Welcome to LuxuryReview.ca!

Cedars Restaurant & Lounge describes itself as:

WELCOME TO CEDARS RESTAURANT & LOUNGE

Our award-winning culinary team are creating local, regional and international dishes that will please your palate and warm your heart! The stone oven & seasonal menu showcase the freshness of the season with appetizers and entrées that embrace rustic dishes with a contemporary spin. Discover a new twist on your old favourites and enjoy the city’s best lounge - both are the perfect place to sit back and relax over a fine wine, craft beer, signature cocktail, specialty coffee or soothing cup of tea.

“It’s about creating handcrafted favourites, maintaining the integrity of the ingredients, guaranteeing freshness and using local whenever possible!”

This review will cover a standard dinner visit.

Link to the restaurant:   https://tigh-na-mara.com/dine/cedars-restaurant-lounge


1. Atmosphere
The lounge area of Cedars is quite nice, and is a blend of elegant and modern. Dark colours are the focus here, but not in a dreary or depressing way. The restaurant portion is a bit more "boring". Furnishings are mostly dark browns, among other dark colours, and dark woods. This falls into line with the resort's overall "wood" motif (Cedars is located inside the Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Resort), and while everything is clean and appears to be in good state of repair, it does feel a bit dark. As such, it is rather quiet, with conversations held at other tables kept at fairly low volumes. Regardless, as mentioned, everything is clean, well presented and in good state of repair.

The vibe is very much more towards fine dining, as opposed to socially casual. There was no observed mingling of tables, and very little movement of guests once they were seated. If you're expecting a "loud and rowdy" place, this is certainly not it.


2. Menu
The menu is quiet varied, with many recognizable staples. At time of visiting, the menu was as follows:







It was nice to see a little variety on the usual kids menu. As expected at an oceanside resort, there were also plenty of seafood dishes to choose from.


3. Food
For an appetizer, the Spicy Prawn Skillet was chosen. This is listed as coming with "creole butter, garlic & white wine". Not noted, but it also comes with some spicy sauce drizzled on top, which would make sense given that "spicy" is literally in the name. Be warned - it absolutely is spicy. The prawns were smaller in size, but were completely de-shelled with tails removed, which is always very much appreciated. The different flavours and tastes blended together extremely well, and despite being a bit on the spicy side, they left no harsh aftertaste.



For one main dish, we have the Beef Short Rib Gnocchi. This is listed as coming with "caramelized onion, beef demi, shaved asiago, parmesan cheese, mushrooms & cream". Overall, this is an excellent dish. The short rib was very tender, flavourful, and had no excess fat. The gnocchi were perfectly cooked, which is something that can be troublesome, at times, in restaurants. The sauces, delivered in the perfect quantity, paired very nicely. The vegetables were asparagus and carrots. Both were cooked to a soft finish. Mushrooms were also present. The overall aesthetic presentation of the dish was excellent.



For another main dish, we have the Grilled Pesto Halibut. This is listed as coming with "pesto, brown rice, seasonal vegetables". The halibut was cooked nearly perfectly, balancing that thorough done-ness while keeping in moisture. The edges were a tad crispy, but overall, exceptionally well cooked, with excellent flavour - absolutely no indication of freezer burn. The pesto sauce was the highlight of this meal. Perfectly blended with strong flavour, it accompanied the halibut in a way that would be extremely difficult to surpass. The rice was cooked as expected, and was very light and refreshing. The vegetables were green beans and carrots, both of which were cooked to a soft finish. The overall aesthetic presentation of the dish was excellent.



For another main dish, we have the Rotisserie Chicken. This is listed as coming with "fingerling potatoes, season vegetables, chicken sauce". Pictured is the 1/2 size portion, and if the picture doesn't give it justice, be warned, it is a large dish. The chicken was seasoned and cooked very well. It was moist and juicy, and certainly not overdone or chewy. The fingerling potatoes paired perfectly, but it would have been nice to have a few extra ones, as there weren't many. Vegetables were asparagus and carrots, both of which were cooked to a soft finish. There was also a small side of coleslaw provided. Once again, the overall aesthetic presentation of the dish was excellent.



For one dessert dish, we have cedars Peanut Butter Pie. This is listed as "vanilla cream cheese, natural peanut butter, graham cracker, chocolate ganache". Now, there is a lot going on here. Cream cheese, peanut butter, chocolate ganache. One might think that there are too many ingredients in this dish. One would be wrong. Very wrong. This dish blends together so well, so perfectly. It is creamy, yet has that firm texture from the graham crust. It also came with cut strawberries, a mint leaf garnish, berry sauce and a few split peanuts. This is a very well thought out dish, and it tasted amazing. The overall aesthetic presentation of the dish was flawless.



For another dessert dish, we have Flourless Chocolate Torte. This is listed as "chocolate & more chocolate, berry compote". This was also an exceptional dish. The torte was soft, yet extremely dense and rich. This felt like eating a firm chocolate truffle, as opposed to cake. For reference, it was specifically ordered without the berry compote, which is why that is missing in the image below. As with the cedars Peanut Butter Pie, it also came with cut strawberries and a mint leaf garnish. And again, the overall aesthetic presentation of the dish was flawless.




4. Service
All the staff were very friendly, and our wait staff checked in on us often. Everything was served as ordered, in a very timely manner, and everything in the restaurant appeared to be having a very good flow. There were absolutely no issues with service delivery.


5. Cost
There are 5 cost categories that LuxuryReview.ca utilizes. They comprise of the following:
     Category E - <$10.00 per main dish
     Category D - $10.00 to $20.00 per main dish
     Category C - $20.00 to $40.00 per main dish
     Category B - $40.00 to $60.00 per main dish
     Category A - >$60.00 per main dish
Based on this system, Cedars Restaurant & Lounge is rated a Category C restaurant.


6. Final Thoughts
Restaurants attached to hotels and resorts are always a mixed bag. Sometimes they are outstanding establishments, and sometimes they really fall short of expectations. Often, when these restaurants do fall short of expectations, they end up surviving in the marketplace nonetheless, simply because a large portion of their clientele end up being guests from the hotel or resort, who may not know any better. It can confidently be said that Cedars Restaurant & Lounge absolutely does not fall into this category. From the food, to the service, the experience was excellent. Therefore, LuxuryReview.ca absolutely RECOMMENDS Cedars Restaurant & Lounge.