We did the cooking course and it was so fun and learned a lot about the culinary arts. Highly recommend it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Christine Rideout
We had a lovely afternoon and dining experience!! We had a cooking lesson lots of laughs and felt so welcomed. Highly recommended this and will do it again
Correne Bean
Excellent food and service. Took my parents there and every dish we had was delicious.
michael bunce
My wife and I took a cooking demonstration class here and it was fantastic. Chef Scott prepared ordinary , everyday food in front of us into an delicious treat for all the senses. His easy banter and incredible knowledge made a few hours fly by. The meal was incredibly good when it was presented. Thank you for this experience, and we will absolutely do this again.Vegetarian options: Chef Scott and his team are very aware and pro active for the dietary needs of their patrons. They make every attempt to fulfill the vegan, vegetarian and gluten free requirements for a great dining experience. They strive as well to reduce their environmental footprint in every way possible. I look forward to dining here again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Warm Seafood
sherry mcculloch
Had a blast meeting new people and watching cooking demo by Chef Scott. Lovely relaxed atmosphere with delicious food and stunning views! The food was superb! Excellent value for your money! Highly recommend and will bring my 'foody' relatives when they come to visit!Dietary restrictions: Very accommodating for dietary restrictions!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Warm Seafood, Special with Salmon Scallop Shrimp Veggies
Bridgett Cook
My husband and I were there for our anniversary. I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant. Renee, our server was gracious kind and solicitous. The food was out of this world. Warm lovely environment. The food was epic! Make no mistake, this is a place is definitely one to go to and enjoy their amazing food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Chantel Wensley
Beautiful book oasis... Prices match those of indigo, but the soul of the store is unparalleled. Everything is set up so quaintly and service is lovely.
Skylar Cross
We had a wonderful experience here. The food was excellent and the location is so beautiful on the water. We were celebrating our anniversary and we were made to feel special. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Conor S
Let me start by saying I don't usually leave bad reviews, but this was truly horrifying.Very disappointing experience this summer, expensive white wine was very warm and not chilled. Never recieved any menus and the server was rude and pushy for us to order even though she hadn't given us menus. Service was abrupt, rude and honestly a little scary...Found out their calamari came in prebreaded and frozen, plating was sloppy and all steaks at the table were very over cooked... also frozen cheap shrimp served as prawns.Especially loved wondering where our server was, when we heard loud continuous coughing from the garden away we saw her chain smoking for 30 minutes while we waited for our bills, came back wearing a very dirty hoody...A truly horrifying experience.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Alex Chen
Had the pleasure of eating at the Laughing Oyster for a whole week during a professional development trip. Really great service for every meal and a delicious variety of dishes, planned out over a week-long menu catered to our ~30-person group. Some highlights included the coq au vin, seafood pasta, and Bavarian selections!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Shrimp Sandwich, Fish and Chips, Warm Seafood
We had such an amazing dinner at The Laughing Oyster last night with a group of friends. Everything was perfect from great wine selection, appys, the main and dessert. Thankyou Laughing Oyster team for the wonderful evening!! Your restaurant looks so good with the new furniture. Can’t wait to return.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Clive Pemberton
There is nothing to write home about here. The meal was decent but at 175 dollars for two....it should be. Food is not locally provided. Only the oysters are local. The rest is Cisco delivered so taste and flavour is minimal. The menu is very similar to heriot bay inn menu. Service was generally poor from service to billing.Customers overwhelmed staff.The views also include active construction of roads and houses.This is not an eatery to go out of your way for.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 2
Tricia Grajek
One of my best childhood friends brought me to the Laughing Oyster for my Birthday this year. I hadn't been there in 24 years, since I moved to Nanaimo.It is under new ownership now. I met Scott and he is a lovely person who has a wonderful vision for the future of The Laughing Oyster. He is super friendly and personable. You can see he enjoys his career, and it really makes all the difference when dealing with staff and customers alike.The Executive Chef, Ross Olson, was absolutely wonderful. He would talk to the customers and ask if their food was alright. I heard at least three times other customers saying to him that their food was top notch, delicious and that they would be returning. Ross also takes part in the food preparation among many other things, but his cooking skills are mouth watering!! The food was absolutely delicious. I ordered the prawn linguini, with an alfredo type sauce. It had some spice in it, not too much, just right. That dish was so good. I will be ordering it again!!My friend ordered a chicken dish. I provided photos but I don't remember the name of it. It had a creamy mushroom sauce and it was also delicious. We also ordered an appetizer of bread which was nice and warm, and had cheese melted on top. I tried a piece of it, as my friend had ordered it. Let's just say, it was so good, we ended up splitting it!!Ross offered me a sample of their salted caramel Gelato for dessert and that was a real treat. Absolutely delicious. I was going to look at the dessert menu, but I was so full, I honestly couldn't eat another bite. Also, the portion sizes were excellent. I was able to take 1/2 my meal home to enjoy for another night, and let me tell you, I think it was even better the next night!! I cannot say enough good things about the food!!We also ordered one drink each. My friend had a cooler and I had a cosmopolitan. It wasn't on the menu, but they were very accommodating and were happy to make what I wanted.All the staff were super friendly. The place had wonderful ambiance. It is even accessible by boat. The view is unbeatable. I highly recommend you give this place a try, especially if it's been awhile. It had been about 25 years for me, and I didn't remember much about it from back then, but it definitely left a great impression I won't soon forget this time.Special thanks to Scott and Ross for making my birthday memorable.Parking: There is lots of parking available.
What a gem. We stayed at the nearby campsite and walked there for dinner. It didn't disappoint. Amazing views, amazing food.
Stephanie M
I came away feeling really sad about our evening here. It felt really off and our meal was very disappointing. I know it is new owners and I would like them to succeed but the food was not good at all.
We did the cooking course and it was so fun and learned a lot about the culinary arts. Highly recommend it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had a lovely afternoon and dining experience!! We had a cooking lesson lots of laughs and felt so welcomed. Highly recommended this and will do it again
Excellent food and service. Took my parents there and every dish we had was delicious.
My wife and I took a cooking demonstration class here and it was fantastic. Chef Scott prepared ordinary , everyday food in front of us into an delicious treat for all the senses. His easy banter and incredible knowledge made a few hours fly by. The meal was incredibly good when it was presented. Thank you for this experience, and we will absolutely do this again.Vegetarian options: Chef Scott and his team are very aware and pro active for the dietary needs of their patrons. They make every attempt to fulfill the vegan, vegetarian and gluten free requirements for a great dining experience. They strive as well to reduce their environmental footprint in every way possible. I look forward to dining here again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Warm Seafood
Had a blast meeting new people and watching cooking demo by Chef Scott. Lovely relaxed atmosphere with delicious food and stunning views! The food was superb! Excellent value for your money! Highly recommend and will bring my 'foody' relatives when they come to visit!Dietary restrictions: Very accommodating for dietary restrictions!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Warm Seafood, Special with Salmon Scallop Shrimp Veggies
My husband and I were there for our anniversary. I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant. Renee, our server was gracious kind and solicitous. The food was out of this world. Warm lovely environment. The food was epic! Make no mistake, this is a place is definitely one to go to and enjoy their amazing food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Beautiful book oasis... Prices match those of indigo, but the soul of the store is unparalleled. Everything is set up so quaintly and service is lovely.
We had a wonderful experience here. The food was excellent and the location is so beautiful on the water. We were celebrating our anniversary and we were made to feel special. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Let me start by saying I don't usually leave bad reviews, but this was truly horrifying.Very disappointing experience this summer, expensive white wine was very warm and not chilled. Never recieved any menus and the server was rude and pushy for us to order even though she hadn't given us menus. Service was abrupt, rude and honestly a little scary...Found out their calamari came in prebreaded and frozen, plating was sloppy and all steaks at the table were very over cooked... also frozen cheap shrimp served as prawns.Especially loved wondering where our server was, when we heard loud continuous coughing from the garden away we saw her chain smoking for 30 minutes while we waited for our bills, came back wearing a very dirty hoody...A truly horrifying experience.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Had the pleasure of eating at the Laughing Oyster for a whole week during a professional development trip. Really great service for every meal and a delicious variety of dishes, planned out over a week-long menu catered to our ~30-person group. Some highlights included the coq au vin, seafood pasta, and Bavarian selections!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Shrimp Sandwich, Fish and Chips, Warm Seafood
Restaurantji Recommends
We had such an amazing dinner at The Laughing Oyster last night with a group of friends. Everything was perfect from great wine selection, appys, the main and dessert. Thankyou Laughing Oyster team for the wonderful evening!! Your restaurant looks so good with the new furniture. Can’t wait to return.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
There is nothing to write home about here. The meal was decent but at 175 dollars for two....it should be. Food is not locally provided. Only the oysters are local. The rest is Cisco delivered so taste and flavour is minimal. The menu is very similar to heriot bay inn menu. Service was generally poor from service to billing.Customers overwhelmed staff.The views also include active construction of roads and houses.This is not an eatery to go out of your way for.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 2
One of my best childhood friends brought me to the Laughing Oyster for my Birthday this year. I hadn't been there in 24 years, since I moved to Nanaimo.It is under new ownership now. I met Scott and he is a lovely person who has a wonderful vision for the future of The Laughing Oyster. He is super friendly and personable. You can see he enjoys his career, and it really makes all the difference when dealing with staff and customers alike.The Executive Chef, Ross Olson, was absolutely wonderful. He would talk to the customers and ask if their food was alright. I heard at least three times other customers saying to him that their food was top notch, delicious and that they would be returning. Ross also takes part in the food preparation among many other things, but his cooking skills are mouth watering!! The food was absolutely delicious. I ordered the prawn linguini, with an alfredo type sauce. It had some spice in it, not too much, just right. That dish was so good. I will be ordering it again!!My friend ordered a chicken dish. I provided photos but I don't remember the name of it. It had a creamy mushroom sauce and it was also delicious. We also ordered an appetizer of bread which was nice and warm, and had cheese melted on top. I tried a piece of it, as my friend had ordered it. Let's just say, it was so good, we ended up splitting it!!Ross offered me a sample of their salted caramel Gelato for dessert and that was a real treat. Absolutely delicious. I was going to look at the dessert menu, but I was so full, I honestly couldn't eat another bite. Also, the portion sizes were excellent. I was able to take 1/2 my meal home to enjoy for another night, and let me tell you, I think it was even better the next night!! I cannot say enough good things about the food!!We also ordered one drink each. My friend had a cooler and I had a cosmopolitan. It wasn't on the menu, but they were very accommodating and were happy to make what I wanted.All the staff were super friendly. The place had wonderful ambiance. It is even accessible by boat. The view is unbeatable. I highly recommend you give this place a try, especially if it's been awhile. It had been about 25 years for me, and I didn't remember much about it from back then, but it definitely left a great impression I won't soon forget this time.Special thanks to Scott and Ross for making my birthday memorable.Parking: There is lots of parking available.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Warm Seafood, Mushroom Linguine
What a gem. We stayed at the nearby campsite and walked there for dinner. It didn't disappoint. Amazing views, amazing food.
I came away feeling really sad about our evening here. It felt really off and our meal was very disappointing. I know it is new owners and I would like them to succeed but the food was not good at all.