Alta Bistro: Unique French bistro in Whistler Village
There are a lot of amazing restaurants in Whistler but most of them do come with a higher price tag 💸.
Alta Bistro is a French bistro located in Whistler Village and they too are of a higher price tag but we think the food here is worth it (at least the dishes we tried). Their menu changes seasonally and they focus a lot on local ingredients and suppliers.
We have dined here before back in 2022 with some friends, but this time we came here just as a table for 2 looking for a romantic evening. Here is how our most recent experience went!
Recommended: Read my previous review of Alta Bistro in 2022.
Alta Bistro
4319 Main St #104, Whistler, BC V8E 1B1
The vibe
I will say I don’t think the interior of Alta Bistro matches with the menu or price point. I think the interior could look more upscale and modern.
There is a cool wine wall when you first enter, but the main dining area is pretty casual looking with wooden tables and chairs and maybe 2 red booth tables. They do have 1 table that can seat 6+ people, but mostly everything is for 2-4 people.
We were seated to the side near the chalk board of specials – a pretty intimate space and away from the rest of the seating where everyone is quite close together.
Food review
We ordered everything to share for 2 people. Prices are in CAD and rounded to the nearest dollar for simplicity.
Fennel & apple soubise ($14)
Ok so I don’t know why we thought this would be a salad 😂. I think it’s because neither of us knew what a soubise was. We googled it and it looked like some sort of onion sauce, but this is most definitely a soup.
This soup is made of lavender crema, sea asparagus, chive oil, pickled cippollini onion and puffed wild rice. When we dipped our spoons in, there was immediately a mixture of colours, swirls and textures due to the foam at the top and the thicker consistency below it. It looked like a magical concoction 😵.
Our first bite really surprised us – it was unlike any other soup we’ve had before 🤯. There was some fruitiness or tartness from the apple, sweetness from the onion, floral from the lavender, and saltiness from the chives and fennel. The sea asparagus and the puffed wild rice also offered some crunchy texture.
Overall, we liked this soup and felt it was very unique and it was hard for us to describe how it all worked together. Our favourite part of this soup was the puffed wild rice.
Braised beef cheek & seared Hokkaido scallop ($62)
For our first main, we ordered this braised beef cheek and scallop dish for a little surf & turf.
The braised beef cheek was covered in this hearty oxtail demi glace. Underneath the meat, we have a bed of cavatelli pasta in a shellfish bisque sauce – really yummy! There is also 2 pieces of Permberton Meadows chestnut mushroom and some crunchy salsify root chips.
This is a pretty filling dish although the portion of meat is on the smaller side – the pasta fills you up. I felt the braised beef cheeks could have been more tender.
Overall, I would say this dish is overpriced. At $62, I am expecting a really wow main entrée, but this just met expectations.
Prairie Ranchers gochujang glazed pork belly ($49)
For our second main, we ordered the pork belly. It came on a huge plate and its appearance made me drool 🤤.
The pork belly is the star of this dish and it is a big portion but easy to cut and eat. The pork belly had a nice crispy skin and the meat underneath was fatty and juicy – really delicious 👍!
Paired with this, there is corn bread puree, yellow beet mustard, Chiogga beet kimchi, chorizo powder and roasted North Arm beets. I felt all the components went really well together and this dish was worth its price tag.
Blackened brussel sprouts ($16)
To supplement our 2 mains, we also got a side order of the brussel sprouts. These bussel sprouts are roasted well and coated in a yuzu vinaigrette along with delicata squash, toasted hazelnuts and pickled pumpkin.
Despite it coming in a small plate, there’s a decent portion here and I liked the uniqueness of the yuzu vinaigrette.
Vegan pistachio mousse ($16)
For dessert, we shared this pistachio mousse. It was stuffed into this cute shape of a lady finger that is made in white chocolate.
Next to it, there is a haskap berry sorbet, matcha infused apricot, persimmon preserve, and sake & yuzu gelee.
We really liked this dessert as we are big fans of matcha and pistachio. We felt the sake and yuzu gelee was also fun and interesting. The berry sorbet was sour and balanced out the nuttiness of the pistachio.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We had a wonderful dinner at Alta Bistro and overall, we think it is worth its price tag because of how unique the dishes are.
When we think of French restaurant or French bistro, we think of pretty traditional dishes, but Alta Bistro has fun and offers unique twists to every dish we had. The soup – no explanation – it was so artsy and creative, giving us a new flavour profile. The beef cheeks with scallop and pasta had a little bit of everything (although I do think it is a little expensive for what you get). The pork belly was so delicious and had that Asian fusion in there with the gochujang. The dessert again also had some Asian influences with the matcha and persimmons.
Before tax and tip, our bill came to around $164. Again, not a cheap meal but for the quality of the food, I think this is a reasonable expense. Compared to the last time we were here, the menu was completely different and had totally different dishes, keeping true to their motto of seasonal menus.
Alta Bistro offers a tasting menu priced at $125 per person right now – next time I will be interested in trying this!
Sincerely, Loewe