Ravi Dalchand
Google
Undersized. Overpriced. Overrated!
If for some reason you are compelled to eat at 1888 Chop House, I suggest you find a McDonalds and eat a Big Mac before you come!
I booked this place for my GF’s birthday, and had high expectations after having an amazing lunch at the Fairmont in Lake Louise the same day and an absolute 5 star dining experience at The Vermillion Room the night before.
This was the only restaurant I could find that served a whole lobster which is the GFs favorite. Sadly, what we got was a cooked tail and what we’re told was a cold lobster salad. My guess is that it was leftovers from Lobster rolls in the neighboring restaurant.
The mains were undersized and well below our expectations as compared to the other two Fairmont restaurants. I looked over at some other tables and their mains such as the Halibut seemed to be small in portion and in that case a bit on the water undercooked side. Although the lobster dish was good, we found ourselves still hungry and order the Dry Aged Duck, which ended up being tough, chewy a bit on the under cooked side and disgusting. Neither of us finished half of our piece and I ended up spitting out half of what I ate.
So disappointing on the size, and overall taste and quality of food compared to the Vermillion room which is literally 50ft away in the Fairmont.
We noticed at the end of our dinner that people were ordering bread or additional sides. It seems like these are people who have been here before and know how to fill themselves because the mains lack any “meat” or good sized portion based on the price of the dish.
Please don’t waste your time with requesting a table with a good view… there is none! The restaurant resembles an old stuffy Boys Club you would find in a 1960s Golf Country Club. If you want view that makes you say wow dining at the Fairmont is a must go next door to the Vermillion Room.
Our servers personality was that of a piece of paper. He was not personable, was very pushy with the drinks, we weren’t even a few sips in and he was pushing us for more drinks. He did make a joke after we ordered the duck because the lobster main was tiny, and said or great you had the Lobster as your appetizer… I was not amused.
The last piece was the cost… now you don’t come to a restaurant like this for value, but you should get dishes proportionate to what you pay. I was surprised that on our bill they charged $6 for still water, I don’t recall any restaurant during our trip to BC or AB charging us for water. Overall cost $150 per person, not a big deal but I expected a better overall dining experience. It would have been nice to see some transparency here at least make mention of this in advance. Also, Fairmont not sure if we are to be impressed that a the guy who hands us the bill in suit jacket (not our server) who we’ve never even talked to is our final part of our dining experience - talk about awkward!
Anyways long story short, if you really want to dine at the Fairmont go next door to the Vermillion Room. If you want to dine a second or third time, go back to the Vermillion room or find another place to eat. It seems like some of the reviews of this place are polar opposites. I typically don’t post food reviews, but felt compelled to give my honest impression of 1888 Chop House so that others don’t feel like the got an underwhelming experience on what is most likely a special occasion.
For anyone who reads this and says dude is being petty, trust me I’ve been to many fine dining and steakhouses… average steakhouse are way better than this.
We have dinner booked at the Orsa Trattoria in Jasper tonight, but we are now having second thoughts after checking reviews after our 1888 experience and noticed the reviews at Orsa were like 3 years old. Probably a bad sign.
Cheers, Ravi