Canoe

First time dining at Canoe. Parking: Efficient complimentary valet Greeting: Warm & welcoming Seating: Seated promptly at a corner table facing the water. Beautiful view and able to have conversation. Perfect for us. On exiting, did note other parts of the restaurant were far louder but you could see the chef in action from those areas which was fun. So pick your preference in seating. It will make a big difference in your experience. Service: Outstanding waiter who expertly navigated two allergies (Celiac/gluten and walnuts). There are quite a lot of walnuts on the menu, including some walnut oil in some dressings. Accommodations made pleasantly and the person with Celiac/gluten allergy did NOT have a flare-up after dining here 🙌 Food: Appetizer salads were substantial and shareable. Porktenderloin and chicken were both tender and delicious paired with a substitution of whipped potato. Each had a delicate distinctive sauce and the cabbage paired with the pork was really special. The chicken portion was substantial. One improvement to the dessert menu could be the addition of a traditional creme brûlée (gluten free option). There are more adventurous options on the menu, including kangaroo (the Chef is Australian).

I don’t recommend this place if you have any dietary restrictions. Our party had one gluten free person and one dairy free person (me); these are restrictions that are typically pretty easy for restaurants to accommodate, but neither were accommodated well here. For dairy free: there were no options on the menu and I asked if they could make any options dairy free. I was simply told to order the chicken because it had “less dairy than other items” and they did not offer to make it for me without dairy. I asked if they could make anything dairy free and they said they could only make the salad dairy free. I am left to assume that they pre-cook items in mass and that’s why they cannot accommodate like most other high end restaurants. For gluten free: there was only ONE item that was gluten free on the menu; this person asked if they could swap sides with other dishes to make her dish of choice gluten free. They initially told us no and our waitress had to go talk to the chef several times (delaying our ordering by 30 minutes) but they eventually came up with an accommodation. Food itself was hit or miss: some items were phenomenal, others were dry or bland. I appreciate the service and our server trying really hard to accommodate us, but unfortunately, we will not be back. I think canoe should be more transparent that they do not offer accommodations moving forward to save customers and staff the headache. We liked the ambiance but the inside was packed and very loud, I could not hear people at the other end of my table.