Mint, The

Added Jul 8, 2009 by randinter of Victoria (3 Reviews)

Why so slow?
The ambience is quite nice (if you like dark) and I've eaten some delicious meals there. Their cocktails are quite good (I find them a little lighthanded on the alcohol but that might not be a bad thing.)

I really recommend you do not go to The Mint if you have any other plans that evening. The service is terribly slow, they forgot several drinks and we were there over an hour and a half before they asked us for our food orders. This was a leisurely dinner with friends so we didn't mind to much but we were all pretty starving by the time our food arrived and we left unimpressed all around by the service.

Maybe I've been unlucky, but other reviews here seem to indicate that the slowness of service is something they really need to work on. They were certainly not understaffed.

Added Feb 1, 2009 by Pyroteknik of Victoria (1 Reviews)

Great Food, Fun Atmosphere, Music Too loud
I love the mint, it's pretty much the only place you can lounge with wine and cheese until 2am in Victoria, and it's always packed. The food is great and the music / DJ's are fantastic - however the music is much too loud for conversation at times. This is the only flaw I can see. Otherwise, great place.

Added Sep 17, 2008 by smathews of Vancouver (1 Reviews)

Always amazing food, never great service
I will always go to the mint because the food is SO good. Especially the momo's but the service consistently sucks. I have had some nightmare servers. They all seem to cool for school as if they can't be bothered. That's not to say that I haen't had so-so service occasionally as I have been there many times. If you just want some delicious food and great drinks, go to the mint, if you want to be wowed in every aspect... maybe skip the mint.

Added Jul 28, 2008 by foodzona of Victoria (1 Reviews)

Fantastic Time
We went to The Mint for the first time on Saturday after Luminara. We were quite surprised how beautiful the restaurant looked after descending some stairs off Douglas Street. The room was larger than we expected with a bar in the middle, a brick wall with interesting metal artwork extending along one side and a rich earthy coloured wall with tribal masks on the other side. There was a DJ playing music on a converted commercial kitchen stove which was very interesting.

We were seated promptly and our drink orders were taken. I ordered a mojito which was delicious and the others shared a bottle of wine. The wine list looked great, however I would have liked to see more BC wines on the list.

We all split appetizers which included pork momos and Wildfire tapanade. These were both great especially the momos which were served with a tasty tomato cilantro dipping sauce.

We all order the Butter chicken curry on the waiters suggestion and were not disappointed. The curry was rich and full of flavour. It came with a bunch of different thing, but i liked the mustard greens the most.

Overall we had a fantastic time and am glad we stumbled across this hidden gem. We will all be back

Added Jul 6, 2008 by EDF of Victoria, BC (2 Reviews)

The Mint Should Smell Better
To reach the Mint, you descend a long flight of stairs that reeks intensely of urine the whole way down. This is the most unappetizing way imaginable to begin a restaurant experience. The restaurant staff, including the manager, must enter through a back door or surely someone would be assigned to wash down and deodorize the steps. The place was much less crowded than it has been on previous visits, and the smell would certainly have driven me away if I hadn't been there before. The urine stench accounts for my dismal ambiance rating.

We arrived around 9 p.m. and got seated right away. I had promised my friends that it was a place where you could talk. Unfortunately, the DJ jacked up the music just after we arrived. I guess they move into "late night" mode just after 9 because they dimmed the lights at the same time.

The server was pleasant, the drinks arrived promptly, and the food (Ginger Cilantro Sticky Rice in my case) was hot and fairly tasty, though I couldn't detect the Cilantro.

Added Mar 11, 2008 by ALM of Victoria (7 Reviews)

The food is soooo gooood
Have been here for dinner twice. Both times the food has been excellent. Noise level is high during dinner. Decor is interesting. Lots of neat art to look at on the walls.
Service the first time I went was impecable, the second time not as good, but not bad either. Food took a long time to come. They have very tasty cocktails for resonable prices. Interior is so dark its almost hard to read the menu however.
First time I ate the Tofu in a penut coconut sauce. I don't normally eat vegitarian but this looked interesting. WOW was it ever good. Second time I had a lamb curry. It was good too, but the lamb was cooked a bit to much for my tastes. The Tofu was better. I'd recomend it.
I'd definatly come back here again.

Added Jan 8, 2008 by bartenderJes of Victoria (1 Reviews)

Love the Mint
I really love this restaurant, It's probably my favourite in the city for the price range. The atmosphere is eclectic, very diverse and the music is great. Yes, it's loud but only after around 9. Yes the food is spicy, the chef is a great Nepalese chef and does awesome dishes especially for the price. The service sucks (we use the order-your-next-drink-when-you -get-your-first-one system), but the food and drinks are worth it (awesome martini list).
I'm a little disappointed in people giving it bad reviews because it is not to their liking, instead of rating it as a restaurant on its own terms. Ive never experience bad, cold, or slow arriving food. I've been at least 20 times and still love it. Great industry place, they serve food really late and are open til 2 on weekends.

Added Nov 18, 2007 by vicgirl of Victoria (4 Reviews)

what the??...
I had been to The Mint several times before and always had a satisfactory experience. Good food, good tunes, great ambiance.
However, this time around was something else altogether. We were celebrating a birthday and had a party 10 - not small but definately should be manageable.
Slow, inattentive service (took 1 1/2 hours for a tapas platter to arrive??). Our momos arrived burnt but we were so hungry that we scarfed them down anyway. By 10:00 pm (fully 2 hours after we had ordered), the food arrived. My chicken & chiles was truly horrendous. The vegetables were raw, and I was certain that they had mistakenly given me tofu instead of chicken. Perfectly formed, spongy, air bubbly, tasteless white rectangles - you would think tofu, right? When I mentioned this to our server, I was told "IMPOSSIBLE!!" No, "oh, I'm sorry, let me check this out - hang on a minute...." I was sternly told that she would "investigate" and swept my plate away from me. I was told that it was, in fact, chicken and that I had 2 choices. They could comp the meal or they could bring me something else. I was already almost falling asleep on my plate as it was getting so late, I opted to take the "free" meal that I had taken a couple bites of and call it a night. Other people seemed content with their food, but everyone grumbled about the inordinate amount of time that it took to even get some cold cuts and cheese onto the table. Bad experience overall - doubt I will return

Added Nov 2, 2007 by freshisbest of Victoria (1 Reviews)

Too Bad to Stay, too bad to eat
Despite changing tables, between the high ambient noise level and the blaring canned music we left before our entrée was served. Our appetizers: badaam (damp peanuts coated in spice and doused in cilantro) and the spicy potatoes were unremarkable. We eagerly carried our takeout bag home, only to find the momos were missing and the chili and chicken was so spicy as to be inedible. Overall, a disappointment - crowded, dark and noisy. Indifferent service, disappointing food: we won’t be back.

Added Jun 5, 2006 by unclespeedo of Victoria (11 Reviews)

they accept plastic now!
the description says they only accept cash, this is no longer true.

Onto the food, I ordered the grilled yellowfin tuna which was one of their weekly specials and my girl ordered the curry combo something rather (you get a portion of each of the three currys they have on the menu), after an unreal cheese appy which offered a nice taste of 5 or so cheeses olives and fresh baguette we feasted on some of the most delicious food i've experienced in victoria.

With a great selection of coctails, wine and beer I'd recommend the mint for either a pre club drink or for a full course meal, definitely reccomend to anyone.