Review The Palms Restaurant & Lounge - Victoria

Well done Chef Kevin. This was our first time here as we were in town to see Bryan Adams. We've dined many times in Victoria and decided to give this place a go. Wow. So glad we did. We started with the Halibut & Scallop Ceviche. Amazing textures, citrus and presentation made this dish outstanding. We then ordered the Lobster Lasagna. I know this would be a deconstructed version but had know idea how amazing it would be. We were blown away by the presentation as soon as it hit the table. This dish was absolutely killer. Perfect sear on the scallops. Lobster was poached perfectly. The potato pave was a little taste of heaven. Everything about this dish was 5 star. As we were going to a concert, we didn't want to over eat and be uncomfortable, so we decided on splitting a dessert. What a great decision. The pecan tart was epic. A spin on a classic with elevated flavors and textures. So bloody good. An amazing experience all around. Our server was awesome. Sorry I forgot her name but she was also a Rockstar. The bourbon sours were top notch. Overall an amazing dining experience. Will be back again. Well done by all.

Found our dream cuisine at The Palms 🌴 We celebrated a special birthday dinner with family 💕 The steak melted in my mouth! So delicious!! All our meals were perfection. We’ll be back to try the wine bar menu and more.

My husband and I stumbled upon The Palms by accident and to quote Bob Ross, this was a "Happy little accident" . I must admit, I avoided this establishment because I was upset when Veneto closed and I now regret it! The atmosphere, service, food and drinks were on point. As busy professionals and parents we don't get out often - thank you for providing us such a great date night experience! Our server was knowledgeable about the menu and was able to offer great suggestions. My steak was cooked to perfection and the flavor profile was incredible. Your cocktails were also awesome and my husband appreciated your beer selection. I wish I got the servers name so I could give her a shout out - I'll grab it next time cause I'll definitely be coming back for date night and family dinners. We had a terrible experience later in the evening when we met up with friends at a different establishment with so thank you for giving us a positive experience to talk about!

Stylish and refined hotel restaurant with friendly service. The hamburger and frites is a must try if you like a gourmet burger. The short rib was beautifully plated but the sauce was way too sweet and the potatoes were a little overcooked. The sauce for the vegan spaghetti squash dish was extremely sour and difficult to eat. We regretted not trying the steak like other reviewers suggested.

I wanted to rave about my experience at The Palms restaurant in the Rialto! I was VERY impressed with the amount of options and quality of vegan dishes!!! They have multiple vegan options, and even dessert!! We ordered vegan dumplings, a DELICIOUS wrap, beet ravioli, and raspberry cheesecake (with VEGAN RICOTTA!!!) SO GOOD!!! They have such cool cocktails with cool names, ours were delicious! There were still two vegan mains we didn’t get to try yet!! Such a lovely experience! 😍🩷

One of the best places hands down I had visited in Victoria during my vacation! The service was impeccable, the food was beyond what my taste buds could handle, and the decor was astonishing! I felt welcomed and the service was fast, sweet, and they were able to handle our dietary concerns (no seafood). The drinks are very well made and the flavours were absolutely scrumptious. I highly recommend this place for your next birthday dinner, or fancy date night!

Very unique and delicious foods and drinks. Staff was excellent and helpful. Would definitely bring people here for the atmosphere and food. A++

What a superb experience. I had the pappadelle chicken. My friend the lobster lasagna,and beet ravioli. Calamari and escargot to start. ALL so delicious. All service top notch from being greeted at the door to our table all very attentive and knowledgeable. The decor and ambience and background music very nice. Our new favorite place.

Celebrated our 12 year anniversary there. Our waitress was very helpful, the food was great and the atmosphere was welcoming. I got the stuffed poblano peppers. It was very flavorful and filling with a bit of a spicy kick. Also, got a goddess cocktail. I also recommend the oysters and the deconstructed apple pie. ❤️

1st time here. Food was very tasty, we ordered a lot to try did not disappoint.

Very nice atmosphere in the evening. very romantic. exceptional staff, they were very friendly and warm and genuinely so nice. the food was excellent. We are vegan and we ordered the ravioli, wrap with fries, the stuffed peppers and cheese cake for dessert all to split and everything was so good 10/10 which i feel is rare to find today. Highly recommend. Very vegan friendly.

One of the nicest restaurants! Beautiful ambiance, friendly staff, and my food was incredible! I had the plant based beet ravioli. It was the best vegan dish I’ve had! It had so many beautifully blended flavours, it was creamy, filling, and satisfying. I also had dumplings for an appetizer and they did a really job cooking them. I paired my meal with the Summerhill sovereign opal and it tasted lovely. I ended the dinner with the blood orange sorbetto and it was sweet and creamy. My mom had the spaghetti squash and said it was really good and my step dad inhaled the burger it was so good. This place is a great place for vegans and non vegans.

My wife and I came here with our toddler. We shared three vegan dishes. The stuffed poblano peppers, the ravioli and the wrap were all 10/10. Really enjoyed the food. Even if you aren’t plant based, the dishes we had were top notch. Highly recommend eating here if you’re vegan. The atmosphere and the staff were also 10/10. The server and the manager provided exceptional service. The vibe at dinner is super romantic. Enjoy!

🤤 I love this place! The spaghetti squash is in another level! We were short of time and wanted to eat something before taking the bus to the ferries… they brought all our food on a timely manner as well as the drinks! Service was wonderful The next time I come to Victoria, will definitely eat at this place!!

We came here on a recommendation from a friend. We are locals that dine out frequently and have a couple of Victoria restaurants that we measure our experiences against. This one met up with even our favorite restaurant in the area. We shared the prawn appetizer and the black and blue tenderloin. Sitting at the bar, our extremely friendly bartender/server (Raymi) * apologize for spelling* suggested getting an extra order of bread for the prawns as the sauce was INCREDIBLE! Do it! You do not want any of that going to waste! The steak, veggies and sauce was perfection! Not overshadowed by a bunch of accompaniments and sides. The vibe was relaxed and welcoming. Highly recommend, we will definitely be back.

I come to Victoria just to eat here. The staff treats you like family and the food is outstanding. I wish it was more socially acceptable to wear sweatpants to a restaurant like this so I could leave without undoing my belt. The place was packed and the service was prompt.

A simply marvelous experience. Some Seattle friends are here to see Nancy Wilson and after the concert, we stopped in for food and drinks. Server Carla is an absolute delight. She provided perfect suggestions and connected well with everyone.amager Rob visited several times and is extremely personable. The food? Phenomenal. The drinks? Fantastic. The perfect after concert experience.

Beautiful restaurant. Great and socialbe service. Had table side ceaser salads and calamari fries for appetizers and both were delicious. Then moved onto chestnut and mushroom won tons that were addicting as he'll. For our mains we had vegetarian ravioli and lamb sirloin. Both were cooked perfectly and spot on for flavor. Chef Baron has done a great job of bring quality tasteful food for more than fair prices. Definitely recommend.

From something special to just another restaurant. I want to preface this with the fact I have been a huge fan of Veneto from the beginning and I still think they have a fantastic staff, but I fear the direction the business is headed after their recent reopening. This was an amazing tapa bar and as a bar forward establishment I believe it was truly world class, and they still retain their amazing bar staff at the time of this writing. I understand the new direction with a steak forward restaurant, but fear it is going to lose what the establishment had that was so special. A few menu items that sadden me as a loss are the duck poutine and the crispy risotto arancini. I can lament the loss of my favourite dishes with understanding that the restaurant business is constantly evolving and tastes can be seasonal, but the exclusion of the secret burger is a loss that takes away from the character of Veneto. The secret burger is, or I should say was, a quirky but amazing menu item. It was a chef’s burger of the day, different every day. It wasn’t actually a secret either, your waiter/waitress would tell you the day’s ingredients and it was consistently one of the best burgers in the city. I found it gave a huge amount of character to the business. A potential compromise for stability could have been a fixed burger to accompany it, but absolute exclusion is unfortunate. But so far I have not mentioned the worst loss the reopening of the business has suffered... the bar. The bar menu used to be an original and seasonal menu designed by their highly trained bar staff. Their old bar manager was locally renowned and has trained bar staff from all over the Pacific Northwest. As I stated the bar is world class and I can state this factually as I have been to over 20 counties and have found few establishments to rival the bartending skill found at Veneto. Sadly some of the charm that really made this place special are gone. Gone are the curated menus with anecdotal stories about the drinks. Gone are the signature drinks with each original drink credited to a member of the bar staff. Even the “spin the wheel” surprise drink choice is no longer a menu option. I can’t imagine serious thought going into any business overhaul getting it so wrong. I can accept change and one or two exclusions on the above mentioned items could have been defensible, but most everything (except the staff) that made this place so special is now gone... it now appears to be just another restaurant. As I was writing this I had a fairly unfortunate restaurant experience. An extremely long wait for food (approaching 1h 20m) coupled with a fillet minion that was worse than a strip-loin. In all credit, and I will give credit, when I mentioned this the staff did everything in their power to fix this. I was told (by their new and seemingly sincere bar manager, who did impress me) I was accidentally served the wrong steak and that they would comp my full meal. They also offered free dessert. I was impressed by their desire to get things right. I will be giving Veneto another chance or two, but I really really hope they get back to their roots and bring back at least some of what made the place so special. I will update this post upon subsequent visits. Fingers crossed they can tighten things up and resume their deserved tile of being a world class bar and the best food and drink establishment in Victoria.

Thanks to the great chef person for the grilled shrimp and polenta you made for the lunch feature. just the right touch on the veggies and seasoning.

The cocktails are always great! Sitting at the bar and talking with the bartenders definitely adds to the experience.