Minnoz Restaurant at the Coast Bastion Inn (Nanaimo, BC)

If there is a place where I have received excellent customer service and tasty food for a very reasonable price, it’s definitely Minnoz. And that was definitely completely unexpected. You know how things go. You never know when a hotel restaurant is going to be good or not, until you try. Often times, it ends up being just the ONLY option. But in this case, I did not know that it would be so good.

Photo credit: Image provided by Coast Bastion Inn, credited as indicated by them and used with permission

Elegantly decorated in a casual setting, the new Minnoz Restaurant & Lounge is located in the Coast Bastion Inn, in beautiful downtown Nanaimo, BC. From homemade breakfasts to enticing tapas, make Minnoz your number one choice for dinner & drinks before going to the show or to simply entertain friends and family. [Minnoz Restaurant website]

Both Richard Zinger, Minnoz Chef and Jon Schafer, Restaurant Director, as well as their entire staff should be commended for an imaginative and broad-reaching menu (PDF). When I was out on the town on my recent visit to Nanaimo, I realized I was out without my contacts and thus didn’t feel it was a smart idea for me to venture far away at night without being able to assess my surroundings. So I walked back to the Coast Bastion Hotel and dropped by Minnoz for dinner.

My iPhone photo does not do justice to their excellent chicken salad. I wasn’t feeling all too well and I had forgotten my camera, so I just took this particular shot. The flavours were excellent, and I couldn’t even finish it all (and it was late at night). The waiter who was in charge of my table was incredibly sweet and prompt.

Overall, a very pleasant surprise, and I would encourage visitors to Nanaimo to check Minnoz for dinner. It’s definitely not an expensive restaurant.