Empire Landmark Tower: Cloud 9

Click to add a blog post for Cloud 9 Revolving Restaurant & Lounge on ZomatoTo celebrate a friend’s birthday, we celebrated dinner at Cloud 9. We had a reservation at 7pm on Sunday for 4 people.
It was the second time for me to dine there, but the first time, it was already pitch dark and the inside also pretty dim. The night view was really nice, but this time, the sun was just starting to set, so we got an incredible view – 360 degrees of it from the 42nd floor.

idearabbit-cloud9_2 idearabbit-cloud9_3The Cloud 9 restaurant rotates slowly (so don’t put any camera’s, purses or personal belongings on the window sill – though you will see it again in an hour, assuming no one takes it). We started off with the view of North Van and Vancouver Harbour. I was surprised that the AC wasn’t strong on such a hot evening. As we came upon English Bay, the view again was stunning, but the sun was grilling us. Even with the blinds down, we were kind of sweating…

idearabbit-cloud9_1Their menu just changed at the end of June 2015.

idearabbit-cloud9_4 idearabbit-cloud9_6I ordered the 6oz BC Sablefish (Haida Gwaii) $36. The portion of the fish was quite generous, poached in tomato saffron broth. It was quite bland, and wished for more salt. There was table salt on the table, but just for my health, I resisted the temptation and ate on. The wild pilaf rice was on the harder side and with the sauce so bland, the rice was also flavourless. I wasn’t too impressed by the dish. Was not worth the $36. 2/5

I was a bit jealous of Sheepie’s food. He was the only one to get the 3 course meal. If you’re hungry or can eat it, I highly recommend the 3 course if you want a great deal with good food! Sheepie ordered the Linguine Vongole (seafood) course $34.95

idearabbit-cloud9_5For his appetizer, he had the Kale Caesar Salad with kale lettuce, romaine hearts, crispy bacon bits, shaved asiago, herbed croutons in garlic Caesar dressing. The salad was surprisingly pretty good. I remember vaguely the first time we dined there, he had a caesar salad and it was a depressing bowl of just lettuce with a bit of croutons. It didn’t seem like a fine dining salad, so it’s good to see that they’ve improved. However, the croutons and the mini tomatoes were way too big… 4/5

idearabbit-cloud9_7His Linguine Vongole has decent portions of prawns, scallops and clams. The olive oil, basil and white wine dressing was flavourful compared to my dish. 4/5

idearabbit-cloud9_8Lastly, he had the Chocolate cake. It was super rich and smooth. Could have eaten all of it…lol.5/5

So for all 3 for less than my fish dish! I would definitely get the course next time!
The other 2 had Chowder soup but it was in light tomato soup, making it look like minestrone soup than the usual creamy chowder we’re used to.
Our server was ok, not rude or anything, but not what you’d expect at a high end restaurant. At the beginning, it was a young girl – perhaps a busser who checked my friend’s ID to see if it was really her birthday. For some reason, she never got the birthday cake and we didn’t ask for it, because we didn’t know we were supposed to get it. It was when we were going to pay that my friend noticed that there wasn’t any discount on the bill. When she told the server, she brought the cake in a doggy bag. That kinda sucked.
The dining experience had both pros and cons and this visit gave me a better idea on what to do next time. I would say that my ratings for Zomato is more on the view and experience of dining in a revolving restaurant.

Taste: carrotcarrotcarrot   Price for Value: carrotcarrotcarrot

Atmosphere:  carrotcarrotcarrotcarrot   Service:  carrotcarrot
Location: carrotcarrotcarrot