The Roof

Pre-​booked a table of 7 for my birthday lunch with my family members. Everyone was very happy with their choice of meal. Service was great as well. I also received a complimentary cake after they found that it was my birthday. The cake was very delicious.

Came here for afternoon tea, so this isn’t about the cocktails or any commentary on the restaurant’s menu.
The service was outstanding. If every restaurant had a server like Wayne, they’d have some happy customers even if the food was only mediocre. Better yet, an outstanding restaurant with a server like Wayne would be even more memorable. Professional, friendly, responsive and just a nice guy! I find some high end restaurant servers to be pretentious because they work at a high end restaurant, but this wasn’t the case here (thank god).
The teas we chose were delicious — no complaints here. Unfortunately… the complaints are with the food. I’ve been to afternoon tea at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria before and the food here just wasn’t as good as when I had it at the Empress. They’ve definitely updated and slightly modernized some dishes and it was a hit or miss. Some things were great and others were just «meh».
Also, I feel like there should be more space between occupied tables. When the restaurant isn’t busy, perhaps have a table between occupied tables so we aren’t subjected to eavesdropping and have to be eavesdroppers ourselves. It just felt like it took away from the experience.
Also, the view was disappointing where they were seating people for afternoon tea. The bar had a really nice view whereas the afternoon tea side faced other buildings and had no real view to speak of.
I’d come back for the regular menu and for the view (IF seated up in the bar area), but definitely not for afternoon tea.

Service was good. The view was good. But, when the only dish that was good was the roasted garlic, I really have no further recommendations… Or anything else to say. I think this needs an overhaul with its culinary skills.

I came here for a nice dinner date with my S.O. expecting a rooftop patio but only to realize it was an ordinary restaurant on a higher floor. No patio no problem, I didn’t do my research.
We ordered a chilled seafood tower for two to start off our meal. The seafood tower was left on our table without proper cutlery/​tools and sharing plates for quite some time. We dug in anyway because we were hungry. The plates and oyster forks came ten minutes after and I had to waved my server down to ask for them. No crab/​lobster cracker was offered to aid us throughout this course…
For entrees, my other half ordered a tenderloin and I a prime rib. Steaks were decently cooked and the sides were good too. Not much to complain about there.
Overall, we thought this was an average but extremely pricey experience only to realize we brought home a churning stomach and an endless night on the toilet…
BEWARE FELLAS.

Hearing about the new Roof lounge opening at the Fairmont Vancouver, I figured it would be a neat venue to take my wife on a date after several weeks of hard work. What was great was the view of the city. Being so high up in Vancouver downtown is really something to behold. With that said, that is where my positivity for the Roof ends. Just to note, you really aren’t on the roof of the building as the name implies, but on the top floor (or an area with some sort of open air), which is disappointing.
As with most of my reviews, I try to go to a venue at least twice before I write a review in case a location was having an unusually busy, quiet, and/​or everything in between night. However, on both occasions I went to the Roof, we received poor and unwelcoming service (first in a group of 4 and second a group of 2). Wearing more formal attire or coming with relatives did absolutely nothing to improve the service we received.
Both times, the Roof was not very busy, so it was easy to get a table to enjoy the view. However, the amount of time to be served in both cases was almost enough for us to walk out (had it not been for the view. Did I mention it has a great view?). The server did acknowledge us as we sat down, but it took more than 10+ min before the server came over to first greet us. Once our drink orders were taken, it took more than 15 min to get our drinks as the bartender seemed to routinely be too busy talking with elderly patrons at the bar.
Along with incredibly long wait times, also comes with the incredibly high prices that can sometimes be anticipated with a Fairmont hotel. Sometimes, the complexity of the cocktail or speciality of the ingredients can allow one to justify the cost. However, at the Roof, this is this not the case. At the Fairmont Vancouver Airport, you can get an absolutely fantastic Fairmont honey vodka cocktail made with grey goose that is to the brim of the glass for $ 13. While at the Roof, you can get a simple Mai Tai made with Bacardi that fills 75% of the glass (this includes the ice) for $ 12. To me this a complete disconnect and really isn’t acceptable when so many other bars downtown can make a better drink for less. To add to things, the Roof charges $ 9.50 for a domestic 16 oz draft beer! To me that is absolute madness to pay for a beer in Vancouver, when craft beer is now so widely found and for much less.
To add to our disappointment, the food is ok at best. At least one person in our parties tried the club sandwich ($ 21) and the burger ($ 20), and for both items, the quality was not even close to what I should have been for the cost having poor bread, and tasteless bacon (I don’t even know how you can make bacon not tasty, but they found a way).
With poor service, an uninviting scene (but definitely a great view), overpriced drinks and only ok food, the Roof is a location I would not go to again and would not recommend. It would be a 1 out of 5, but the view bumps it up to a 2.

The not-​very-​vegetarian-​friendly menu is composed of safe choices, expertly put together by the kitchen. No missteps here, but don’t go to The Roof if you’re hoping to be wow’ed by anything other than excellent cooking. There’s nothing too special or adventurous on the menu.
Service is unpolished. Seemed like a mix of seasoned and not-​very-​seasoned staff, complicated by a lot of ESL. They weren’t weak with English, but it may have contributed to a slight nervousness. On the other hand, whatever nationality is in your party, chances are they can scrounge up a native speaker to help with any translations.
Except for the fact that it’s not technically on a roof, but rather a penthouse suite, ambiance is nice. Spacious lobby and dining area, high ceilings, generous spacing between tables. You’re also not going for the view because there really isn’t one, unless you like looking at half-​built skyscrapers in downtown Vancouver.

3.5+ stars
When the roof first opened, I got to try a few drinks and snacks in the lounge and boy were they good! They were very expensive though but that’s what you get at a nice hotel lounge! Their fried pickles were absolutely delicious and they came in a great heaping pile so the three of us couldn’t even finish in the end! They also offer a complimentary bar snack mix just like the other faimonts which includes a mixture of peanuts, almonds, rice crackers and other assorted crunchy goodies.
Since I was so impressed, I came back for lunch a few weeks after and tried out their casual mains. Their turkey club sandwich was seriously so good but I took off a star because the bread was a bit too hard for my taste. Their fries were also great! Their burger was pretty decent but I prefer the one downstairs at Griffin’s restaurant, which closed down last year.
Anyways, it’s very expensive here so I don’t really see the value in coming here for a meal, but the lounge is very nice!

Well, I have been hearing about the Roof at the Fairmont for the last couple months. I was down by Waterfront the other day and saw the umbrellas out at the hotel and was getting excited about going. Then I got an invitation to go to The Roof. At Hotel Vancouver, *not* Pacific Rim as I thought. Well, no worries, I am sure they have a nice roof set up too.
So I get dressed up and went down to the hotel and took the elevator up to the 15^th floor. I got off and looked around. Although the name may lead you to believe the restaurant is on the Roof it is in fact not. Yes, that is right, you are NOT sitting in the sun enjoying the breeze. It was nothing special. We were not even made to feel very welcome due to the size of our group.(eight people). Prepare for a battle if you are eight or more.
So I looked around and it really was very boring with the most interesting thing being the floral arrangements and the antiques displayed by the elevator. I think if I sat at the bar it may be nice for a cocktail, it was facing south. Call me spoiled but I was expecting so much more. I love the history and the architecture but The Roof, the restaurant, it’s a no go in my books.
I have been to other Fairmonts that really give you that old hotel feel with a unique themes in their outlets so this is again disappointing.

Came here for breakfast and was disappointed by the food and service. Not worth the price.
The host and servers tried to railroad us into getting the overpriced buffet breakfast, then took a very long time to take our orders, and finally got them wrong. Maybe it’s better at dinner.
Skip this place– I got breakfast the next couple days at an italian place below the Fairmont on Hornby St. across from the Art Gallery (Bellagio’s?) that had a $ 9.99 two-​eggs-​any-​way breakfast with far superior service, faster cooks, and a bigger meal for half the price of The Roof.