Cloud 9 Revolving Restaurant
I know there are 2 revolving restaurants in Vancouver, but I haven't been to either. I thought the mid-autumn festival would be a good opportunity to try it out, so I could celebrate with my family without having to deal with the crowd at Chinese restaurants. Cloud 9 is on the 42nd floor of the Empire Landmark Hotel. The circular seating area rotates around the reception area and the kitchen in the centre. Although it takes more than an hour for a full rotation, the motion is actually quite noticeable.
The ceiling is dotted with small lights to emulate a starry sky.
The view was spectacular. We got there just before sunset, so I got a picture of the sun on the horizon. Too bad I forgot to bring my camera, so I had to use my cell phone instead :(
I love this picture of the winding road around Stanley Park (Stanley Park Drive). Rather picturesque don't you think? ;)
I only managed to get decent pictures of the appetizers because we had to wait almost half an hour for the entrees. By that time the sun had set and I couldn't take any decent pictures with my cell phone (with no flash). The lights in the restaurant were super dim; I suppose it was so that we could see the night view outside. The downside to this was that I could not see what I was eating. Yes it was that dark... Oh well, the food wasn't impressive anyway. In fact I think the quality was below average. I had the soup du jour (tomato soup) for my appetizer, and well... as you can see it was standard fare and tasted not much different from canned soup.
My parents both got the salad which was baby green lettuce leaf with roasted red pepper and kalamata olives. Considering this was supposed to be a fine dining restaurant, I was surprised that the roasted red pepper was served with the stems still on. I was told the salad tasted pretty good, but it was drenched in balsamic vinaigrette reduction. So I think it's not for people who prefer salads with little dressing.
All 3 of us decided on the sole wrap for the entree because it was labelled as "a Cloud 9 signature dish". It was a fish fillet cooked with cream cheese and baby shrimp and shaped into a ball. To be honest, it tasted more like gooey melted cheap mozzarella than cream cheese. I wouldn't have guessed it was cream cheese if I hadn't looked at the menu. The fish fillet ball was served with jasmine rice and mixed veggies. I think the dish was very average, especially for a signature dish. And like I mentioned earlier, I couldn't see what I was eating at all and it really isn't too appetizing when you can't see what you're putting in your mouth... Just to illustrate my point, here's a picture of my view of what I was eating.
The dessert was similarly very average. It was a small slice of mint chocolate mousse cake with fruits. Nothing special, and the fruits didn't even taste fresh.
I think the only reason anyone would want to dine here is for the view. Since it was mid-autumn festival, of course we had to ooh and aah at the full moon. Thanks to the awesome view, we were able to admire the beautiful moon before it was covered by clouds :(
And of course the night view was great.
In conclusion, $30.95 per person was way too expensive for the dining experience. The 3-course prix fixe menu was very limited. The appetizer only offered a choice between soup and salad. There were 3 choices for the entree which was ok... but none of the choices included red meat. It was either fish, chicken, or seafood pasta. "Upgrading" to prime rib and tiger prawns cost an extra $7.95. And there was no choice of dessert. Everyone got the chocolate mousse cake. So I think $30.95 per person is a total rip-off considering the limited menu and the mediocre food. Although I suppose the restaurant is worth visiting once for the spectacular view. But you could just get drinks instead of the 3 course dinner.
The ceiling is dotted with small lights to emulate a starry sky.
The view was spectacular. We got there just before sunset, so I got a picture of the sun on the horizon. Too bad I forgot to bring my camera, so I had to use my cell phone instead :(
I love this picture of the winding road around Stanley Park (Stanley Park Drive). Rather picturesque don't you think? ;)
I only managed to get decent pictures of the appetizers because we had to wait almost half an hour for the entrees. By that time the sun had set and I couldn't take any decent pictures with my cell phone (with no flash). The lights in the restaurant were super dim; I suppose it was so that we could see the night view outside. The downside to this was that I could not see what I was eating. Yes it was that dark... Oh well, the food wasn't impressive anyway. In fact I think the quality was below average. I had the soup du jour (tomato soup) for my appetizer, and well... as you can see it was standard fare and tasted not much different from canned soup.
My parents both got the salad which was baby green lettuce leaf with roasted red pepper and kalamata olives. Considering this was supposed to be a fine dining restaurant, I was surprised that the roasted red pepper was served with the stems still on. I was told the salad tasted pretty good, but it was drenched in balsamic vinaigrette reduction. So I think it's not for people who prefer salads with little dressing.
All 3 of us decided on the sole wrap for the entree because it was labelled as "a Cloud 9 signature dish". It was a fish fillet cooked with cream cheese and baby shrimp and shaped into a ball. To be honest, it tasted more like gooey melted cheap mozzarella than cream cheese. I wouldn't have guessed it was cream cheese if I hadn't looked at the menu. The fish fillet ball was served with jasmine rice and mixed veggies. I think the dish was very average, especially for a signature dish. And like I mentioned earlier, I couldn't see what I was eating at all and it really isn't too appetizing when you can't see what you're putting in your mouth... Just to illustrate my point, here's a picture of my view of what I was eating.
The dessert was similarly very average. It was a small slice of mint chocolate mousse cake with fruits. Nothing special, and the fruits didn't even taste fresh.
I think the only reason anyone would want to dine here is for the view. Since it was mid-autumn festival, of course we had to ooh and aah at the full moon. Thanks to the awesome view, we were able to admire the beautiful moon before it was covered by clouds :(
And of course the night view was great.
In conclusion, $30.95 per person was way too expensive for the dining experience. The 3-course prix fixe menu was very limited. The appetizer only offered a choice between soup and salad. There were 3 choices for the entree which was ok... but none of the choices included red meat. It was either fish, chicken, or seafood pasta. "Upgrading" to prime rib and tiger prawns cost an extra $7.95. And there was no choice of dessert. Everyone got the chocolate mousse cake. So I think $30.95 per person is a total rip-off considering the limited menu and the mediocre food. Although I suppose the restaurant is worth visiting once for the spectacular view. But you could just get drinks instead of the 3 course dinner.
No comments: