Bistro 101 at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts

We ordered the turkey dinner for two online for $140. We picked it up and reheated it that same evening (xmas eve) as per the instructions. The turkey and gravy were just okay. The stuffing was nothing more than strips of bread, a hint of onion, and sage formed loosely into a small brick that was barely enough for one person let alone two. The sides were bland and scarce. The starter was a kale and butternut squash salad that was so small that it barely was three fork fulls. At this point we were so disappointed that we skipped the desert. Even the mashed potatoes were disappointing.I have had much more satisfying turkey dinners from Denny's for a fraction of the price. Feeling fleeced.

Great little cofee shop and bakery with just the best views.

This is still a great place to have a sit-down, but the selection of pastries hasn’t bounced back (yet?! Fingers crossed) from pandemic staffing shortage. I miss the seasonal selection of danishes — you used to have to be first in the door to get one of them, but now pastries only start showing up on the counter after 10 am.But it remains one of my favourite places. On the mornings that they have quiche, the massive slices are good value and yummy.

Was there to dine in to try the specialty hot chocolate from the hot chocolate festival. It was delish. The flavours of the berry and dark chocolate went well together. The drink was hot, rich and a decent size. I also had the sticky toffee pastry as well, which was great.

Brought the kids here for the berry chocolate special during the hot chocolate festival. $9.95 for a hot chocolate. Seemed a little steep, but ok. When I asked if I can skip the black pepper, the cashier seemed annoyed to answer that it is already pre-made, so no leaving out ingredients. She said, “you can’t choose to leave out the pepper, or the berry, or the sugar…etc etc”. Chill out, lady, I only asked if I can leave out the black pepper for my kids. Anyway. We got the drink anyway, but it really wasn’t good. Overly sweet, lukewarm, and the overpowering berry flavour just doesn’t work with the chocolate. My kids took a few sips and didn’t want the rest. I took a sip and agreed with them that we just wasted over $10 on a very mediocre lukewarm drink.