When Griffith’s in the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver closed their doors a few months ago, in preparation for a multi-million dollar renovation of the hotel lobby, lounge, and restaurant spot, I heaved a small, sad sigh of nostalgia. I had grown up going there for special occasion Sunday brunches with my parents. The food was never extraordinary, but it was always decent, the service was good and the famous dessert bar was the ultimate draw for a 10-year-old.
Time moves on, however, and a 75th anniversary seems like a good time to refresh and renew. With the restaurant and 900 West Lounge both closed, the hotel turned to the 15th floor, which houses a space that, until a few decades ago, was one of the city’s poshest watering holes, complete with live music, dancing and cool cocktails.
The Roof is the temporary restaurant until the renovation of the lobby is complete, which should be sometime this winter. In the meantime, it seemed like a cool idea to take over an under-utilized space that boasts panoramic views of the city. “Seemed” being the operative word.
The space hasn’t been updated since the ‘80s, if not earlier, and has all the glamour of a retirement home dining hall, except with linen tablecloths. And, while heavy silver is nice, proper mise en place would have been even more appreciated.
The menu is even more dated, and doesn’t live up to the high prices. Alaskan king crab legs ($22) are off the sharing menu, and were described by our server as being six legs, served with lemon and clarified butter. The reality was six broken pieces of leg, adding up to maybe two legs in total. Tempura morel mushrooms apparently had some triple cream brie infused somewhere, but we couldn’t taste it over the shriveled, greasy result.
Mains were even worse. The signature prime rib dinner ($43) was a 12-ounce monstrosity, half of which was made of hard, grey fat. The remaining meat was too greasy to enjoy, and the accompanying Yorkshire pudding was oddly dry, leaving me to wonder why some of the fat from the meat hadn’t been added to the pudding to balance things out. My dish of lamb chops, locally sourced, would have been lovely – if only the meat hadn’t been served blue rare. I had asked for it to be cooked at the chef’s preference. Apparently, the chef felt that cooking would spoil the flavour.
One could just go to the bar side of the room, have a cocktail or two, and some of the less disturbing “bites,” but why bother? At $16 for a negroni, I can think of a half-dozen better places to indulge my itch for gin and Campari. The view is lovely, but it’s not the only one in town, and certainly not the best choice for consumables. There is live music most nights, but it’s as dated as the room, and the dancing is a thing of the past.
The hotel is now up for sale, but even the prospect of a new owner doesn’t improve the outlook, as Fairmont will likely still be managing the show under any deal signed. One can only hope that the renovation will also include a complete overhaul of the menu and execution, because this Roof isn’t worth keeping up.
All ratings out of five stars.
Food: ★
Service: ★★
Ambiance: ★
Overall: ★
★: Okay, nothing memorable.
★★: Good, shows promise.
★★★: Very good, occasionally excellent.
★★★★: Excellent, consistently above average.
★★★★★: Awe-inspiring, practically perfect in every way.
The Roof | 900 West Georgia | 604-684-3131 | Fairmont.com/Hotel-Vancouver
Anya Levykh has been writing about all things ingestible for more than 10 years. Hear her every Monday on CBC Radio One’s On the Coast and find her on Twitter @foodgirlfriday and Facebook.com/FoodGirlFriday. FoodGirlFriday.com
