While staying at the Fairmont, which we do approximately 5-8 times a year, we dined here for a wedding we were attending. Normally wedding food at the Fairmont is sub-par at best, but being forced to order off the menu at the Vermillion Room was...an unfortunate experience I do not want to have again.
My wife and I ordered the french onion soup, escargot, the burger and risotto. The french onion soup was sweet yet bland, a strange combination I didn't even know existed. The escargot was overcooked and dry. The burger was two patties of overcooked, dry A-minus alberta beef, sandwiched between leftover shortrib, mushrooms, and three pieces of arugula. But by far the worst dish I have ever had in my life was their "risotto" - if you could even call it that. It was more like a breakfast porridge you'd find in a run-down old folks home. There was no aborio rice to be found in the dish, just mushed-up buckwheat (why?), which has no place being called risotto. I'd like to understand how a dish of this nature gets past the first round of testing to make it onto a menu in this "5-star hotel". What. The. F*ck.? After spending millions of dollars on a beautiful renovation to this room, you'd think the hotel would hire a chef who could put together a half-decent menu.
Don't waste your time in this restaurant, unless you just want cocktails, which were pretty good. Kudos.
Head to the rundle lounge instead, their sushi, dumplings and bao buns are just a few items off their menu that are a delicious treat, and a wonderful departure from the boring, bland menu of the Vermillion Room.More
