoming staff. Be ready for a great dinner date or evening meal with friends when you dine in.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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