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Cilantro Mountain Cafe
Category: Restaurants Canadian (New) Canadian (New) [Edit]
700 Tunnel Mountain Rd.Banff, AB T1L 1B3
(403) 760-4484
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
6 reviews for Cilantro Mountain Cafe
6 reviews in English
-
Review from Don B.
6/30/2011
The menu at the Cilantro changes, but the evening my wife and I went to this cozy mountain retreat the menu had a Mexican flair to the menu. We both ordered the spinach enchiladas and they were full of flavor that enhanced the freshness of the spinach filling. My wife had the salad with goat cheese, berries, pecans and fresh salad greens, with a dressing that she described as wonderful. I had the grilled flank steak and it was as I say when things are good "mighty tasty".
As other reviewers have stated Cilantro is a small, rustic, chic, cozy and open cabin like place with wonderful service. I do want to mention that while it is a place to enjoy the moment, it is also not pretentious. The waitresses and staff here really work as a team. I love good service and I always am looking for an example of it. The service highlight of the evening for me, was when I observed the head chef visit with a family of six that was dining, ask one of their sons who looked to be about 12 or so, if he liked the sauce on his pasta dish? The young man said the sauce was really good and that he would like to get some more sauce on his dish if he could. The chef then removed his plate to get some more for him and when he returned with the dish he asked the boy if this was enough sauce for him. As many of you know I am a father and grandfather, so my fellow Yelpers, this is what I call great service!
Oh, and for you pizza lovers, they have wood fired pizza oven, with prices of about $12-$14, for what I think looked to be a 14' sized pie! I can hardly wait to go back again! -
Review from neil m.
Calgary, AB
4/27/2009
My wife and I were staying at Tunnel mountain resort, directly across from Cilantro, and we decided to give it a try for dinner. (its only open from 5pm - 10 pm)
Small and cozy place that looks like it caters mostly to the wine and cheese kind of crowd. Many many selections of of both.
We had the french onion soup and peppered pear pizza. Mmmmm good!!
The onion soup was ,by far, the best I've ever had, EVER! The broth they used was obviously made from scratch and not from a can( like most places do) and the cheese.... Mmmmmm the cheese..... it was'nt one gooey glue-like mass, it was creamey and smooth and complemented the soup fantasticly.
The pizza was very unique, with caramalized onions, saute'd pears with Brie cheese. Yum Yum Yummy!!!
Would I try Cilantros again??
I would drive over an hour just for the french onion soup.
Thats how great it is. -
Review from Mary I.
8/7/2008
Out of all the places I have ever eaten in my life, if you were to ask me what my favorite restaurant is, I wouldn't hesitate to reply with:
"Cilantro Mountain Cafe".
This cozy restaurant is easy to miss, since it out on Tunnel Mountain and not along the main street in Banff. However, the public transportation has a stop only a few feet away from Cilantro.
On my last trip, I went to this restaurant twice in the span of 3 days because it is excellent. They define their food as "California Cuisine" and "rustic".
I know what you're probably thinking...I'm from California. Vacationing in Canada. Why on earth would I want to eat California Cuisine?
Because Canada does it better. No offense to Wolfgang.
The menu is quite simple and changes often. The restaurant only has a few tables, and is small, but you get that cozy mountain cabin feel.
Over my last holiday vacation, Lawrence (age 18) was busy cooking with such devotion, that watching him form the dough for the pizza, fix the salads, and prepare desserts was as delightful as the meal itself. You could just tell that he loved what he was doing.
Writing this review makes me remember how I felt as I ate that food. It was like finding the Holy Grail of restaurants. Does it get much better than this?
I'm sad that I only get to eat at this restaurant once a year (over my yearly holiday vacation) but it is so memorable, that the memories stay with me all year.
As it stands, only a few more months until I visit again. I don't know if Lawrence will still be working there, as he was from England, and many younger "kids" tend to work in Canada for short periods of time during the winter months, but I'm looking forward to finding out...
My quote here on Yelp (that I've had since the day I registered) embodies how I feel about Cilantro. -
Review from PJ S.
5/31/2010
Yes. This place is really really good. It has the feel of being invited to a friends small private cabin for dinner... a dinner that they have worked very hard to make memorable.
My favorite thing is the roasted squash soup. Its perfect.
Everything is something that thought went into and its got a rustic chic vibe that is just great. Have a bottle of wine. Nestle in. Have like 4 courses. Enjoy this moment at Cilantro... your in the rocky mountains... your in a cabin... your seeing your food get prepared in the small kitchen... the atmosphere is calm... and warm and inviting and you need to shed your tourestyness and if possible shed your kids for the evening and really enjoy it.
I can't wait to be back. -
Review from Orpha C.
Calgary, AB
3/9/2010 1 Check-in Here
We ate at Cilantro's this past weekend and couldn't have been happier with our meals.
I had the flat iron steak and was amazed at just how good that steak was. It was cooked to perfection (medium) and melted in my mouth. Truffle mashed potatoes accompanied the steak, along with vegetables that were also cooked perfectly, especially the zucchini as it was bursting with flavor. My husband had the pork tenderloin and, thankfully, gave me a couple of bites of it and we were both blown away by the flavor of that as well. It was moist on the inside and caramelized on the outside. Very, very good.
We made the mistake of trying another restaurant the next night and we regretted it because the beef at the other establishment had no taste - the total opposite of the beef at Cilantro's. We are looking forward to returning soon. -
Review from M S.
7/3/2010
An interesting mix of food. We ordered a charcuterie plate ($24) consisting of elk salami, wild boar pate, prosciutto, sausage made of various game meats, and a variety of cheeses. That was very good and was quite large for three of us to share. For entrees, we shared a buffalo meat, capicola, and cheese pizza. It was spicy and enjoyable, although a little expensive at $17 for the size. We also had the Yukon Gold Potato Gnocchi ($22), which was decent but lacked sauce. The chocolate souflee was nice but nothing extraordinary. A couple of final thoughts: the restaurant had very odd choices for background music, basically from the late 60s and 70s: Wild thang, Walking on Sunshine, and others. The music just did not fit the atmosphere of the restaurant at all, even though it would've been great elsewhere. The other odd thing, there seemed to be nothing with cilantro in it. Overall, decent but not spectatular. Service was a little slow, especially considering it was not crowded.
