Bow Valley Ranche Restaurant

I love the service, the menu, and the face that it sit’s in the middle of Fish Creek Park. I’ve been there to eat on Birthday’s, Mother’s Day, and now Valentine’s Day, and i’ve never been disappointed. The bar is great too!

The walk from the parking lot to the Ranche makes you feel like you’re in a fairy tale. The path was brightly lit, and the building was bathed in a soft light that just brought out enough of it’s intricate details. A friendly hostess opened the main door for us as we walked up the steps.
It was not busy when we went on a Sunday for date night. We were lead into a gorgeous dining room that was decorated with a buffalo head on the mantle, and antlers for a chandelier. The Buffalo head scared me a bit because it looked like it could come alive!
The price is reasonable for the amount of food you get. Our server was attentive and was a helpful guide to the Canadian fare. We started with the elk carpaccio and charcuterie board for starters. The carpaccio was soft and wonderfully flavored. The crunchy shoestring bits (probably from a root vegetable) offered a great contrast to the soft elk and micro greens. The charcuterie board had interesting items, such as beet relish and venison salami. As our mains, we had the venison wellington and lamb shank. The venison was cooked to a perfect medium rare and the lamb shank fell-​off-​the-​bone yet was succulent and juicy. We finished off the meal the Canadian way with s’mores, and boy, we really wanted «s’more» by the end.
Bow Valley is far away from the usual downtown trendy restaurants. The drive is like going to Grandma’s house, but the warm ambience, wonderful service and the out-​of-​this-​world food makes you feel right at home.

Great place for a quite romantic dinner, or for brunch followed by a stroll on bicycle ride in the beautiful park.
The building is an old mansion and you take a virtual tour of the inside on google street!

With a Beautiful location down in Fish Creek Park, The Bow Valley Ranche is a unique dining experience. With inside & (seasonal) patio seating available your experience an be different al all times of the year.
On a Friday evening we were able to sit outside arriving at 7pm with a perfect sun/​shad mix.
The beer list has some local & world winners in all categories. The cocktail list needs some work however the wine list is extensive and pairs nicely with the menu which alternates by season and is complemented by local seasonal ingredients. All four entrees were prepared with the greatest of perfection and attention to detail. The desserts were rich, beautifully presented and decadent. Coffee smooth and bold.
Our server was easy going, professional and knowledgable. He presented all of our courses mentioning the exact ingredients in every dish and wished us a Bön Appetit! He never lingered nor ignored us. It was a perfect balance.
This is a great place to send someone special with a gift certificate as we had because it made it very affordable.
Thanks again Bow Valley Ranche for a memorable experience for our ladies dinner club!

We really wanted to like it here. The setting was beautiful and there aren’t a lot of places like it in the city. But when it came down to the most important part of the evening, service and meal, we were left wanting much much more. The service was slow and our server was not knowledgeable of menu items. Our food took far too long and when it arrived it was over cooked. Throughout the service we were never asked if we wanted another drink, we had to ask every time. When it came to dessert, we had to settle with our 3^rd choice because they were out of the first two.
We will not be returning to this restaurant any time soon.

I have been here quite a few times, and have always been impressed. Today was the first time for brunch. All I can say is it was incredible. The restaurant itself is beautiful. The deer running on the hill as we ate was perfect.
And the food. The food was great. We had the continental platter, with muffins, danishes, and fruit. A great way to start a meal. I had the stuffed french toast, and it was fantastic. Fluffy toast with perfectly spiced apples, real whipped cream, and fresh fruit… Yum. My date had the elk eggs benny, and it looked and tasted great.
Overall a great way to start a beautiful Sunday.

Nestled in beautiful Fish Creek Provincial Park. The building itself is very historic and well maintained with 2 storeys and lots of rooms in addition to the main dining room. Food was average but well presented on plate. The low rating is for one particular female wait staff who was snooty and had a bad attitude for dinner service. Here’s a tip honey — remove that stick up your butt. Kitchen staff were a bunch of young kids checking their iPhones. The dining room supervisor is well organized but will probably not return for a meal due to price point and serving size & uptight waitress.

Update — 01/​09/​2016 — I went back! I went for dinner, instead of breakfast. I’ll leave the old 1 star review below for posterity, but I am changing it to a 5 star. I found out the place is under new management and so I gave it another shot. I am glad I did. Wait staff was attentive yet not smothering. Food was excellent. I had a deconstructed wellington with Elk. My friend had a Steak. Both delicious. I had the wild boar belly and I’d kill for the sauce recipe. It was as good as Alloy’s Pork belly’s which I liked (only thing I like there) and was probably better. My Friend had the Prawns and they were perfectly cooked in a nice sauce.
My deconstructed Wellington had a fun/​unique presentation to it and I felt like I was eating something made with pride.
All in all good food, good wine, good service. We will be back and I’m thank full for new ownership and second chances. Bravo, happily changing my review from 1 star to 5.
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**Update — 2014** Took five days but funny enough as I wrote this review an email response did come. They have asked me back to try the Eggs Benny again. I’m undecided if I will bother, but at least they responded… Manager was on vacation apparently.
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I went here for breakfast… a precursor to a plan to come for a steak night with a friend… but I wanted to try their Eggs Benedict (I’m a bit of a Eggs benny fan, always looking for the next delicious one) and see the place. After my experience I will not be giving any more business to the Ranche Restaurant.
First I’d like to point out I sent an email complaining to them about my experience and I have allowed 5 days for a response. I got nothing. So here I am.
— The waiter was nice at first but with 2 waiters and 2 helpers and a total of 6 tables, after selling us a Champaign and orange juice he didn’t deliver our food or stop to check on us again until after both our plates were empty.
— I had no coffee from before my meal arrived until a helper stopped by after I was finished eating. He was the first person to check on us since our food arrived. And I didn’t eat fast as I wanted to send it back.
— No Salt, no Pepper, condiments of any type.
— No checking to see if everything came out al right. As I hinted at — It didn’t.
— My eggs were WELL DONE. Eggs Benny — unless you say otherwise — should be a soft poached egg. Cut into it and yolk run out. These were like hard boiled… I would have sent them back but he just never came back to ask us how things were.
— Tiny English muffin, skimpy piece of ham, scarce sauce and eggs cooked until the yolk was a light hard solid yellow. Maybe the worst eggs benny I have ever had… Denny’s does a better job. Buffet eggs Benny are better.
In a place like this I don’t expect to have to wave my hand or snap my fingers to get service especially when the staff out number the guests. Ridiculous. How as a server do you not come ask your table — how is everything… especially if you didn’t deliver the food. I should not have two bites down prior to a server asking me if I’m good. If your going have a male serve me, he could at least not suck at his job.
Emailing a complaint and no manger bothers to respond… even to tell me to bugger off. No one at this place gives a crap and it shows.
Reputation is a funny thing, you have it until its gone… these guys are on their way out.

If I could give this place 0 stars I would. 5 of my lady friends and I went to celebrate a birthday. Clearly this place caters to the corporate event crowd and not to the smaller parties looking for an upscale fine dining experience. The service was slow (over 3 hours from sitting down to leaving) and lackluster and the manager was abrasive and rude. The lamb and chicken dishes were cold after waiting for over an hour. We sent them back. The manager came back and said he stuck his finger in it and how hot did we want it!!! Proceeded to tell us that we didn’t know how to cook lamb or how it should be served. He never offered to replace with anything else. Two of us sat there while the other 4 ladies ate their meals (risotto and Luke warm scallops). We had no idea what was going on. 20 minutes after they were done, he brought out another lamb and chicken dish!!! We said we didn’t want it. The server then returns with 4 dessert menus, not 6. That was a slap in the face. We went to this restaurant expecting delicious food, impeccable service, and a great experience. The Ranche failed on all accounts. Stay away from this place.

We had dinner here last night and there is no way that I am not leaving a review. I think I may have had the best steak ever! It was cooked to perfection. We started with the beet salads also amazing, muscles next — they were good. I had the striploin — the steak literally melts in your mouth. The ambience is nice and service is great. They also have private dining rooms if you are looking to book a group. I highly recommend this restaurant — at least once.

If you want an amazing evening out during the summer months on a veranda, taking in Fish Creek Park, this is the place. We went with friends for an anniversary dinner and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Menu definitely caters to the heritage of this location with traditional game meat, but is quite good. If you are a picky eater and not into game, this place may not be for you as number of items on the menu is limited. That being said, what they do have was well prepared and the group enjoyed it all. Had a great selection of wine and drinks. Remember, do the veranda in the summer months.

Reno’s seemed pretty much done and the place still looks like an old Ranchhouse… which is awesome. This has been a regular birthday haunt for my friends and family for a few years now. Also a great place to take an outta-​towner or a date that you’re trying to impress.
The surroundings are beautiful in the summer and winter and the food is always well done and the menu is unique to this place. The only reason it doesn’t get 5-​stars (and the only reason I’m not a regular) is that it’s a tad pricey for my liking. Appys are around $ 20 and with entrees at $ 30 – 40 it can add up fast after drinks, taxes and tip.
But if you’re looking for an iconic spot that is off the beaten path and has great food then give this place a try.