Reviews of Block Kitchen + Bar (Fish Shop)

Jason Chung

AMAZING FOOD! Great drinks and service too. Cool vibe...We will be back!

Colby

Block is a fantastic restaurant with a plethora of Asian fusion dishes to try out. The prices are great and the staff are super friendly. I ordered takeout and I was blown away with how speedy the service was and how delicious the food was. I tried Takoyaki (something I have been wanting to try for years) and it was better than I could have hoped for. The duck lettuce wraps were also delicious and the in house made kimchi was unreal. When I am back in Banff I was definitely be returning and hopefully eating on their patio someday.

Sanjay M

Can only do take-out but still very yummy! Highly recommend!

Deborah Obeng

Just got to Banff, got quick service even though COVID has delayed most wait times significantly. I highly recommend the Truffle Parm Fries and the P.E.I mussels in red Thai curry. Cocktails were also really popular with my group.

Jenna Dallaire

AMAZING! The bao is the best I’ve ever had and the ramen curry was unreal. Highly recommend!

T

Very delicious food. Katsu chicken bowl was probably the best. Zen salad was delicious but not filling. Chao Shui Bao was good but a little salty. Ahi tuna poke bowl was great. Bison burger was good, with an Asian twist. Service was very good considering they had 2 front of house staff serving the entire joint. They had many delicious cocktails offered and were btw $10-17/glass.

Melissa Martinez Leo

Food was exquisite as always, staff were so helpful and prompt. The bartender was kind enough to share a drink "recipe" as we were interested. So I made Bird's of Paradise once back home. Great ambience and excellent food.

Ariana Katsanis

Small, intimate lively place. Only complaint was that they don’t give you enough pita for the plate we ordered. Other than that, besides the ‘hipster’ tin can Moscow mule (not in a mule mug ????????‍♀️) - All was good.

Annie Drysdale

Service

Levente Kovacs

A really trendy cool place. They have some delicious cocktails and the food is amazing as well. Lots of healthy options with creative plating and amazing flavours. The service was friendly, attentive but not overwhelming. Really enjoyed the atmosphere with awesome music to set the vibe. The restaurant gets packed fast so make sure you get there a bit before to reserve your table, it's worth it!

Coral Guan

This is really a unique restaurant/pub. They have an interesting menu for sure. The taste wasnt really for me but i liked trying new foods. We had tokyo fries which were different. The calamari was also a unique flavor as it was a red species. I'd try it again and order some different foods. The wraps looked really good at the table besides us.

Rose Orlando

Fabulous place, bartender/mixologist is amazing! We had some delicious cocktails and small plates....a must try when in Banff!

Roger Duncan

The golden beet flatbread and mushroom risotto was delicious! ❤️ Sierra our server was great. Reis made some amazing cocktails as well!! Good ambiance with close friends eating yummy food.

Shray Sharma

Bit pricey but super tasty. Friendly service, although a bit slow. The tuna tataki and duck ssam were definitely the two standouts for us. Passionfruit mojito was great as well as the creme brulee for dessert.

corinna h

Great service, great food- I got the pulled duck poutine which was great! The fries are thin cut fries which i loved. However the poutine was a little salty, the pulled duck and fries both had salt in them which made the overall dish too salty. My suggestion- ask your server to let kitchen know to go easy on it.

Anita Lerer

Fantastic! If you are looking for a quiet place, don't go here. The food and drinks are too good to find this place quiet. Small, with good ambiance the owner and chef is a French Canadian Chef who spent several years as a chef in Japan. My wife taught in Japan for 5 years so she pointed out all of the Japanese inspired things about this place from some menu items to the place itself. A changing menu from seafood to Japanese appetizers the quality, presentation and taste will not disappoint. Staff are awesome and prices fair. This is not casual dining but a complete experience. Well done everyone at Block Kitchen. Bravo.

Arab Reality

Meal type

jay mackenzie

Awesome food spot in a touristy town. We stumbled upon this place and were not disappointed. I would recommend it to anyone!

Ewen Lewis

Dine in

M C

This restaurant is amazing! The food here never seems to fail us every time we come into town, there is so much flavour to every dish. The cocktails are also delicious and they are also very pretty looking. We highly recommend coming to this restaurant if you're ever in Banff!

David P

Probably the most incredible food I’ve had in a while. The place has also an exceptional playlist going and the staff is a Marvel. Would recommend tremendously.

Yo Av

Initimate setting to savour the best food. As a Maple lover, the miso Maple creme brulee was the ultimate dessert.

Natalie Leung

Super surprise restaurant! The first time I bought a takeaway ramen , the taste is so special and surprisingly many different kinds of ingredients ! Service is very good too! This is the second time I went there even I need to wait for 25 min! No doubt the curry ramen is the best ever! Rarely find something so good in Alberta ! It is Asian fusion! And we had a drumlette or duck is not bad! The pork chop rice ( katsu curry bowl) is also excellent

T F

My friends and I had a wonderful time here. The Service is TOP Notch, food is delicious!! Try their Katsu Curry and Crispy Chicken Burger ???????????? Thank you so much for being amazing to your customers. Will definitely be back again!

S Balisong

This is a terrific spot! We had a wonderful lunch. The grilled nannwich with the pork belly was excellent and spiced just perfectly. The crispy chicken was fabulous. Fries were excellent. The best was their special negroni - a real treat.

Lisa M

The service was the worst ever. I thought Canadians were better at being polite then Americans but I was proven wrong. Don’t waste your time

Ayat Obaidullah

Truly enjoyed our lunch here. It is a small place so it can be anywhere from 30 min. - 1 hour wait. Best time would be off peak before dinner and after the lunch rush. We went around 2pm and were seated right away. We had their infamous block burger and their naan burger along with their special soup of the day, which was a small spicy pork stew. I would suggest forgoing the soup and just opts for mains. Their food is a fusion of western and Asian influences.

JoleenRochelle

Surprisingly good Asian fusion. Tapas are a good variety and taste great. Fries would be the best recommendation.

Sameer Shakya

Called for pickup, placed an order for the Kar Age Chicken Skewers, Cheese and Charcuterie Board, Grilled Hanger steak and Tuna Tataki. Gentlemen on the phone said 20mins. Mozyed my way over there. Got there in 18 mins and everything was packed, labelled and ready to go, during their high time might I add. Everything was presented so nicely in the togo containers, all the food was so damn good. Really enjoyed our dinner in our hotel. Thank you again for the pleasant takeout experience and great food!

Jessica Connors

This place is tiny with limited inside dining, but the food was absolutely amazing. Seriously impressed.

Isabelle Desroches

Wow, we are super happy that we stopped in at the Block Kitchen + Bar whilst staying in Banff. Rachel our server was amazing and our food was so satisfying. The fusion food experience was one for the books. I definitely recommend this establishment to anyone looking for a casual setting with tantalizing food choices at very reasonable prices served by freindly and engaging staff! Great way to end the day!

Rosemaria Johnson

You can’t go wrong when you come here! Everything I’ve ever had here has been delicious- the food and the cocktails! Service is amazing with a cool trendy ambiance. I love coming here, and I highly recommend it! They often have a wait list, but it’s 100% worth the wait to get a table!

Daisy Nguyen

Simply the BEST! Best cocktails amazing food great atmosphere for a fun night out !!!

Joanna C.

How anyone would give this place less then a 5 star is behold me! Wow! It’s great!

Wen Jiang

Cozy-yet-crowded tiny restaurant (even by European standards) serving satisfying tapas. Definitely recommend reservations as seating for is very limited. The beer, wine, and cocktails complemented the meal nicely.

feblolli

Friendly staff that provide excellent service! Creative menu with plenty of vegan options - and the food is delicious. Highly recommend!

Barb Purdy

Meal type

Beth Walker

Food was great, it is a busy spot so the service wasn't very good. We had to flag down someone when we wanted anything, they didn't really come to the table.

Matt Lund

Super awesome bar! Innovative and tasty dishes. Must try! We tried the ramen curry(special), naanwich with pork belly(the fries that came with it were really good too), 3 homemade dips with naan and cocktails. Definitely recommended place. Went twice on our trip.

Casey Ecker

Our second time at Block and we are still amazed. The service is lovely and so accommodating! The atmosphere is fun and of course, THE FOOD is fantastic. Asian fusion that can not be beat. The cocktail list including ingredients local to the area. All in all a five star experience. No reservations so walk in and hope they have a spot for you. You won’t be disappointed.

Vikram Dhaliwal

We haven't had food and service this well delivered in a long time. The cocktails we're well thought through, the fusion inspired appetizers brought flavors together in a way that just made sense. I'm glad the prawn curry came with an extra kick of spice to help us bear through the crisp spring weather, late night in Banff. The servers were knowledgeable and friendly and that only added to the experience. The real winner of the night, though, was that house made Kim Chi, a really refreshing burst of pickled flavours. Bottle it up!

Thanh Trang (Ella)

Lunch

Jasmin van Straaten

Best food I have had in Banff. Incredible and innovative flavors in every dish. Can't wait to go back!

Gina Smith

Can't say enough good things about Block. Amazing food and service. Pictured is the curry ramen, which was their Soup of the Whim for that day. Unexpected food fusions. Bao buns were excellent. The drinks are pricy IMO but worth every penny.

Thalia Dabda

Loved this place! What a gem in Banff. Had delicious karaage chicken, garlic shrimp, salad and duck spring rolls (the only thing I didn’t really like - cut bizarrely and not the spinach was a bit weird). Watermelon drink and passion fruit mojito were delicious.

feriyal hallajarani

Cozy & friendly, with great food and cocktails!

Iris Chan

I try to come here every time I stop in Banff. The cheese platter is a must and the service is great. The wait times can end up exceeding an hour so get there early if you’d like a seat. We got a call once to come in however our table was not ready when we arrived. The server had given us a drink on the house and we appreciated their customer service! Walked by recently and noticed they had opened up some patio seating so glad to see them expanding for more customers.

Landon Caldwell

I've been here many times and have always enjoyed the diversity of food and drinks that have been thoughtfully created and handcrafted. The Calamari was one of my favorite dishes last time we visited but there a plenty of other yummy dishes too. Make sure you try the delicious cocktails... I'm pretty sure we drank our way through the entire menu that afternoon. Keep up the great work!!!

Nicholas Ong

What a great little spot! There is only a few tables here and maybe 8 seats at the bar. They have a really good cocktail list with a decent 2 oz pour and lots of local spirits. I went by myself so I didnt do small plates but went with the tuna poke. It was fantastic, I'd highly recommend it.

Gene Teichroeb

Very small place but we went early before the crowds. The cocktails were excellent and the service was friendly and prompt. We weren't very hungry so we just had the lettuce wraps but the quality, portion and flavor was really great. I didn't expect to be impressed by such a simple dish.

Ryan Han

Lunch

Paula Mendoza

One of the best places to eat at Banff you gotta come here if u visit Banff. They have a large array of dishes on the menu, such as ramen, burgers, and the delectable Tokyo fries which I'd highly recommend (beat fries I've ever had), and also textures here are just incredible. Along with delicious food, the service here is hospitable, and fast.

Jess S

Place is amazing. Only place worth it to eat in Banff. Food has great texture, presentation and flavour! Service is great staff is really nice they offered me bug spray and recommend us tea spots. Our waiter was the blond Aussie man not sure his name. Get tuna takaki for sure

C

Cozy and cute restaurant with great food. Lots of the plates can be shared so it is a good place to go with friends. The saikoro steak was the best thing we tried (all of us agreed) but the portion size was small (9 cubes). The drinks were also good and fun! They have espresso martinis. All around great choice.

Phil Kidd

Great food and service!! Must try their ahi tuna tataki and the lettuce wrap!

Kristin

The food was hit and miss. I thought the cold ramen salad was really good but then I remembered I was starving so maybe that's why it was so good. The Tokyo fries were my favourite, but it's a typical dish you can get at many places. I didn't like the mushroom risotto because the texture was weird and it was too salty. Everything else was good, but not amazingly good, but not bad. Our server was amazing tho; she was so friendly, happy, and polite

rvtBC

Small, hip eatery in the heart of Banff - great cocktails (!) and their share plates are great as well. Actually really liked the sauces that came with the pan-flashed spicy prawns and duck spring rolls. And their daily special was mussels which was also great. Highly recommend!

Jonathan Taaffe

A hidden gem in Banff. Small little restaurant bar down one of the side streets. Great cocktails and delicious food to go with it. Here 5 days and the best spot we ate at. HIGHLY recommend

A Peter

A must visit restaurant at Banff. A small gem of a restaurant. Tasty food and friendly service. Had a great time with friends.

Aimee Foubister

Loved the food. The service was great. There is limited space so it can get pretty cozy :-) Given that this place caters to mostly tourists, I was pleasantly surprised that the food and the service was excellent. Kudos !!

Maginda Magendrathajan

I've been here three times, each time I have had an amazing experience. Food menu is very good, and they always have specials with fresh seafood. If you have sensitivity to spice take a look at the menu first as a lot of the food is spicy. Drink menu is also really good, nice selection of cocktails. Can't go wrong here! They don't take reservations so try to get there early!

R T

Small restaurant/bar with interesting menu (asian fusion). They have a chalkboard menu and a regular menu. We chose few items on both of them: bbq pork bun, karaage chicken (not pictured) and prawns in green curry. The bun was flavourful but rather small and lacked meat. Karaage chicken was good. Green curry was overly salty, which totally ruined the plate (also, I did not get why they would add a side of kimchi to it (green curry being thai and kimchi being korean)? But their kimchi was fairly good and I ate it with the chicken instead. We tried their ginger/lavender cocktail, which tasted mostly lime with a ginger aftertaste. I found the whole thing rather expensive for the value, I was expecting more considering the good reviews.

Claire Chen

Thank you so much for hosting 16 of us, we all had a great time, and the drinks were phenomenon!! We planned our wedding lunch celebration at Block, everyone loved the food and all the cocktails! With the ongoing pandemic, Stephane, the owner, was so easy to communicate with and made the planning extremely easy for us. They also supplied to-go lunch boxes for our remote wedding the next day; they were a hit! Block will forever be in our memory, thanks again to all the staffs who made it wonderful.

Mike Salter

I keep a diary. Don't judge me. This is what I wrote about this place in my diary last night. "Dinner, Asian fusion place called Block. Had Midnight Sun beer, string potatoes fries with spicy mayo, pork kimchi gyoza, and shrimp with a sweet peanut sauce. All were great, shrimp was amazing. Somehow it tasted like a good beef steak. I don't know how, but best shrimp ever." Went back for lunch today, got katsu curry. Also delicious! I've had katsu curry from Japan and this was authentic while simultaneously stepping it up a notch and making it fancy.

Khalid Yusuf

Hidden gem - Asian fusion food in the centre of Banff town. Tasty pork belly bao and unagi rice bowl.

Thisa Pak

Great experience trying different types of food! We got their pork katsu bowl and chicken sandwich which were both great! We order their chicken skewers as well, however, it was the same kind of chicken in the sandwich. Our favourite was the passionfruit mojito! The best mojita we have ever tried!

Derek O

Went there for lunch with hubby. He took the Unagi bowl and I ordered the Kabocha Miso Udon Noodle. It was a flavor explosion! One of the best umami experiences coming from a soup. Very quick and friendly service. Don’t know if we will be able to come back since we are here on a short stay, but hopefully yes because there are so many other things we would like to try on their yummy menu!

Jodie Palm

Good experience.

Dmitry Ovrutsky

It lives up to its expectations! We ordered saikoro steak and the daily curry (prawns in Thai yellow curry) and both were delicious and full of flavors! We could have been full just ordering the curry since they included both rice and naan bread. The space is tiny, thus they have a long wait. For our table of 2, we put our name down at around 6pm and had to wait for about an hour. We killed the time strolling around the downtown area.

carmen thomas

Great little place in Banff. And I mean little! Hope you don’t mind being packed in like a sardine, but their food is worth it. Everything was delicious and the menu had a lot of unique choices. Their cocktails are delicious too and not to pretentiously garnished The service is pretty slow, however. My boyfriend had finished his main meal by the time I got mine (over 20 minutes later..). that part was quite disappointing.

Brian Chan

The food here was overall alright and in my opinion almost everything we ordered could have been better. We had the Kimchi soup, toyko fries, beef tartare roll and tuna tataki. The last two pictured. The Kimchi soup is definitely fusion and not traditional. It seemed to be tomato based and not anchouvy based like traditional Korean stews. I guess that is what is expected from a fusion place but I just felt that every mouthful was lacking the flavour that comes from what I would get at a Korean restaurant. The toyko fries were the best thing we ordered. Can't go wrong with fries, kewpie mayo, seaweed and bonito flakes. The beef tartare roll is interesting. Not sure if it works though. There is no flavour outside of the sauce which is I found was over abundant. Also the beef doesn't wrap well and everything just falls apart. The tuna tataki was just okay. I found that it had too much sesame seeds which was overpowering and for most bites that was all I was tasting.

Pgogo

We were in the mood for something different and boy, did we find it! We have tried asian lettuce wrap, asian dry ribs and thai beef and kimchi soup. Amazing flavor and good location

Mathew Penner

Great food and customer service. We really enjoyed their tuna ahi tuna poke bowl and their appetizers to start!

Peter N

When we first walked up the service was friendly and helpful. Our meals were both excellent and the drink selections were good. I got a beer & pork belly lettuce wrap deal that paired so well together. My partner got some amazing Ahi Tuna Tataki that he said was unreal. The vegan dark chocolate pot de creme was the perfect way to end our meal.Overall a great experience. Will definitely be coming back and hopefully bringing friends with us!

Andrew Betz

Coming from the GTA, we were hesitant to get Asian Fusion - however we were extremely surprised with our Ramen. They had a Curry Ramen Special and it was on of the best Ramens we’ve ever had, after delicious small bits with the Alberta Beef Tataki Rolls, and the seasonal Pumpkin Soup. Very impressed with the food and atmosphere. Food was great, service was excellent. We will definitely try again when we return to Banff.

Marissa Corea

Came here for lunch on Jan 5th, the bartender/server was phenomenal, it was super busy and she was killing it by herself. Drink recommendations and the food was amazing as always. Will keep coming back, 10/10

YEG Burger

Mari - thank you! Newcastle fan - thank you too! Fantastic service, cocktails and food.

Jennine

This is a really small crowded restaurant that can get very busy in the evening. Lunch is not as busy and table is usually readily available. Very friendly staff with a simple modern atmosphere. Good for casual small plates dinning. Very much like a westernized Isakaya. The chef is very creative with unique interpretations of Asian food. Dishes are delicately prepare with attention to details despite its small and busy operation. One of the best Yakitori I have had. Have a drink and enjoyed different small plates and let the chef surprise you with his talent. It classified itself as an Asian fusion restaurant. Prices are reasonable for a location like Banff.

Karsten Lee

Went there with my fiancée and was thoroughly disappointed by the service. The manager and the waiter refused to admit us purely because we could not offer up an Alberta vaccine QR code. We are visiting from Ontario and presented our proof of vaccination but they refused to admit us no matter what. All other restaurants in Banff that we have been to were understanding and reasonable with their policies. The staff here is clearly blind to reason, would not recommend any out of province tourists from visiting this establishment.

Anna Chan

The mushroom risotto will leave you happy and satisfied.

Kate Eynon

Atmosphere - 5 Cleanliness - 5 Quality - 3 Service - 3 Taste - 3 Stopped by for dinner during our visit. This seems to be a very popular spot during busy hours so there was a bit of a wait. They do take down your information and message you once a seat is available for you—which I found to be reliable. We sat at the bar and so I expected service to be somewhat faster than it would at the dining table but that was not the case. We had to call for service most of the night and it seems everything was taking a while to come out. The drinks were also just okay. We started with the duck spring rolls and chicken karaage. Both were extremely disappointing. The duck was dry and quite frankly tasted old. The karaage was 90 percent breading and 10 percent chicken. It also lacked greatly in flavor. This was a huge let down and gave me very little hope for the brisket soup and my curry. However, the soup came out flavorful. I felt there was possibly beer or something alcoholic in the ingredients and it was very present in the taste. The green curry was in my opinion the most delicious meal of all the plates and yet it fell short in consistency as it was very watery. I think if the curry was made just a little more thick, it would be perfect! Overall, I found block did not meet the expectations set by their ratings and long lines but it is quite good for its location and what it is. I would visit again if ever in the area.

Kelsey Geddes

Best place for cocktails in town! Here and their sister restaurant Shoku ????????

Jake A

Service

Joseph K

Seriously? Really disappointing experience, based off the reviews we anticipated much better food. Service was not great, forgot two items we ordered - and the server took no accountability and blamed it on the kitchen. Food was pricey, we ordered over $100 worth and several dishes. Flavor was muddied by an unexciting hodgepodge of seasonings that made for a really unattractive meal.

Pete

Small place with super nice staff. The service is fast and and the food and cocktails are delicious. We like to get a bunch of different small plates. Even when the descriptions sound just ok go for it. the dishes are always interesting and flavourful.

Eric Huan

Dine in

Tracy L

Everything we tried was amazing! Will definitely come back.

Simran Arora

The space is small however it has a great ambiance to socialize and meet new people while dining in. They have great costumer service and great tasting food. I went there for their dinner menu and I would go back again to try their lunch menu. !

middle market

Food was INCREDIBLE. But service was the worst we’ve EVER had. Honestly, we were so excited to try this place, and the food was amazing. But the service was diabolical - tables left inside empty, even though they were “full inside”, birthday surprise was taken out BEFORE we’d finished our main course. How can something so small like the service, affect the overall experience so much?? Get takeout if you can!

Joey Najim

Good food, lots to drink and the staff are so hospitable and lovely! Will come back to try more, for sure!