Alta Bistro: French restaurant in Whistler
Alta Bistro is a French restaurant located in Whistler village. I came here back in December with 3 friends to check out some of their dishes. This review is based on an in-dining experience.
Interior
Alta Bistro is a decently sized restaurant. They can accommodate large tables of more than 6. The 4 of us were seated in a booth table so the seating was comfortable. Some of their other tables are wooden chairs and tables.
Interior was cozy and casual – not too fancy looking – but they have a really cool wine wall when you first walk in. Lighting is not too dim so it’s a bright space.
Food
We share all the appetizers because they all sounded so interesting and 2 people shared an entree each.
Smoky French onion & mushroom soup ($14)
I was actually really sad that day because when we were snowboarding on the slopes, I wanted to eat some soup from the lodges but they were sold out. So when I saw the mushroom and onion soup on the menu, I decided to order it.
The soup has mushroom and onion broth, thyme potato veloute, sourdough croutons and roasted garlic oil in it. I was a little surprised by the soup because it doesn’t look like a conventional French onion soup with the cheese on top. The soup is not thick and creamy, more liquid (as onion soups usually are) but there is also a strange texture to it due to the croutons that are in it. It’s like there are little crumbs in the broth.
Overall, it was not a bad soup but different from what I was expecting.
Baked oyster duo ($18)
This appetizer comes with 2 really large oysters. One is motoyaki style with pine mushroom aioli, cheddar and spinach. The other is kilpatrick with spicy kimchi bacon.
The motoyaki one didn’t taste too different from regular motoyaki oysters you can bake at home. The kimchi bacon one was more interesting and wasn’t too spicy at all. The only strange part is that I don’t think these 2 oysters are very French.
Alta’s signature elk tartare ($25)
This was a very pretty appetizer. It’s small to share with 4 people but usually appetizers like this aren’t meant to share between 4 people anyways.
The elk tartare is placed on a sourdough toast with beef fat seasoning, wild onion vinaigrette and a very interesting egg yolk puree/solid form (the orange blob in the photo). The elk tartare didn’t tasty gamy and is very similar to beef tartare. I love that they put a lot of it on the sourdough toast and that the toast keeps it all together (no crumbling). Again, the egg yolk was very delicious and the way they created it into this different physical state made this appetizer very unique!
Smoked scallop crudo
I didn’t take a photo of the menu so I no longer remember what the price was – sorry!
This was the most unique looking appetizer we ordered. The black stuff on top is actually fried squid ink pasta! The dish also has preserved lemon, saffron crème fraîche, watercress vinaigrette and tomato on the smoked scallops.
It is a fancy dessert and has a simple/clean taste (not very strong or bold flavours). The scallop has a thin and smooth texture, kind of glides on your tongue. The squid ink pasta on top is very interesting, but doesn’t really taste like anything so it’s more of a texture component.
Chicken pate terrine
Unfortunately I don’t have the price or details on this appetizer, but I think it was some sort of a chicken pate terrine (no foie gras). This appie was plated beautifully as well – love the crisps that are standing up (big crisps too!) and the endives. The terrine itself is a little harder than other terrines I’ve had (not as soft), but that might be because a lot of the terrines I’ve tasted have foie gras in it so it’s softer.
Brant Lake wagyu bavette 5oz ($49)
This is a very sophisticated wagyu entree. They use a coffee and chocolate rub (which I thought was very interesting) anise condiment, Pemberton parsnip puree, and a red cabbage jus.
Because of the red jus and all the other components on the plate, the overall colour palette for this dish is very red/brown. The wagyu first of all is cooked perfectly – so soft and tender and juicy. Love the parsnip puree, it has a silky smooth texture. Everything about this dish was delicious!
Dirty chai latte mousse ($15)
This is one of the 2 desserts we ordered. It has walnut coffee sponge, chocolate fig crema, red wine and cognac poached figs and candied walnuts. Overall, it leans more towards a sweeter dessert. I like the presentation of everything – looks like a wooden forest! And I also really like the crema swirl. I am not the biggest fan of figs but I think it complimented this dessert well. The coffee part gives it a slightly more bitter taste to the sweetness of the fig and chocolate. If you like chocolate and coffee, I think you will really like this dessert.
Apple pie ($15)
I don’t have the details for this dessert but it is an apple based dessert and it was SO GOOD. Another great presentation and it had the perfect balance of sweetness for me. Loved the vanilla ice cream (it had something else with it, not just plain vanilla but I don’t remember lol), love the spiced apple taste and the granola and the jelly/texture pieces they added.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
We really enjoyed our dinner at Alta Bistro in Whistler. Out of all the appetizers, I liked the elk tartare the most and would definitely recommend and order it again. I probably wouldn’t order the baked oysters or soup again because they are not as unique as some of their other appetizers.
For the main, I would also definitely order the wagyu bavette again! I shared it with my boyfriend and I think I might have difficulty finishing it alone because the portion is not small (I also shared like 5 appies though lol).
Dessert, the apple dessert was a winner for me!
All the dishes had really beautiful presentation so very impressed visually with how all the dishes looked. Prices are not cheap but for the quality of food, I think it’s definitely worth it. Compared to other upscale/high end restaurants in Whistler village, I would actually say prices are reasonable.
I visit Whistler a few times a year and also stay in the village so I will definitely be returning to try more of Alta Bistro’s dishes. Their menu changes seasonally so that is always fun and exciting (and also explains why some parts of my review here are just me saying I don’t remember but it was good lol).
Sincerely, Loewe