eden - rimrock resort hotel

i went there for a christmas dinner a few years ago as a personal get away.  it was a nice experience but not worth the $350 it cost me for my dinner and few drinks.   the food was extra ordinary but small portions.

recently we were there for a wine experience,  a friend is the president of a local wine club and had invited me as a guest for the weekend.  they had gotten a deal for a reception on friday and the dinner on saturday so it was a much more palatable experience dollar wise.  

if you want to experience a five diamond restaurant then go for the experience.

during a recent spa trip me a couple of friends decided to finish our day with a meal from eden.

i'm not even going to go on and on with a review because at the end of our meal the 4 of us decided that it was one of the best dining experiences we have ever had. not just in calgary or canada as we have all traveled around the world. this was one of the best experiences we have had period.

the only downside was the length of service. we arrived for a 6:00pm reservation. we did the 4 course dinner and finished at 11:30pm

the setting is amazing, great views and staff are really helpful and friendly. drink selection is nice but the food seems to be a few years behind what the rest of the world is doing. its ok but nothing amazing.

never have i ever. 

well actually yes i have, but i had to go all the way to joel robouchon in las vegas to have a dining experience like this. 

had the tasting menu paired with wine and was blown away, all the details that went into each course was met with incredible  flavors and textures. the meal included oysters 3 ways that took us on a tour to the kitchen and wine cellar. the sommelier was vibrant and fun, not too stuffy. 

i look forward to having something so special to celebrate at this restaurant again.

horrible. november 9th 2014.

my fiance and i took a group of 10 dinners up the the famous rimrock restaurant; eden. all of our party live in banff and have for a number of years so we have heard the hype regarding the restaurant and finally had a great reason to go...to celebrate our engagement.

our greeting was good, we were sat in the private dinner room. great views and a good feeling. as locals we partook in banff's 'bon appetit' we ordered from the set menu, everything was fine....until it became clear we weren't big drinkers. we had a gentlemen in our party who didn't drink at all, we had members of our party that asked for advice on wine within a certain price range.....and thats where we lost any professionalism.

seemingly being local and not partaking in shockingly over priced wine meant we were not a priority and were not worthy of the 'show'. our servers then began making jokes, flicking light switches on and off, joking about where we could 'buy pills' later that night and generally 'goofing around'. so disrespectful; assuming that all locals in banff are drug users or generally not seeking a tasteful evening...for our engagement dinner!

as noted with a number of reviews on tripadvisor the portions are extremely small. my fiance asked the server about the origins of the olive oil they used; he kindly went back to the kitchen to find out the details in the meantime she asked our sommelier; he rambled on about the olive oils backstory in italy...our server returned and let us know it was from winnipeg. we wanted to know the name of the oil for future reference, our befuddled and annoyed sommelier got frustrated and merely wandered off without an answer....this was symptomatic of his entire attitude.

a couple within our party had to leave and so asked for their desert to be packed up along with their bill...no action; my fiance asked again...no action; i asked again! 30mins passed so they left, went and paid up at the front desk and their desert, included on the menu never made it to table.

after finishing desert at 23:45, exhausted and disappointed in the experience we asked for our bill. after a full hour, not an exaggeration, and 5 attempts at the correct charges, mis-billing and frankly embarrassing and ridiculous mistakes (we were 4 couples and 2 singles) my fiance and i had to ask for our bill as the sommelier had completely failed to recognize that we hadn't even paid, we genuinely could have walked out having not paid for our meal!

we managed to get out 00:45.

i called the management the next day and the excuses were laughable and the customer service was weak. i was told that the drug references and the 'buddy' service was part of eden's unique way of catering to their clients....to mould to each dinners expectations; how insulting!

truly a waste of over $1,000. we will never dine at eden again or recommend. amongst our party were department leaders for the fairmont banff springs and delta kananaskis.

what an embarrassing engagement dinner. we don't mind paying eden's prices for food and service that are appropri

so disappointing. my wife and i both love food and have visited the vast majority of the best dining establishments that alberta has to offer - and it has a ton quite frankly. to be clear - best doesn't always mean most expensive; price should be a reflection of quality and creativity - ascribed value. eden is one of these restaurants which is grossly out of touch with how the restaurant industry works, but manage to stay afloat based on the merit of the hotel in which it is located.

our meal cost 510 dollars. in six years, across the province we have never spent this much on a meal. particularly, we have never spent this much on a meal that lacked both culinary skill (in relative terms - it was still good, but not exceptional) and ingenuity. service was fine but lacked real connection with the food and wine that was being served. the sommelier brought out flat wines - some from eastern canada (sorry - no offense but the quality ones are far and few between) that were so run of the mill it was astounding.

the bottom line - was the food good? - yes it was for all intents and purposes good. was it worth it? - not by the furthest account. with the perspective of half of a four figure number buried into this meal - take your hard earned and eat somewhere that offers great food, real character and more importantly value. in banff alone there are so many other great restaurants. we had a great experience at restaurant le beaujolais. knowing what i know now i would move on and not bother with eden (which even as a name goes is weak).

i love to be surprised and this meal was a great one. it was our honeymoon so i went all out and did the 7 course chefs tasting menu with somolliers wine selection. outstanding on all counts. by far the most expensive meal in our lives, this has set the high bar.

so i had a sexy little date weekend lined up with the new girlfriend i decided to stay at the rim rock and impress her with a fancy dinner at eden. reviews are good for this spot.
i'll be honest the restaurant is beautiful but the food and service that evening was below average at best

the chef/server needed worry more about serving the food at decent/warm temperature than the fancy plate presentation. plus a little better portion would be nice. after purchasing $100+ worth of food i shouldn't be wanting to hit up mcdonald's for a classic big mac. which i probably would've but was a little to tipsy to drive from consuming some delicious but over priced wine.

as for the servers they were very attentive but i don't need a loud mouth guy wheeling around cart full of booze interrupting me everytime he would open his mouth from across the room or the 20 some year old stoner kid bringing my food then sticking his greasy fingers an inch away from every piece of food pointing and explaining what exactly everything was. i know what i ordered get your hands away from my food.

anyways maybe it was just that night but i will never eat there again.. the cost was way to much for the quality.

we love coming here! it has become a tradition for my husband and i to travel to banff for the purpose of dining at eden at least once a year, just because,....the service and food are just a touch above. my first time at eden was in 1998 and though it no longer has the specialness of being new, it remains a wonderful dining experience that causes all other restaurants to fall just a little bit short.

finest food and service in canada. they said eden is an experience everyone must try, well they are so right. what an amazing restaurant - with incredible views and unbelievable service and food.
the chef is very creative using slate plate ware and wooden logs to showcase some of his food. the sommeliers are very engaging and really seem to want you to experiment with wine pairings.
the evening was an absolute blast, there are no pretentious servers in this restaurant only fun knowledgeable staff who seem to really enjoy their jobs. can’t wait to go back!

expensive and very disappointing. based on the number of overwhelmingly positive and glowing reviews on urbansppon, we reserved a table for our anniversary dinner and were looking forward to a special dining experience. the service was very nice, although somewhat contrived, and overly gratuitous and cloying at times. i image this is something people enjoy. however, we were there for an excellent meal and not just nice service, particularly when you pay $183 per person for the three course meal with higher level eden wine pairings. the wine pairings were fine and essentially redeemed the meal for me. the meals, although veritable works of tiny food art, were not overly flavorful or satisfying which was very disappointing. we certainly did not have unrealistic expectations, but we did have expectations. although the staff was very solicitous and gave us three dessert courses as an anniversary treat, in the end, we were rather disappointed by our meals. the sablefish, rabbit souffle, rabbit sausage and lemon ice were very good. however, the foie gras terrine was bitter and not enjoyable, the rabbit rack had no flavor, and the mango soufflé tasted like squash purée with no seasoning. we are sad to say that overall, the eden was very underwhelming and a very costly, disappointing dining experience.

amazing dining experience. the food is exquisite and just keeps on surprising your palette. worth getting wine pairing for the full experience. it is expensive, but like nothing else i've experienced before so it was totally worth it.

for a tour of canada's local meats, produce, and flavors in an upscale setting with impeccable service, eden restaurant is the place to go in banff.

utterly sublime, this was one of the most memorable, tasty, fascinating, and gleefully satisfying restaurant experiences of my life. i highly recommend their fullest-courses menu option. it is, unfortunately, very expensive (very-very), but you'll probably never forget the rarely paralleled, exquisite gastronomic experience that can be had here. it's not just inspiring food; it is art.

high water mark - eden. there is nothing about eden that was even close to mediocre. the staff were gracious, entertaining, and charming. the food was stimulating, inspired, and original. we went with the wine pairing option, and it was exquisite.

if you are going to eden, go all out, and enjoy.

we spent close to $3000 on a meal for 4 people - far more than you have to spend to enjoy a good meal here - and i still consider it to be a phenomenal value given the level of service and overall quality of the experience. i will do it again!

definitely go if you have the opportunity.