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TROLLS Restaurant in Horseshoe Bay has a diverse menu that includes other offerings than the seafood for which it is famous. The Horseshoe Bay location is the original Troll's, opened in 1946 by Joe Troll. His family still runs the place, and it's become legendary among fish and chip connoisseurs.
Came here two weekends ago on a beautiful late summer day looking for a good feed of fish and chips.
Despite it being rather busy the friendly server found us a spot on the patio.
This is not a cheap fish and chips sort of place. A little higher than average price wise I would say and the portion size is more minnow than blue whale.
The fish I ordered was just fine, haddock two piece for around 16.00 bucks. It came with a smattering of fries and a thimble sized container of coleslaw. The fish was not overly battered or greasy but had little taste. Thanks to a few fresh squeezes of lemon I tried to kick it up a notch.
My dining partner ordered a bowl, and when I say bowl I use that term lightly, of clam chowder. Not sure if there was a contest on at the restaurant called "find the clam" in the clam chowder but if there was he was a grand prize winner. He reported one whole clam total in the chowder, easy enough to find in this very small bowl for well over six dollars.
I have no complaints about service whatsoever. Our server was very pleasant, prompt and attentive.
I realize Trolls is an iconic fish and chips place in the area but I'm just thinking it was probably much better back in the day.
We were travelling from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo via the BC Ferry and had a stop at Horseshoe Bay. What a treat we had. The shops were wonderful to browse in but the best part was getting a table at Trolls for fish and chips. I had heard so much about it and wondered if it could live up to the hype - well the answer for me is a resounding YES. The staff were all super friendly - we had two small children with us who were made to feel right at home with colouring books and crayons. There were fish and chip plates for children which was nice along with a childrens price There were cartoon drawings of all the people who come to Trolls on the walls that the kids loved. Our fish and chips came out perfect - crispy and light not greasy - and the french frys were to die for - I know it said on the menu they use a special kind of potato but whatever it is - it reminded me of the old style chips.
The staff were all "gung ho" and took the time to stop by to talk to the kids and comment on their colouring - they now think they are the new piccasso!
Had a great time, will definetly make the drive again to Trolls even if we are not taking the ferry.
THANKS TROLLS
Add Trolls to the ever growing list of iconic local spots that has obviously let quality and service slip away in the name of profits.
I was visiting Whytecliff Park with my girlfriend and suggested we go get some "good" fish and chips before heading back into town. When we parked she pointed at C Lovers and asked if that's where we were going. I laughed and scoffed at the idea of going to a "chain" for fish and chips when a landmark like Trolls was nearby.
Boy was I wrong!
Started by being seated directly adjacent to the opening to the kitchen where the staff all congregate and pick up orders. We were not so entertained by the adolescent staff throughout the entire meal goofing off, talking about partying and swearing like sailors. Probably heard about loud 100 fbombs. Very professional guys!
I ordered a two piece halibut. At $19 this is the high end of what you would normally pay at any fish/chip spot. So expectations were high.
10 minutes later I had the saddest excuse for a plate of food dropped in front of me. Two small and very dark pieces of fish (dirty oil? burnt? both??) on top of about 15 chips and a handful of greasy stubs. Garnished nicely with a tiny paper cup of prefab slaw and another cup of mayo - which I'm assuming was supposed to be tarter.
Despite being burnt, one fillet was obviously a nice piece of fish at one time. The other however was greasy, gray and smelled off. My illness later that evening can back that claim!
It was shameful and had me ranting afterward about the decline of yet another iconic spot. Looks like C Lovers next time. I guess we live in an era where you are now better off going corpo because at least they have standards to uphold.
Shame on you Trolls. Maybe when the owner won the lottery a few years back, he stopped giving a shit about the restaurant....
What to Do About Bad Restaurant Service
So They Got Our Order Wrong, Dirty Table, Wet Chair, Bad Attitude, had forgotten the drinks and Bathrooms were Not Working, Late to serve customer, Again? On top of that, there were Extra unrecognized Charges. I'm sure we've all experienced bad service at one point or another. So, what do we do about it? Most people just never go back to that restaurant again, but is that really going to hurt them, if just one or two people quit coming to their restaurant? No. There are things we can do to make up for the bad service though. It all depends on the level of bad service we received.
Level One: The wait staff never checked in on your table and let your drinks go un-served or empty. I did not expected to be a lot worse, but the best thing to do in this situation is to not leave a tip. The wait staff at most restaurants make below minimum wage and depend on their tips. So get them where it hurts: their wallet.
Level Two: The wait staff was rude, argues with customer, threw your food on the table, and treated you poorly. This is when it's time to get a manager involved. The waitress was extremely hateful and had thrown our drinks on the table and never would bring our food to the table, her excuse was changing shift and she is off for the day, we had to wait for the next server 40 minutes later. People who had gotten there after us were all getting their food, but we weren't. Eventually another waitress brought our food and was wrong order, our drink was on the bar sitting for 12 minutes,so we had to get up and help ourselves. We spoke to the manager when leaving and he insisted on 30 % discount paying for the meal, charged for 3 Halibut instead of snappers, but then served snappers instead of Halibut. In this situation, Are we there for cheaper bill or were we there for enjoying pleasant serving and good food would definitely not go back to this restaurant despite the manager fixed the problem. We did not ask for discount to being with!
Having visited Troll for the past 31 years and ate more than 8 times a year, I was proud to take my friends from out of town there, I certainly enjoyed the food then, but for the past two years, something has changed. All I can say is that this is not the place that it once was!! I question myself if I should give it 'another chance' as I am always hoping that it lives up to my 31 years of good memories of each wedding anniversary. The owner needs to stay on top of things. They are letting things slip too often. The service is getting poorer. Servers keep making unfounded excuses for poor service well it is one of those days, because 'they are busy' really! Our food was salty, dry, dirty glasses, wet chairs, wet tables, late serving the food up to 1 hour. Husband Ordered his usual moist Hamburger, very disappointed, it was too dry, no taste, what happened to his usual moist meat. Driving from Vancouver to Horseshoe bay is not cheap on gas either, but to reach there and find that they served you snapper instead of Halibut and the server trying to convince me that it is Halibut, get real! , but when you get the receipt, you will find they charged you extra to cover their mistakes for ordered were not even served. So, what happened to the 'chips' and the so called Trollslaw... as in fish-n-chips and side dishes? They have downgraded these to the flimsy pale skinny fries I expect from a food court and tasteless slaw. The quality of the fish is inconsistent, overcooked, onion over fish!
Common guys! Not ideal. The service is terrible... forgotten items / wrong items / wrong sides, one served and other 4 waiting for extra 30 minutes. I asked my husband, is this a 'White Spot' atmosphere? Their quality no longer matches their prices. Where the owners keeping tabs on things? It is a big (Q) if to go back there!
We decided to have some dinner while waiting to pickup a friend from the ferry and thought we hadn't been to Troll's in such a long time why not give it a go. Big mistake,,,i remember it when the fish and chips tasted so fresh and the chips were piled high and had home made tarter sauce and nice crispy coleslaw.
This place has gone so far downhill,,,this was the greasiest fish I have ever tasted and I had to ask the waitress if I could have more then 10 french fries, even she was embarrassed. The coleslaw was bagged and so oily with some prepackaged dressing it was soggy, uneatable!
Franky I would never go back here,,,the food is awful the service sucks hugely and it is so OVERPRICED...
Sea Lovers has Troll's beat hands down for fish and chips if you can imagine that!
I think there must be new owners or people who only care about quantity and not quality, we won't be back
The Troll's of yesteryear is long gone........where you had a friendly face meet you at the door to seat you, not a condescending teenager with a part time job who could care less to even be there. Waitress's who are more interested in chatting about boys etc and not the paying customers, its a shame,,,Troll's name was built on good food and a great place to eat........what happened is anybody's guess,,,sign of the times I suppose
signed
Never going back
The location and view are really spectacular - the hustle of the bay with backdrop of the mountains. Really beautiful.
The food...sucks. Disgusting manhattan clam chowder, pretty bad burger too. No fresh oysters ?! How can you not have fresh oysters at a seafood restaurant ? They hadn't run out, they were just not on the menu.
If I came back it'd be for a coffee, so I can sit down and enjoy being there without having to shove down some nasty grub.
Having lived nearby this place for over 35 years, I have had the chance to eat here off and on over the years. All I can say is that this is not the place that it once was!! I keep on giving it 'another chance' as I am always hoping that it lives up to my memories of how it was 10-15 years ago. I think that they forget that there is now more competition nearby... and they need to stay on top of things. Instead, they are letting things slip. Great location / great views. But, the service is poor. I hate the way restaurants excuse away poor service because 'they are busy'. This place has been here for so many years... they should be prepared for the busy dinner hour on a Mother's Day Sunday.
Yes, most of our food was fine.. and my seafood club was great. But, what happened to the 'chips'... as in fish-n-chips? They have downgraded to these to the flimsy pale skinny fries I expect from a food court. Gone are the quality chips they once had. And yes, as others have commented.. the quality of the fish is inconsistent. Not ideal. The service is terrible... forgotten items / wrong items / wrong sides.
If you want a place with a 'White Spot' attitude where the kids can drop food on the floor and color on the table.. and nobody cares.. then go here. If you want 'ok' food with poor service in a great setting.. then go here. But, their quality no longer matches their climbing prices. I miss the days when the owners were there... walking around.. saying 'hello' and keeping tabs on things. I don't think I will go back.
a shame really.
Troll’s has been an institution in Horseshoe Bay for decades, and I go about twice a year to take in the view and eat F&C. It was a mellow summer evening and so my wife and I took our friends from distant Coquitlam for the experience.
The food here doesn’t change much, although I noticed two things that were different: The portions were a lot smaller (i.e. size of the fish pieces and the amount of chips) and the side of coleslaw (now called Trollslaw) is bigger. I had the cod and chips, another of our group had the halibut and chips, a third had salmon and chips, one hearty eater had the 3 kinds of fish and chips, and Mrs. Chasiubow who is ever contrary had the prawns and avocado salad. We started with a pound of BBQ wings which were 7 meaty pieces first fried in batter then dipped in BBQ sauce. They were pretty good, and they kept us alive until our mains arrived 30 minutes later.
The fish had a thick batter, but it tasted fresh, and it wasn’t horribly greasy. The chips were fresh cut, but from inferior potatoes and were not exceptional. According to my wife, the prawn part of the salad was okay, but the rest of the salad was wilted and stale.
They also have a Troll’s beer which is a nice brown ale. One of our group had a bottle of Canadian which arrived warm and sans verre. According to our server they were out of chilled glasses and the beer had just been put in the cooler.
The ambience is okay, and the staff tries to keep up with the onslaught of ferry passengers and tourists while maintaining their good humour. It just seems that the Troll’s of memory is always better than the reality of the place.
Haven't been to Troll's for many years & I think it has improved. We got a seat at the window and it was great watching the ferries coming & going. I think our server was there the last time I visited many years ago & she offered super service. I notice lots of customers were there & they had lots of servers working so we didn't wait very long for our food
Over the Easter weekend whilst traveling to the island my husband and i dropped into Trolls after missing the Ferry. We haven't been there for some time but felt like fish and chips which Trolls is famous for. There was a line up which made us hesitate as we we did have limited time as we didn't want to miss the another Ferry but when the host, friendly young girl assured us that they would get us a table as soon as possible, we decided to take the risk. We were seated in no more than 10 minutes and checked out the menu which offered some great meals but decided to go with the 2 piece hallibut and chips which had always been our favourite.
The restaurant seemed familiar but different to what i remembered before, we couldn't decided what had changed but there was something fresh about it. Love the chartoon pictures on the walls and in the washrooms we had no idea who they wre but they were a nice friendly touch. Our food came quickly and was nice and hot on the modern style plates which were definately different to what we remembered before. The fish was deliscious and the fries really tasty hence we ate them all. The young man who served us was very attentive and friendly although it was obviously very busy with a constant line of new people coming in. We didn't try one of the delicious deserts and wine and beer selections but definately will the next time we come back which will definately be sooner than later. Nice to see that some of vancouver's original restaurants are still doing well. We will be back.
My friends and I ordered the famous Troll's fish and chips. It was the WORST FISH AND CHIPS that we ate. The fish (Cod) were not fresh, and they were fried in old oil, turned the batter, a dark colour.. The fish was about 1 inch in thickness, with a hard dark brown batter. Not only was the oil not fresh, the fish and chips were left in the hot oil for way too long. We all had heart-burn, after eating the fish and chip. The cost of 3 pieces of cod and chips came to $13.38 per person. We should had returned the bad food and get a refund, but my friends did not want to creat a scene, so we vow never to go back and to let everyone know hot bad their food is. WARNING DO NOT ORDER THE FISH AND CHIPS !
Surprisingly I have been here more than once & every time I swear never to come back but with a crowd I don't always get to choose!! Troll's has to be one of the most over-rated restaurants in the lower mainland. It's signature fish & chips is okay but over-priced - please don't try anything else on the menu here. Service is poor and ambiance non-existant
Do yourself a favour and walk one block west to YA-YA's Oyster Bar which is infinitely better value
I've heard about Troll's at Horseshoe Bay since I moved to the Lower mainland years ago. I finally got there last week but was disappointed with the food and restaurant in general. I don't understand what people rave about? The view and location is naturally spectacular but the restaurant itself is mediocre at best.
It started with a 10 minute unattended wait to be seated even though there was no line up and the restaurant was only at 60% capacity. Got a seat eventually and service was provided but I'm not sure if it was sarcastic or just plain retarded. Waiter found the order for an O'Keefe's Extra Old Stock incomprehensible and when the order was finally changed in exasperation to scotch and water on the rocks, he wanted to know if we wanted hot or cold water with the drink? WTF ? The food was decent, but I'd rather spend my money in some place that has earned its reputation and not just relied on Mother Nature to do all the heavy lifting. Don't bother.
I went with my wife for dinner at Troll's last night again after swearing off of the place last time. The service was AWFUL. Indifferent, slow and distracted leap to mind. A refill on the coffee? After asking twice, I finally got it. Same with my wife's water. 45 minutes to get our order from a server who seemed more concerned with yipping to his co-workers than doing his job is not going to make any fans. The fish and yam fries weren't anything to write home about. The cod was barely warm and for the upcharge for yam fries was insulting considering such a minute portion. The Troll's wrap had less flavour then Elmer's paper glue.The bathroom was lacking sanitation, the carpet was filthy, the piped in muzak was annoying and the only good thing was the view that I never got to see as we were herded to the back.
There's no reason to improve I guess as they seem to have a captive audience. There's also no reason to go back there again as my money can find better value elsewhere.
We went here for breakfast Saturday. The sausages are thick and quite tasty, the potato pancakes were very crispy and delicious. Would recommend the breakfast special here. We kept waiting at the door for a server but no one appeared for a long time so we had to walk all the way in before we spotted a server..
Ordered the one piece halibut and chips and a pop, and a coffee at the end.
The halibut was one long piece, but the batter wasn't crispy. It was a bit soggy actually. Don't know what all the fuss is about with the place. I've even MADE better fish and chips at home.
All in all, it was a $20 lunch for one. Too much for one piece of fish and chips, even if it was halibut.
On a side note, though, I did go there previously to this review and ordered from their take out menu the cod and chips and it was much better. Maybe because they have their own deep fryer and staff just for take out and you know the cook is not busy wasting time and energy on other people's menus. You see him batter it up, dunk it in the hot oil and take it out just for you.
In the sit down restaurant, you never know what is happening behind the kitchen.
(Corrected report). Trolls has a great family atmosphere, but not much else to commend it. The quality of the fish and chips is very poor for what is supposed to be a fish and chip restaurant. Fish is small with hard and dark batter, Chips are soggy and mainly little bits. Why can't they buy better quality potatoes?
Other food on the menu is awful. Chicken stir fry - lots of broccoli but no sign of any chicken and it was badly cooked anyway.
Service is a "don't care" attitude.
This place should have so much going for it, but seems to have sat back on its past reputation. It now is fast gaining a bad reputation. Food is bad, service is bad, decor is old fashioned and worn out. If you want good fish and chips in Horseshoe Bay, Ya Yas delivers much better quality and value.
The kitchen staff at Trolls must not care an ounce about the customer.
I have been 3 times in a row and they have got my order wrong ALL 3 TIMES.
There are no apologies. It's like the wait staff doesn't care.
The whole kitchen should be fired for incompetance.
Don't EVER make a special order in this place.
Horrible!!
With all the negative reviews about Trolls I just had to throw in my bit. We ate there yesterday, Sept 7, 2009 and had a great meal. They told us right at the beginning that the kitchen was quite backed up and that our meal would take at least 30 minutes. I was not timing it as we were in no hurry but it took no where near 30 minutes. The oyster burgers were good and plentiful, the seafood salad was great, the service was very good and the prices fair and reasonable. You people need to give it another shot!!! I will be!
IWe have taken guests there before and everyone thought it was great. This time the food was cold, hugh portion of chips and very small portions of over-battered fish. UInfortunately this will be the last time we eat there. I think the father must have turned it over to the son.I am not sure why it has to be 300 characters - it is very simple the food was not good.
| 1. | Olive & Anchor (16 m) |  |
| 2. | Troller Pub (24 m) | |
| 3. | Berry's Frozen Yogurt & Ice Cream (31 m) | |
| 4. | Ivy Restaurant & Deli (34 m) | |
| 5. | Seaside Village Bulk Food (37 m) | |
| 6. | Fresh Slice (46 m) | |
| 7. | C-Lovers Fish & Chips (66 m) | |
| 8. | Pudgie's Chicken & Pizza (80 m) | |
| 9. | Subway (87 m) | |
| 10. | Horseshoe Bay Restaurant (87 m) |
