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    Cactus Club Cafe

    3.8 (83 reviews)
    Open 11:00 am - 12:30 AM (Next day)
    Updated 1 week ago

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    CACTUS CLUB CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Outdoor seating
    Good for kids
    Happy hour specials

    Recommended Reviews - Cactus Club Cafe

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    Reviews With Photos

    Carol M.

    On March 1, 2025, I visited the Cactus Club in North Nanaimo and was served a pot of mint tea that was visibly contaminated with oily globules and a thick greasy film. After a few sips, I realized something was wrong. I looked inside the cup and the teapot and was horrified. I experienced an immediate physical reaction to the greasy sensation in my mouth and on my lips. I alerted the manager, who documented the incident. I took photos and brought the remaining sample home, thinking that if I became seriously ill, I could bring it to the hospital for testing. The sample remains frozen in my freezer because, to this day, I still don't know what I was exposed to. I reported the incident to Island Health and requested that the sample be tested. No testing was ever done. Instead, I was told, without any lab analysis, that the substance was "just butter." That is not accurate. What I saw and tasted was not butter. It was a golden, iridescent film with clearly defined oily droplets, far more consistent with cooking grease or rendered animal fat, like chicken. I asked both Cactus Club and Island Health to take the matter seriously. I asked them to have the substance tested, to provide medical clearance, and to ensure proper food safety protocols were in place. To date, I've received no apology, no explanation, and no lab results. I was later told that teapots at this location are sometimes used for warming substances other than tea, but that this "special teapot" was mistakenly mixed with regular teapots. That alone is alarming, given the obvious risk of cross-contamination and harm to public health. I remain deeply disappointed by the lack of accountability and the breakdown in food safety oversight, even after reaching out to senior management. Until proper testing is done and the results are shared transparently, I do not believe this matter has been remedied in a way that protects future customers. I've attached photos so you can see for yourself what was in my tea.

    Blackened Creole Chicken
    Allie G.

    This was my first time at a Cactus Club and overall, I really liked it. The restaurant was busier than expected on a Thursday night, but we got seated right away. They had a small mocktail menu, so we both ordered from there - I chose the Soul Revival and my friend got the Little Pearl. I absolutely loved the Soul Revival, which was refreshing but still had a little kick to it from the jalapeño. The Little Pearl was tasty but kind of difficult to drink, since the ice cubes would get in the way of the pearls (most ended up stuck at the bottom). For food, we started with the Tuna Stack to share, which was fantastic, and a good portion size for two people. I also got the Cajun Chicken Sandwich and my friend ordered the Blackened Creole Chicken. Service was a bit slow for the food (although very friendly), so we did wait a bit for the entrees. I really liked the Cajun Chicken Sandwich - flavorful, generous portion size. I managed to finish the entire sandwich but had plenty of fries left over. The Blackened Creole Chicken was also great, especially the creole butter on top. Overall, solid for dinner!

    Tea was served with globs of grease
    Charlie M.

    Take a look at the pictures of the "tea" and you'll understand why they get one star. If I could give less, I would of course. Despite serious concerns about kitchen hygiene and protocols, even the top level management of this establishment is doing their best to not deal with the situation with integrity and ignoring my requests to have the tea tested. I can't imagine how a tea pot is allowed to be used for anything other than hot water and on top of that, get mixed up with regular tea pots where kitchen staff placed it. Professional kitchen managers should never have let this happen. I'll likely never know what I was exposed to because they refused to get the sample tested at a lab.

    Grand interior

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    2 months ago

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    3 months ago

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    11 months ago

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    5 months ago

    Delicious food and the service we received from Carmen D was great. loved the fireplace makes the experience cozy.

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    11 months ago

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    3 years ago

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    9 months ago

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    1 year ago

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    4 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Excellent food, friendly and professional staff. Prices are reasonable though a bit on the high side but the quality makes up for that!

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    2 years ago

    Always consistent food, no surprises. Staff very young but extremely friendly. Again gf items on the menu.

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    2 years ago

    The parmesan chicken was amazing! Definitely worth revisiting! Next time I want to try the Wagyu beef carpaccio.

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    3 years ago

    Cactus club makes great food and often has good service. The restaurant is quite loud, so if you are going there to chat it's not ideal.

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    3 years ago

    Had a wonderful birthday dinner with my wife!! Service, drinks and food was prefect!!

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    The service was amazing and the food was great the wing were crazy good at I had a fun time with my family

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    3 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    7 years ago

    Great cactus club here. The food is consistent and great as usual and the staff are super nice.Highly recommend this spot.

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    Page 1 of 3

    Horang - Flaming So Galbi

    Horang

    4.5(25 reviews)
    1.0 km

    I tried this restaurant a year later and am happy to report it was just as good! I look forward to…read morecoming back again.

    Visiting for a Monday lunch at around 1PM, we had no idea Horang would be that popular. At the…read moretime, the place was completely full and we were advised there would be a 30 minute wait for bar seating. We wandered over to the attached Horang Market, a little grocery store filled with Korean goods, to browse while waiting. In our case, we were lucky to be at the tail end of the lunch rush. It actually took only 15 minutes and we managed to get a table! Korean Fried Chicken, Yangyum Glaze, Half ($21) - A half order of the fried chicken consists of eight pieces. I thought going into the restaurant it would be only four pieces and was planning to order another dish as well, but thankfully I asked the waitress and she explained everything. As a surprise, we actually got nine pieces of chicken since two pieces had stuck together! The pieces are all boneless thighs, with the dark meat allowing the meat to remain juicy through the frying process. It's kept skin on, and the skin is rendered out excellently. They simply salt and pepper the skin, then dip into the batter. The fried coating is applied evenly, resulting in a consistent bite that remains somewhat crisp even through being dipped in the yangnyeom glaze. I'd say the crispness isn't as robust as other KFCs I've eaten, but it's still pleasing nonetheless. The sauce is of course the draw. It's extremely viscous, basically to the consistency of caramel due to the amount of sugar added. It's slightly funky with a faint heat that's barely felt in the mouth. The dish comes with one dipping sauce that isn't required at all given how flavorful the chicken is. We got the garlic aioli anyways, which is surprisingly strong in garlic flavor with the mayo completely eliminating the garlic pungency. It's actually much stronger than a toum that we had from a Middle-Eastern place the day before. (5/5) Charred Daeji Galbi Soban ($23) - This order comes with a variety of different banchan: Mandu - Two pieces. I'm not sure if these are made in house, but I'm leaning towards these being commercial. They have very uniformly thin wrappers housing a mix of savory and very salty ground pork, mushrooms, and vermicelli noodles. The wrappers are dried out and kind of leathery in chew. They are served in a sauce that I think is a combination of vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar, making it sweet, tangy, savory, and salty. I think they precook these and let them sit in an open warmer, which explains why they are so dry. Japchae - The japchae is very salty like too much soy sauce was added, yet also feels very dry and missing the fragrant and oily sesame sheen. The noodles feel undercooked in some portions, being very firm, different from the bouncy texture I normally associate with sweet potato noodles. This isn't a very good japchae. Napa Denjang Soup - Includes napa and tofu. Pretty standard miso taste, not particularly strong or funky. Prawn Twigim - Two pieces. Tender, sweet shrimp, covered with tempura batter and fried. This gives a light crisp coating. They add the same soy/vinegar dipping sauce on the bottom of the serving container, soggifying the ends of the tempura a bit. Kimbap - Two pieces. They are filled with plenty of chopped carrot, a piece of pickled daikon, some avocado and tofu skin in rice and seaweed. Simple, but fresh and tasty. Salad - Greens in a very sweet and citrusy dressing. Lightly dressed, no dressing pools on the bottom. The main dish includes perfectly cooked medium grain rice with great texture and mouthfeel. On top, they have a couple pieces of charred galbi with a thick sweet sauce glazed on top. The taste of the char actually penetrates into the rice, creating a flavorful bite. The galbi is fatty, tender, not too chewy and generally tastes quite nice especially due to the glaze. (3/5) I really enjoyed the Korean fried chicken served at Horang. For the Charred Daeji Galbi Soban, while the main dish was good, I found the banchan to only be subpar to average. Then again, I wasn't expecting to find good Korean food in Nanaimo in the first place, so it was still a pleasant surprise. Washrooms - Three rooms, one for men, one for women, last one accessible.

    Photos
    Horang - Japchae Noodle

    Japchae Noodle

    Horang - BBQ eel bibimbap

    BBQ eel bibimbap

    Horang - BBQ eel bibimbap

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    BBQ eel bibimbap

    Fox And Hounds - Little trinkets on ALL windowsills

    Fox And Hounds

    4.2(29 reviews)
    30.2 km
    $$

    The weather is warming up and after a morning of yard work, it was time for a cold one with lunch…read more Ordered the Deep fried pickles, Black and Blue Salad and the Plain Jane Burger along with cold beverages. The deep fried pickles are always good and crispy (we already ate 4 of them before taking a pic), this was the first time having the Black and Blue salad with chicken (absolutely delicious and filling, there was enough for two), and the plain Jane Burger is always good and fills the craving for a good burger. The service and atmosphere is great.

    English style pub is a cut or two above the rest, thanks to good food and a helpful staff…read more THE ROSES: If you're an Anglophile, Fox and Hounds is a great pub to visit. Wonderful olde English atmosphere. Very good selection of beers on tap. Staff is very helpful in setting up patrons with dishes that allow for dietary restrictions (like gluten intolerance). What I particularly liked is that they were able to make fish and chips for me that was panko breaded rather than battered. I know battered fish and chips is the 'English' way, but few restaurants this side of the Atlantic get battered fish right. All too often it's too much batter, or the fish is really greasy. I didn't feel like taking a chance, so the kitchen breaded my fish and it was really nicely done. The bread pudding is also a standout. THE THORNS: None worth mentioning. THE VERDICT: Fox and Hounds is one of those rare pubs that puts as much (or more?) thought into their food as they do their beer. It's a wonderful 'little bit 'o Britain' in the quiet backwater town of Ladysmith BC Highly recommend!

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    Fox And Hounds - The Black and Blue Salad with Chicken

    The Black and Blue Salad with Chicken

    Fox And Hounds - The Plain Jane Burger

    The Plain Jane Burger

    Fox And Hounds

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    Cactus Club Cafe - newcanadian - Updated May 2026

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