Come savor a savory dish at Maple Leaf Grill. Discover a menu offering a bar-b-q and grilling menu and steaks, priced at 26$ to 60$. They are open nightly all week. You can get there by car. Payments by MasterCard, American Express and Visa are accepted.
I cannot believe it took me this long to discover Maple Leaf. After hearing various comments about this place, I decided to give it a try. Wow...for Banff, the value is amazing. I ordered the duck and not only was it cooked to perfection, they practically gave me half of the duck on my plate. The homemade carrot cake cheesecake was the highlight of my meal. You can taste the freshness and the quality of the graham crust that crumbles in your mouth. Will go back for a second round for sure!
I've been to this place twice.
First time it was absolutely amazing. My girlfriend and I stopped here after assessing a few of the other restaurants in the neighborhood. This place is touted as serving "authentic Canadian cuisine", whatever that is, right? Well, their menu choices are quite interesting.. the menu we saw in person was a little more eccentric than the one on the web site, and we didn't want anything too weird, so we just decided to both order the same thing: New York Steak. Maybe that's boring, we thought, but wow were we every impressed. We both agree that it's the best steak we've ever tried anywhere. The steak comes in a merlot reduction that was wonderful. The mashed potatoes and vegetables that came with it made great sides.
Second time I went I was with a larger group. Overall I was a lot less impressed, but it's because the service was so bad. I remember one of us ordering the "game/catch of the week" which has no price listed on the menu because it depended how much they had and how rare the animal was. It was a very small portion and it cost over 100$. I took it on myself to try something different and wasn't as impressed with the quality of the food (sorry, don't remember what it was that I had).
Overall this place is on the pricey side for me.. I'd rather go somewhere I know the food and service are both good (I'm not taking a chance on my dinner experience) so that I can feel better about dishing out 100$ on food. That being said if I'm ever in Banff and my girlfriend wants to return, I would. Maybe she can pay this time :)
I chose Maple Leaf for an anniversary dinner and...
I chose Maple Leaf for an anniversary dinner and was sorely disappointed. I made the reservation via Open Table, then I called to confirm my reservation, and to specify that I would like a booth or quiet area as it was a special occasion. Upon arrival, however, the confused hostess told me that all booths were taken, but that we could wait for a table if we liked (which kind of defeats the purpose of making a reservation). Ultimately we were sat at a small table in a noisy, high-traffic area (where I had a great view of the booth I was hoping for). I did get a perfunctory 'happy anniversary' as we were seated, though.
As a former chef and an avid food enthusiast, I can safely say that the food was truly mediocre. My appetizer, the lettuce wraps, arrived with each of the 5 or 6 bib lettuce leaves drizzled in olive oil. The oil added zero flavour and ample mess - so much so that I asked for a new napkin for my main. My date's butternut squash soup was just OK.
The waiter did a great job in selling the chef's special: a bacon-wrapped bison fillet with cranberry jus reduction, mashed potatoes, vegetables and a pheasant wonton with truffle oil. I ordered it, but it arrived sans said pheasant wonton or any explanation as to why it wasn't there. When I enquired (why would I have to point it out?), I was told that the kitchen had run out; no apology or concession was offered.
My meat, ordered medium rare, came out swimming in a way too-sweet reduction - and was actually blue rare. When they recooked it, it came back without any bacon. Again, no apology or concession given. The vegetables were several steps on the raw side of al dente. Hard to say what the potatoes tasted like because the sauce overpowered them.
Dessert (creme brulee trio) took forever but tasted OK. In fact, "OK" was sort of the operative theme for the evening. I have tasted similar offerings elsewhere that far surpassed those offered at Maple Leaf Grill - for the same or lesser prices.
Altogether sloppy, careless and lacklustre from start to finish. I felt that we were being 'turned over' by an overworked staff rather than shown a decent time by people who have passion for what they do. Having dropped over $200 on the experience, I left miffed and will likely not be back.
