Reviews of The Velvet Restaurant & Lounge (Restaurant)

Linda

Beautiful restaurant! Gorgeous setting. Service was friendly, very attentive and professional. Really enjoyed our meal. Well presented and was awesome. Look forward to a return visit!

Katie Ulvestad

Great cocktail menu and apres scene. I enjoyed my salad and also got to have some of the soup which was great post skiing.

Dag Holmberg

We went there for dinner today and had great experience. Both the food and the service were excellent.

Matthew Mason

The Velvet @ The Josie Hotel offers a classy and cozy atmosphere. The staff are fantastic--knowledgeable, attentive, and friendly. Can't go wrong with the bbq brussels sprouts! They have an ever-changing by the glass wine menu. Great for a date night!

Kyle Goulet

This is a must visit in Rossland/Red. We enjoyed a very personalized course experience. The knowledge of the staff (especially Patrick!) and course/wine pairing was beyond our expectations. Every plate, drink told a story and the staff all seemed very proud of what was presented. Thanks !!

Roman Feiman

I don’t usually write bad reviews, but I don’t usually have such a bad experience at a restaurant. I’m comfortable spending a lot of money on outstanding, creative food. I’m also happy to eat fast food at fast food prices. At about a third of the price, it would have been just ok. But when you combine aggressively mediocre food with the price of a *very* high-end fine dining meal (I’ve eaten at Michelin star restaurants for much less), it’s absolutely offensive. Our main was a “local sampler” for two, which at $170 includes 3 random (whatever the chef happens to be doing) cuts of beef, lamb and bison, and two sides. The lamb was excellent, slow cooked and melty. The bison was slow-cooked too and ok, but really nothing special. The beef was a cut that should never have been served as a steak, tough and chewy. The sides tasted like average home cooking— red cabbage, slightly glazed carrots, and plain, tough, slightly burnt spatzle with no sauce or spicing of any kind. Again, for $30 per person, this collection would have been ok but not outstanding. For $85, it’s completely unacceptable. Separately, we also had an additional appetizer of bison tartar, served with bone marrow($24). That was the only outstanding item, and the only reason this restaurant gets two stars instead of one. On top of the insanely overpriced food, the service was below average. I had the constant feeling that the waitress was trying to upsell me even more than the already ridiculous price point. There was a separate waitress running around refilling waters, but the two obviously didn’t communicate. Our waitress came to our table two or three times when I was totally out of water and didn’t refill the water herself or get the other person to come over, just seemed not to notice. And the cherry on top: the sampler we ordered includes two sides and we also ordered a third. Two of our sides cost $8 and one cost $12. When the cheque came, guess which one was listed separately, not included in the sampler? I wasn’t going to argue about $4 out of a nearly $400 meal, but come on. On top of all this, the whole place feels like it was put together by consultants, not a chef with any heart or taste. With a mostly bland menu, and straight-from-the-catalog decor, it can only try to be an upscale restaurant because it’s on-mountain. But the mountain it’s on is Red! One of the most down to earth, authentic places to ski left in the world, where the locals don’t even want a high speed lift to be installed for fear of tourists. That makes the Velvet not just bad, but inappropriately out of place too. It feels like a shameless, naked money grub in a place where most people would help you pull your truck out of the snow if it got stuck 50 feet down the road. After a wonderful week skiing at Red, this restaurant left a bad taste that is now unfortunately associated with this otherwise phenomenal mountain.

Paddy Carney

Expensive but not great quality food. Lovely setting though

Grant Gallicano

Service was great, appetizers were AMAZING, dinner was tasty, desert fell a little flat. All in all nice place.

Kit LaTigre

I went for the experimental tasting menu at this restaurant and it was AMAZING! I haven't dined here before but the service was above par and WOW food was awesome! I can't believe there is such a hidden gem here in the Kootenays! I will definitely be coming back. They have a great wine list as well!

John Kinloch

We were not told upon booking via phone that the menu was set and we would be served only the set Valentines day menu, as well, pricing was not given. For a $300 dinner, the Velvet fell way short. Upon sitting down, we got complimentary bubbly....Which was listed on the bill as $12....each.... The appetizer was a 1 inch pancake with 6 pieces of caviar. It tasted like a pancake... Main course, we weren't allowed to choose one or the other, so we received one of each. Ling cod was bland, no seasoning, sauce was basically flavorless. Braised rib was the second plate, there was a solid layer of fat on it, but it was very tender and slid off the bone. Cooked well, but lacked any real excitement. Desert was a play on a mini donut and coffee, we shared this and enjoyed it. The other plate was a sorbet of sorts that was lackluster. We had 2 beer and a cocktail with it and with tip the $300 just was not worth it. Now I would normally not care about the pricing, but this was just not worth it.

Cathy Parris

John our server made our nite! He made our dining experience fun and memorable - great food and cocktails

Tegan Cochrane

This mountain gem blew our minds, on more than one occasion. We visited for an afternoon burger, and a romantic night out, and both experiences exceeded our expectations. The staff is approachable and friendly, and the food is divine. With a state of the art kitchen and a fully staffed line, this restaurant does not disappoint.

Logan Jameson

My fiancé and I always have a wonderful experience at The Velvet. The food has always been very good, the cocktails are delicious and we always have excellent service. We love going for dinner and après-ski regularly.

Thomas J

Great food and exceptional atmosphere, service was really good

Tony DaRosa

Place was empty. I had to ask or impose about anything I wanted. Food or drink. Worst service I've had in a while and thus was based on my looks im sure.

Kelly St. John

Superb, professional, friendly service, and excellent food

Richard H

What makes a restaurant? First of all location, Service and Food. This place did all three very well. They were very nice to the dog, while we were on the patio and soon as the sun dropped, the blankets came out. The desert in the photo had gold flakes on it. A place I can highly recommend and we walked out fully satisfied.

Paula Remple

Our first time at The Red Velvet Lounge after a spectacular day of skiing with our grown kids and friends. We just intended a 1/2 hour of quick drinks and Happy Hour specials and ordered just about every shared plate (some twice). Enjoyed every drink from “Faceplant” beer on tap, to my non alchohol “gin and tonic” and everything in between. All food was great, but the favorites were the Chicken Fried oyster mushrooms, Lumberjack Fries, Sweet Bread Veal, Bison Poutine, and Buttermilk Fried Chicken. Our waitress Blanche was flawless with a table of six, which is exceptional with all the Covid protocols. We also lingered a good 6 appies and six drinks longer due to the exceptional local music talent of Robbie Turnbell so we sure would recommend having him come back often! Watching the sun go down on the mountains and the cats out prepping for the next day was the perfect ending to a perfect ski day!

Victoria Marks

The lobster gnocchi they had on special this week was phenomenal!!! On the pricey side but a perfect date night! Staff was wonderful as well as the food and drinks ????

Peter Morry

Beautiful, brand new bar! Great beer selection. and genuinely friendly service. Love the feel of this place.....but when I listen to “I can’t go for that”, it needs to be by the music pioneers, Daryl Hall & John Oates, who wrote and revcorded it perfectly in their original version....not the hack cover job Velvet chose for their playlist. You still get a 5 star review Velvet, but watch yourself! I’ll be watching you.....

Ken Blackwell

The service I received from the staff and the quality of food served was out standing, amazing atmosphere, amazing setting right on the mountain, this place should be a must on anyone list of thing to do!

Brian Kurmey

We had a great dinner for my wife’s birthday, the service & atmosphere was perfect & the food was amazing! I started with a French Onion Soup, then the Lamb Shank followed by exceptional dessert. The meal was outstanding & highly recommend.

Kathy Pequegnat

As a motley crew of seven, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner on Friday August 13th. The staff was smart and attentive. Our sommelier was witty and informative and recommended an incredible wine for our evening. The appetizers were interesting and delicious and all of our entrees were outstanding. We were all willing to share several desserts to top off our experience and they did not disappoint. Thank you for the great night!

carmel sahai

We had a coupon for this place 150.00. We had duck/ Elk and two dessert also in total 5 cranberry and soda! With tip 150.00 appetizers! Very disappointed we have gone to very expensive restaurant before but never this ridiculous in prices.

Sam M

We typically expect mediocre food at the velvet restaurant but this last dinner was worse than mediocre. The quality of the food is not even close to the price on the menu and I'd rather eat somewhere else for better food. Your paying for the ambience and not the food.

S Mckay

We had the Seafood Boil special. It was mediocre at best, not what I was expecting from this restaurant that was highly recommended to me. Everything was overcooked except for the prawns, they were pretty decent. The mussels, past their prime. Cornbread, dense and bland. Beignets tasted stale, perhaps that's how they were supposed to be? The restaurant and the hotel that it is located in are visually the nicest in the entire area. The view from the restaurant is beautiful. Every staff member we interacted with were great, very friendly, welcoming and good at their jobs. However, I really regret getting the Seafood Boil. I really wanted to have an enjoyable anniversary dinner however the experience was overshadowed by the poorly executed meal. If a place is going to promote a special such as this, some care is required.