The Bayside Bistro

$5 for a small Nanaimo bar seems expensive.

Buckle up for an experience... Do not eat here, I failed to read recent reviews and paid the price. Staff were friendly, however when I ordered gyoza's I was asked if I wanted it just microwaved or pan fried for an extra 2 dollars... Microwaved should not be an option. I chose pan fried and also asked for a tuna bowl. I was informed that the wait would be ten minutes for fresh rice so that left me hopeful for a decent tuna bowl. The gentleman who took my order wasn't confident on his pan frying skills and asked one of the other staff if she could fry them for him which she obliged. She put them in the pan and then began sweeping out on the floor and completely forgot about my gyoza's and burnt them, the guy who didn't want to fry them came out and told her they were burning, to which she replied "f#$&" and ran back to the kitchen. She then came out and told me the news, she would also be making new ones so it would a few more minutes.(A better decision would have been to ask for my money back and leave) 20 minutes to get my pan fried gyoza's which came in a coffee to-go cup with a soy sauce that had an expiry date of 2020. These gyoza's were not burnt but were lightly fried and cold in the middle. They had the added bonus of a cardboard texture with an off taste. After another 10 minutes my tuna bowl arrived with fresh rice and very, very brown tuna. 30 minutes of waiting to politely say thanks, leave the building and throw that food poisoning in a box, directly in the garbage. It was amusing but definitely not worth the time or money. Coffee would probably be fine, but it's probably best to avoid this place. Cheers.

Ordered through Skip, so I can't speak for service or atmosphere, but my god the food! ...yeah it's bad. Just so bad. I mean, to clarify, some of the food is perfectly edible, like the steamed buns, but I'm pretty sure nothing is actually cooked there unless you count some sort of reheating process like microwaving. And when it's bad, it is BAD. The pork in the onigiri had a texture like freeze dried food that wasn't rehydrated. Just so unpleasant.

I generally don't leave reviews but people need to know about this place. Service was ok, nothing special. However the food quality was awful. My wife and I ordered 1 roll each. I ordered the prawn tempura roll and she ordered the maple smoked salmon roll. Unfortunately there is nothing good to say about either roll. Both rolls the rice was old, dry and hard. Both rolls also had old seaweed which made the rolls very chewy. In my roll I had 1 small tempura prawn rolled with a piece of lettuce and cut cucumber. The roll its self was quite small for a $6 roll. It consisted of 4 regular sized pieces. Not 6 or 8 pieces you would expect from a $6 roll. It really felt and looked like I was getting half the portion. My wifes roll was very small as well for a $6 roll. It only consisted of 6 small pieces that were made of rice, seaweed and small chunks of very dry maple salmon chunks. What bothered me the most was that they are satisfied with the quality of food they serve people. This food, in my opinion wasn't even worthy of serving paying customers. I have been to countless sushi restaurants coming from Vancouver and this was one of the worst qualities in sushi I have ever experienced. I do not recommend this place at all as it has very poor food quality, unfortunately.

Prices are SO expensive for very tiny portions. Especially compared to other restaurants of the same caliber. At $40 you will barely get enough for 1 person, let alone 3. With that said, the food tasted fresh but quite bland and the rolls were soggy.... The indoor experience may be different - and there may be a price difference as well ‍♀️ But I would never recommend this place, very disappointing experience.

Careful with these reviews, they are reflective of the previous cafe, not the current management. Pretty disappointing. "Vegan don" was a pickle salad with no rice. They don't appear to have a grill or full kitchen, so "bistro" is an interesting title for the restaurant. Items were microwaved or put in a panini press to reheat before serving. We went home and made another lunch as the portions were small and quality low. Ordered at the bar, server was polite. I can't speak for the specialty coffees, but I can't recommend the food or general atmosphere.

One of the best coffees in town.

Best vanilla Latte in the valley and great staff. The upstairs area has comfy chairs to hang out to visit with friends or sit and work uninterrupted. Vegetarian options: I had a tasty veggie sandwich.