Seasons Hilltop Bistro

[SushiCat]

A good friend is thinking of a birthdat celebration at Seasons Hilltop Bisto, it is part of the Sequoia group. Anyone have anything to tell us?

[Zucchini Mama]

Funny, I was thinking of having lunch there this week. It's in my neighborhood, I like the patio and the food is usually fine. It's been a year since I've eaten there. My parents like it because of the stunning view and the food is the kind that appeals to them-conventional and nothing too spicy. The menu on the web site hasn't been updated since last year, so I'll try to pop in tomorrow if I can and see what's on it now. I remember trying the lobster "tacos" and being very disappointed. However, like I say, that was last summer. It's a very beautiful restaurant and popular with wedding parties. Of course, I like to sit on the patio and eat their lemon tart!

Zuke

Edited June 22, 2005 by Zucchini Mama (log)

[Ducky]

Do you mean Seasons in the Park - on Little Mountain? If so I can tell you lots about it as my dear old mom drags me there with great regularity.

[appreciator]

Do you mean Seasons in the Park - on Little Mountain?  If so I can tell you lots about it as my dear old mom drags me there with great regularity.

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Season's Hilltop Bistro is in Queen Elizabeth Park.

Horizons Restaurant is on Burnaby Mountain.

[SushiCat]

Ducky, yes.

Zuke and Appreciator, thanks for the input. My thought was what you said Zuke, so if you go there soon, please let me know.

[Ducky]

They must have changed their name - as it used to be known as Seasons in the Park.

Hard to imagine a nicer location on a sunny day - although the view is slowly disappearing as the trees in the surrounding park keep growing.

The food is very middle of the road and reliable. Nothing adventurous - but usually good. Grilled salmon, Alaska black cod, pepper steak, ceasar salad, seafood pasta...that sort of thing.

It is my old mom's favourite restaurant - and that probably says it all. The crowd that is usually there all look like her friends. On Sunday lunches you have to negotiate through a forest of Zimmer frames on the way to your table.

Over the years me mum and I must have eaten there - either alone or with a larger group - at least several dozen times. I can't say I have ever had a bad meal there. I also can't say I have ever had a truly great meal either.

That said the spectacular setting usually more than makes up for the ho hum food. Particularly in the summer. And the patio is lovely. And you can do absolutely nothing wrong with the Seafood Pasta and a bottle of Blue Mountain Pinot Gris.

[Zucchini Mama]

Seasons in the Dark

I popped up to have lunch at Season's in Queen E. while my son was at preschool Yikes! The menu has not changed since June 2004. I don't know if that means they have a repeating seasonal menu, or it's just the same menu, period. Ducky, if you can enlighten us, please do. Do they have a fall and winter menu as well?

It was a cool and foreboding afternoon, but I sat on the patio with a few other brave souls. There are gas fires and heaters, and they even provide you with fleece blankets, so it's really quite cozy. The view is what you're there for and today it was a dramatic study in slate grey that eventually turned into a warm, sunny afternoon.

I ordered the carrot ginger soup ($7) and the wok-fried squid (9$). The service is always good and this is one of those old-fashioned places that gives you warm bread and cold butter right after you order, which I always appreciate. The soup was beautifully presented with a painterly swirl of chantilly cream and a dab of bright green chive oil. The soup was sweet, with a good gingery bite. The squid was tender and cooked in a very generic stir-fry sauce-ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, etc. with bits of chili in it. There was julienned red pepper, onion, and daikon and a tiny triangle of sticky rice. The sticky rice was a great idea-I love the sticky texture, but it lacked interesting flavor. What was missing in both dishes was some texture-crunch and interesting twists-some friséed leeks, crunchy wontons, or poppy seed lavash. The food is fairly priced and tasty, nourishing, but uninspired. Have I mentioned the view?

I thought about dessert-those haven't changed either, and inquired which season fruits were on the cobbler-hoping raspberry or strawberry, but it was blueberry and blackberry, so I passed. Is Seasons Hilltop Bistro seasonal? Hmmm... I wonder. The chef probably isn't given a lot of latitude and I wonder if her naming the ice cream of choice "Vanilla, for a Change", a bit of sarcasm born of this frustration maybe? A cry for help?

When I walked through to the washroom I was reminded just how huge this place is. For god's sake, book a table well ahead of time so you get the view. The room in the back corner is more intimate and quiet. Don't get stuck up away from the windows.

This is a actually a decent place for brunch, especially if you're entertaining out-of towners, but be sure to make reservations.

Zuke

[Ducky]

Ducky, if you can enlighten us, please do. Do they have a fall and winter menu as well?

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You know, I am not sure. It's a bit like me asking which music was playing in the elevator on your previous visits to the dentist.

But I am quite sure that if they do change their menu - they do not change it very much. I am certain my old mom has had the stuffed mushrooms caps and the poached alaska black cod for the past twenty years running.

It's worth mentioning that out-of-towners are invariably impressed when you show them the plaque commerating the Bill Clinton/Boris Yeltsin summit meeting dinner that was held there.