Vista 18

Want to know a secret? Vista 18 is a hip wine bar without hipsters. You won’t find many people with top knots, large tattoos or large attitudes. What you will find is a quiet relaxed spot with incredible views of the harbour and surrounding area. My girlfriend and I love to come up and have a glass of wine and sample some of their delectable appetizers (their beer and cocktail list is good too). Best news is, that between 3 and 5 all appetizers are half price too :). Later in the evening they often have jazz combos playing. Old school ultra cool.
Yes the décor is dated, and their restaurant menu is average at best. But come for the view, a drink or a nibble or two and you won’t be disappointed.

Went up for drinks to scope out the place as a possible dinner option. The layout is really nice.
The service was awful… took 20 minutes to get a drink and another 20 to get the bill.
Decided not to attempt dinner… really too bad because the views were awesome!

The view just can’t be beat, however the service and breakfast food itself leaves something to be desired. We recently visited Vista 18 for the third time upon request by out-​of-​towners looking for a downtown view. To be frank, the hostess seemed as though she was bothered by our very presence and didn’t make much effort to make us feel welcome at all. Our waitress, whom we had before, was thankfully a bit more warm. The food was on the safe side of mediocre, but it came out in a timely matter. Overall, I’d say it’s just an okay place for breakfast with the best view in town. Huge pro: vegetarian options for breakfast

My wife and I went back to Vista 18 after the management responded so well to my earlier negative review. The return visit was much better. We decided to make a meal of appetizers. We started with a dozen oysters on the half shell — two different kinds. They came with a nice mignonette sauce that was quite tasty. We had mushroom soup, the Vista 18 salad, and root vegetable chips — all very good. The mussels in a paprika sauce were dynamite — probably the best thing we had. The «canned» tuna would have been better if it hadn’t been so chunky (it was hard to keep it on the toast it came with) and had a bit more seasoning. Service was good. We had a table with a great view. There’s music on weekends, and someday we might come back just to sit in the bar, have a couple of drinks and listen.

the food is good but the service was awful the waitress gave us snooty service and was rude beyond rude. we were in shock at how she ignored our table and hardly ever came back and when she did gave us attitude I’m hesitant about going back. I’ll be looking elsewhere to eat…

Went here a couple of times. once in the morning, once for appies, once for drinks…
Decided to eat here for breakfast one morning as we were staying at the hotel and it was a quick bite on a day where we had alot of things planned. The food (I had the crab benny) was great but I found our server to be a little over the top friendly. She also didn’t have any idea about the check in offer (free mini-​muffins) and proceeded to tell us it was scam and that this deal had just «attached itself to our restaurant» and that they no longer served mini-​muffins. I let it go as it wasn’t that big of a deal but found it a little odd that she said that it was a scam as earlier in our stay (the appies portion) the server quite readily provided us w/​the check in offer. Over all the food was good and reasonably priced… for breakfast.
Our experience for drinks an appies in the afternoon was quite different. We walked in an chose a table right by the window with a view of the harbour and neighbouring hotels and condos. It was pretty amazing and they had 2 for 1 deals from 3 to 5 PM. Kristen immediately came over and brought us a nibbles menu and took our drink orders. The mint lemonade was really nice. Showed her the check in deal and she took a boo and put in our orders. I had the crispy humboldt squid, which was really tasty except for the Greek relish. I should have asked, so this is no reflection on them, but it was all olives and I am NOT a fan. The root chips that you get for the check in deal though… so good! The lemon arugula pesto dip… drool. I’d really like that recipe… so good.
Finally Martini Monday… oh how you were good and bad to me. Came up from an experience down at Clive’s (to be discussed in another review) for the Martini’s. Martini deal on Monday’s is $ 7.50 per… well I was all up in that. tried 5 of 10 on their menu (6 if you include the sip of the hubby’s) and they were all fantastic. Ashley, our bartender was quick and made our experience even better. I don’t have enough good things to say about her and it was her first night.

Had desert and a drink there. The food is good, but the drink is water down. The area seemed very dated and the floor has a unpleasant smell.
I wish they will remodel this place soon otherwise it will be tough to attract customers. Otherwise it’s a ok place to visit.

Delightful view as the sun was setting. Jason, our waiter, was awesome and attentive. Had delicious fried polenta that was crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside, perfectly prepared.

Jason our server was fabulous. The view was incredible and we were staying in the hotel so it was a perfect location. Live music and nice sparkling wine from British Columbia.

The breakfast food itself was pretty tasty! They had great ham here, which was thick cut and had a nice grilled flavour to it! Food took awhile to come out but it was nice of them to give us some complimentary muffins and some marmalade as well as fruit compote to go along with it and our toast.
Took a LONG while for our server to come though and when he did, he seemed a bit disinterested so that was a bit of a let down on the rest of the experience. Otherwise, it’s got a great view and good breakfast offerings!

Wow! Well, we were treated so amazingly well by the hostess and manager. The restaurant itself is amazing (spectacular views etc). But unfortunately due to our overtired child our dining experience was cut short well before we could even order food and enjoy it all, but the manager bent over backwards to accommodate our menu requests in our suite a floor below so my husband and I could still enjoy dinner. The food was amazing! But truly, the people really made this experience so above and beyond for us.

Vista 18 is on the 18^th floor and has great views across the city, overlooking the harbour, the Empress, along Dallas Road and then back out towards Mount Tolmie. I feel like I must have written about the location before, but I haven’t. It’s probably the best view in Victoria, both during the day, and at night. I’ve had good drinks up there before on more than one birthday. The dinner menu isn’t the greatest, for value or portion sizes, but as a lounge venue it works well.
The breakfast is solid. The steak was cooked medium-​rare to perfection. That browned savoury flavour on the outside from the Maillard reactions. And the pinkish, rare flesh in the centre. I love it when I can see the different stages in how meat cooks through… the graduations of protein denaturing, the reaction of the myosin breaking down on the outside, but keeping it firm in the middle. The strands of the muscle fibres being clearly seen on the surface, but turning into a purplish, slightly shiny mass in the middle. The science of cooking can make food even tastier.
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I love going to this place because of the view & the only place I will actually order eggs Benny! My favorite fillet mignon Benedict it is so unique & savory! Frittata’s are amazing & for dinner well there’s just so much to choose from! Service is nice & steady… Not a complaint yet!

Beautiful view, I had the breakfast buffet while in town for a conference. Lot’s of variety, plenty of good coffee. Service was a bit slow, but they were slammed! Upon seating we were given a bowl of tiny tasty fresh baked muffins! :) Classy place with fancy towels in the bathroom. Next time I will go back for the evening Jazz + dinner.

Great food and view. Good selection of interesting dishes. I recommend the tasting menu. Service was friendly but too casual in my opinion. They started setting up the room for tomorrow’s big party while we were still enjoying our dinner. That’s a bummer.
They gave us complimentary dessert for our anniversary which was delicious.
Try it out.

Well I had probably one of the most unique experiences a customer has had at Vista 18.
It was my girlfriends birthday dinner. We found the place to be elegant and nice. We sat overlooking the heart of the city. The view was something else.
This special night in particular we were told that the meat order had been messed up and that the Chef had prepared a rib-​eye bone-​in steak dinner for 2 just for that night. It was a 16oz beauty. It came complete with probably the best pureed potatoes I’ve ever had. It was one of the best accidentally awesome dinners I have ever ate. As a matter of fact, I still talk about it.
Service seemed a bit slow but in retrospect perhaps it was to let you take the time to enjoy your view and meal and to leave you alone. It is a very quiet, private and romantic dining experience.

We got the «Full Canadian Breakfast» as part of our Victoria Clipper vacation package. They served potatoes O’Brown, eggs any style, bacon or sausage and toast of your choice. The service was very good abd the food was excellently prepared. The 18^th floor view is very nice.

We stopped by on Monday night (⁵⁄₁₉). Joe, the bartender, made us some good drinks. It was a slow evening and we were able to talk about many places, restaurants, lounges/​bars in the downtown Victoria area. And of course we had a few laughs as well.
The view from the 18^th floor is phenomenal and should not be missed!

Went here with my boyfriend for Valentine’s day and it did not disappoint. The food was great and their VDay menu was fantastic. The view of the city made it feel luxurious.
Highly recommend for a quiet evening for two over great food.

A bit of a throw back to the ’70’s but had a really nice dinner here last week.
The view is the main reason to come here but the food actually is pretty good.
I had the Lamb Two Ways, a couple small frenched chops and a lamb shepherds pie.
Both were excellent and a small order of garden vegetables rounded out the meal.