The Bent Mast

I have always wanted to check this place out. I was reading about haunted buildings in James bay and the bent mast restaurant was mentioned. The restaurant is an old house built in the 1880s. It was lived until the 40s and after that had many different uses. When you come in you seat your self. If you are with a large group they have a special room upstairs. I ordered the chocolate porter from Phillips. My drink came quickly and was very fresh. I ordered the steak and house greens and fries. I only had to wait 20 minutes for my food. The steak was excellent. The price was right and the service was excellent. I definitely recommend a visit to the bent mast. Very casual atmosphere.

In victoria you can trip on the sidewalk and land in a pub, but Bent Mast? DUDE, its everything you wanted and more. It has the pub «homey» feel, but you dont have to yell at the top of your lungs to be heard and you are not rubbing elbows with complete drunks. The staff here is AMAZING, I was up here with my wife on our honeymoon and not only was the staff friendly, but also pointed out places to go while in town and called us a taxi one evening!
The only thing that edges out the staff is the amazing food. DUDE, this is not your grand daddy’s pub with «3 beers needed to taste decent» food. This stuff was awesome… loaded pierogi

Over priced…
Lacking menu…
Wierd musty smell (probably cause the building is old)…
But amazing patio outside for people watching and they have trivial pursuit.
There are better places in james bay to go in the winter. Summer if you can get a seat on the patio a pint or two is worth it

My husband and I were visiting Victoria and chose to come to The Bent Mast on our first night in town. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of quality and service but I think I was actually pleasantly surprised. Now maybe we were just lucky with the waitress we had but she was very nice, and even attentive enough to notice that I had left my sweater behind, even before we had completely left the restaurant.
I loved that they had old trivial pursuit cards at all the tables, it kept us occupied and entertained while we waited for our food (thinking back, I don’t think it was the quickest service but we were having a nice visit so we didn’t care!)
I had the steak and frites and I’ve gotta say, I usually don’t order steak simply because 99.2% of the time it will be over cooked. When I say medium rare, I mean medium rare. BUT it was cooked to perfection, and I hope it wasn’t a fluke because I was impressed. Yum, very good.
Husband had the chicken carbonara, which was nice and creamy, on par with expectations.
If I’m ever in Victoria again, I would probably want to try other places before returning here again, but if you are in the area and looking for good food and atmosphere, don’t hesitate to come here.

Located in a small neighborhood west of downtown Victoria in a building from 1864, the Bent Mast has mixed reviews in Unilocal yet I found it was a very good pub food tavern with live music.
Live music was playing courtesy of two local women. It was pretty good and the house was packed with locals. There isn’t a lot of seating inside, maybe enough for thirty or so but they do have a large patio when the weather’s nice.
My oldest daughter and I ordered some local chardonnay wine and draft beer. Both were quite good, especially the local amber beer. We decided to try the calamari, fish tacos and poutine.
Our calamari had a distinct fishy odor to it which I attribute to using the same oil they fry the fish and chips in as the calamari. Also, I’m blessed/​cursed with a sensitive nose which helps in cooking but makes me more attune to oddness. The calamari breading was quite light and airy — very well done. The dish also included a selection of lightly fried veggies such as jalapeño and red bell pepper giving it a bit more interest and heat. The weak part, IMHO, was the tartar sauce which tasted canned, was overly thick, and had a strong mayonnaise taste. Both Amber and I agreed that a ketchup and horseradish based sauce would have been better especially since the dish had some mild heat components like the jalapenos.
The fish tacos were made of lightly grilled cod with a seasoned crust and chopped cabbage. Served with two sauces, one a chimichurri and the other a salsa fresca, it made a good dish. One observation is the size of the fish pieces seemed a bit small, even for a taco.
The poutine, a distinctly Canadian dish, came last (at our request). It is French fries and mozzarella cheese curds covered in a rich brown gravy. You can also get it topped with bacon or pulled pork. The dish is pretty good and reminded me of mashed potatoes and gravy. The cheese gave it a little zing every so often since they are not spread over the whole dish in a layer but in separate pieces.
Unlike other reviews, we had pretty good service where they patiently took our order, served things promptly and made sure things were OK. No complaints here.
Overall, a good dining/​pub experience with decent food, drinks and music in a cozy and vintage setting.

You’re not coming here for the mediocre pub food, but instead for people watching. It’s a local hot spot. If you’re a tourist, this is a must if you’re looking for a spot to have a pint (decent selection of local beer) and feel like a local.

An easy-​going, casual, soup and salad, burger and fries pub in one of those lovely old houses in downtown Victoria.

I came here for the first time with my family and at first glance it seemed welcoming although it smells terrible. The service at this place was painfully brutal. They took 45 mins to bring our orders without any warnings. I ordered the chicken burger with a lettuce wrap instead of a bun. They brought me out stripped chicken on lettuce, it was dry and ok. I actually let her know that food took too long, she just said the kitchen was backed up and ran away. I will never be returning to this place. Their service is absolutely brutal and painful to deal with. If I could give them a rating of 0, I would. 1 is too good for them. I suggest they fire their waitress or train them properly.

Good good, reaally good beer (homemade, local and imported) and I like the fact that it’s an old house, feels welcoming.

I’ve been here several times and where I quite enjoy the cozy atmosphere, the service is perpetually… shit. But seriously, excuse us for entering your business, purchasing your wares, being polite and making eye contact while you loathe your existence and everyone around you. I say this politely but firmly. It’s also not frivolous… this is consistent. There is zero fluctuation between servers or time of day. Proximity wins and atmosphere also has the upper hand here, but holy jeez… Bent Mast employees are the dregs of service life loathing. Fail. 3 for having beer, working toilets and heat. –2 for having an atmosphere that stinks like rotting wood, irritation and leftover life. Period.

Atmosphere is a 10 for me. Local, down to earth pub in a heritage home! There are board games to keep the table entertained and live band is pretty good. I just love the feel. Open late so that’s definitely a plus. The location is obviously amazing!

Attentive and entertaining bar service (always fun to sit at the bar when you’re not in your home town).
While they may not be able to boast 50+ taps, the local brews they do run are well curated with a good variety. Plus you can be sure of good turnover.
This is more of a neighbourhood pub than one of the modern beer temples, but that’s ok– lots of games available and the crowd apparently had its fair share of local regulars. Relaxed attitude but that doesn’t mean slow by any means.
Try the kale quinoa salad. Yes it sounds like a west coast cliché, but the cashew dressing takes a great salad and makes it awesome. The hummus and pita also provided more kick than average.
Shout out to Chelsea at the bar for giving us some local suggestions.

I’ve always loved it here. The location with outdoor seating is great. I loved the Borscht and the little steamed buns. It’s a good price and location and really quite unique.