Dog friendly patio areas are in a great location smack in the middle of James Bay where you can sit and see the horse carriages go by! Lovely to be outside under trees and watch the birds too. Great salmon burger and cauliflower bites were so good! read more

Thinking this place was great, what a disappointment from horrible service to greasy calamari. We stayed for 1 drink and left. Wasted our time, the servers are slow and don't really care about friendly and polite manners. I would not recommend this establishment. You would have better service at a drive through in the southern part of the US. read more

The Bent Mast was recommended by the front desk at our condo, and it did not disappoint! Located in a cute antique house in the historic James Bay neighborhood, the setting is quaint & a bit musty. Look past any concerns - the food is outstanding! My husband wanted fish & chips, and the Fish & Frites was wonderful hot, fresh, & satisfying (1 piece was plenty for the average eater) with great homemade tartar sauce & cole slaw. I had the falafel wrap and it was so good. The waitress was personable & the drinks tasty. Its October, so the weather wasn't cooperating, but the front deck must be hopping on a warm, sunny day, however the food is definitely the star. read more

Neighborhood spot with a lovely, sunny patio and pub food. Service is friendly and attentive. Glad this spot is near us.

Off a cruise ship for 3 hours had to try poutine. This was the closest While it was not your traditional poutine it was chicken butter sauce. delicious and the Canadian beer to wash it down. read more

This is a great place, very good food and drinks. Great atmosphere and historical building. Will definitely come back.

Nestled in the heart of James Bay, The Bent Mast isn't the most obvious choice for brunch in Victoria. But if you're in the area, I would definitely recommend making a pit stop in. One of my gal pals live right down the street, so after a night out and a morning of craving some hearty food, we walked over to fufill some cravings. The inside reminds me of an old school (kind of haunted) Victorian house turned restaurant. There was only one other table when we walked in, so we were able to seat ourselves. They have a small brunch menu consisting of eggs bennys, omelettes, and traditional options. My gal pals and I were feeling something a little more greasy, so we all ordered off the lunch menu. For them, mac and cheese, for me, chicken strips and poutine. I'm slowly transitioning to a plant based diet, and I treat myself to one non-plant based day a week, and so I kicked off this day w/ chicken and cheese. Don't judge me. This hit the spot perfectly. The chicken strips paired w/ the plum sauce and the poutine satisfied all my cravings and made my hungover body feel 1000x better. Our server was super awesome and made sure we all got what we needed from the caesars to drink, to the jugs of water, to the bills being brought out before we were done because we wanted to just leave right when we were done. I can't remember her name, but the server with the bright red hair, you were awesome! If my friend didn't live in the area, I don't think this would be my first choice for breakfast or lunch. Only because there are plenty of central options. But if you are around James Bay, then I would definitely recommend visiting. PSA to all poutine lovers out there: Bent Mast's poutine satisfies all poutine cravings perfectly. Would highly recommend! read more

The Bent Mast - Chicken strips w/ poutine - Pubs Near Me - Victoria, British Columbia

Quick pit stop to warm up. Wife had the Hoyne Pils, I got the Phillips Bluebuck. We traded. Blue buck creamy n smooth... Order a burger f $10 if drinking a beer.... good marketing!! Very friendly staff, Basic top 100 music, nice bar / home history vibe. Burger ok. read more

The Bent Mast - Pubs Near Me - Victoria, British Columbia

I live a few block away from the bent mast so I really wish it was a great pub. It isn't. Sure its nice to sit out on the patio on a sunny day but the service is frustratingly slow and the food is terrible. I was there last week to meet a friend. I decided to sit out on the deck. There might have been a dozen other customers sitting outside. The servers stopped to talk to each other, wiped down some tables and completely ignored me for at least 20 minutes. Eventually i was asked if i wanted anything. Yes a menu please! I ordered a pint of blue buck and was served a muddy flat pint. Because the server was nowhere to be seen i walked the beer inside to the bar. The young woman at the bar told me that "it was supposed to look like that" and that she had "just tapped a new keg so it couldn't be flat". With my tail between my legs, i returned to my table. A few minutes later two people sitting at a nearby table were served two pints of the same beer. They looked completely different from mine. fresh and delicious! I decided to return to the bar inside (again server was nowhere) and i ordered another pint from the bartender and then held it up to her with my old muddy pint in the other hand. I explained to the bartender how the new pint she had just poured looked completely different. The bartender had no interest in listening to me. She seemed completely annoyed that perhaps i was right. she responded by saying "just take the new one then." No "hey sorry about that" or "this one is on us". We ordered nachos with ground beef. We should of cancelled the order when we were asked "how do you want your beef done?". Cooked please. It's ground beef for god''s sake. Nachos showed up with the smallest amount of salsa ever (think what you get a portion of ketchup in). I asked for more salsa and they brought over ANOTHER tiny portion (and charged us for extra salsa on the bill). When we raised the issue to the server she said "yeah its a cash grab, that's why I'm moving back to the mainland. Its all about money in Victoria." I wish this place was good. I live across the street. read more

Great location, great servers, terrible accessibility for anyone with mobility challenges. Stairs, stairs, and more stairs. The public washrooms are on the second floor; no elevator. read more

The absolute worst fish and chips I have ever had in my life. The fish was rubbery and stringy, and I actually got a string of it stuck in my teeth. To add insult to injury the cole slaw that came with the fish and chips was dry, brown and rancid and the fries were greasy and yet soggy at the same time. I mean, really! How can you mess up cole slaw unless you really don't give a toss. I hate leaving a review like this because the wait staff was delightful. But the food was so bad and so many of the other reviews were so soppingly positive that the truth really needs to be told. Who are these people leaving good food reviews? Must be friends, insiders or employees because from what I saw they food looked awful all around. Beer was great - nice patio, but run from the food! read more

Had lunch there today. Rockfish tacos arrived COLD. Very little rockfish, mostly cabbage and the tacos fell apart. Servers don't look around, so the patio was full of unhappy customers waving their arms. Pains me to say this as the Bent Mast is my local. If you go there, best to stick to the burgers and beer. The beer is fine. read more

My friend and I went to the Bent Mast again several months ago. We thought we would try again. The manger that we had previously seen regarding the problematic employee came and talked to us again. He was very professional and we did not see the waiter again. That said, I was pleasantly surprised at how great the manger handled the situation. Although, I cannot say that the Bent Mast is my favourite place to go to, the manger's professionalism should be commended. Kudos for the manager! read more

Located in a small neighborhood west of downtown Victoria in a building from 1864, the Bent Mast has mixed reviews in Yelp yet I found it was a very good pub food tavern with live music. Live music was playing courtesy of two local women. It was pretty good and the house was packed with locals. There isn't a lot of seating inside, maybe enough for thirty or so but they do have a large patio when the weather's nice. My oldest daughter and I ordered some local chardonnay wine and draft beer. Both were quite good, especially the local amber beer. We decided to try the calamari, fish tacos and poutine. Our calamari had a distinct fishy odor to it which I attribute to using the same oil they fry the fish and chips in as the calamari. Also, I'm blessed/cursed with a sensitive nose which helps in cooking but makes me more attune to oddness. The calamari breading was quite light and airy - very well done. The dish also included a selection of lightly fried veggies such as jalapeno and red bell pepper giving it a bit more interest and heat. The weak part, IMHO, was the tartar sauce which tasted canned, was overly thick, and had a strong mayonnaise taste. Both Amber and I agreed that a ketchup and horseradish based sauce would have been better especially since the dish had some mild heat components like the jalapenos. The fish tacos were made of lightly grilled cod with a seasoned crust and chopped cabbage. Served with two sauces, one a chimichurri and the other a salsa fresca, it made a good dish. One observation is the size of the fish pieces seemed a bit small, even for a taco. The poutine, a distinctly Canadian dish, came last (at our request). It is French fries and mozzarella cheese curds covered in a rich brown gravy. You can also get it topped with bacon or pulled pork. The dish is pretty good and reminded me of mashed potatoes and gravy. The cheese gave it a little zing every so often since they are not spread over the whole dish in a layer but in separate pieces. Unlike other reviews, we had pretty good service where they patiently took our order, served things promptly and made sure things were OK. No complaints here. Overall, a good dining/pub experience with decent food, drinks and music in a cozy and vintage setting. read more

The Bent Mast - Calamari - Pubs Near Me - Victoria, British Columbia

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We arrived there after 10pm, and the place was still hopping on a weeknight. The service was great and she made some suggestions for us. The Lemon Drop Martini was excellent. We got the hummus and wings. The hummus was to die for!! They serve food until closing, and it was only a 3-5 minute walk from our hotel (James Bay Inn). read more

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A favourite pub when in Victoria. I have visited The Bent Mast many times and always found the food to be mouth-wateringly excellent, the staff welcoming and happy, a great selection of drinks and an overall atmosphere of relaxed pleasantness that Victoria does so well. I always suggest The Bent Mast as a potential when looking for somewhere to grab a bite or a beer. read more

Yesterday we arrived in Victoria for a week long holiday. After a tough day at the airport we were ready for a brew. We happened to come across a local joint that offered local microbrews. We shared some spring rolls and a couple of pints. Our waitress was wonderful - sweet and just had a great zest for life. It was a great introduction to James Bay. Great beer, food, weather and a terrific server. The Amber by the way was very nice. read more

My husband and I were visiting Victoria and chose to come to The Bent Mast on our first night in town. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of quality and service but I think I was actually pleasantly surprised. Now maybe we were just lucky with the waitress we had but she was very nice, and even attentive enough to notice that I had left my sweater behind, even before we had completely left the restaurant. I loved that they had old trivial pursuit cards at all the tables, it kept us occupied and entertained while we waited for our food (thinking back, I don't think it was the quickest service but we were having a nice visit so we didn't care!) I had the steak and frites and I've gotta say, I usually don't order steak simply because 99.2% of the time it will be over cooked. When I say medium rare, I mean medium rare. BUT it was cooked to perfection, and I hope it wasn't a fluke because I was impressed. Yum, very good. Husband had the chicken carbonara, which was nice and creamy, on par with expectations. If I'm ever in Victoria again, I would probably want to try other places before returning here again, but if you are in the area and looking for good food and atmosphere, don't hesitate to come here. read more

The exterior is beautiful! We sat outside to enjoy the breeze. It was happy hour. They had a deal on Onion Rings. They were the best onion rings I have ever had! All the food came out quick. For my main course, I got the Lamb Burger and Poutine. Both were wonderful. There are many options on the menu. read more

In victoria you can trip on the sidewalk and land in a pub, but Bent Mast? DUDE, its everything you wanted and more. It has the pub "homey" feel, but you dont have to yell at the top of your lungs to be heard and you are not rubbing elbows with complete drunks. The staff here is AMAZING, I was up here with my wife on our honeymoon and not only was the staff friendly, but also pointed out places to go while in town and called us a taxi one evening! The only thing that edges out the staff is the amazing food. DUDE, this is not your grand daddy's pub with "3 beers needed to taste decent" food. This stuff was awesome... loaded pierogi read more

Over priced... Lacking menu... Wierd musty smell (probably cause the building is old)... But amazing patio outside for people watching and they have trivial pursuit. There are better places in james bay to go in the winter.. Summer if you can get a seat on the patio a pint or two is worth it read more

Amazing food!! THE TASTIEST pulled pork sandwich I've tried... it was so juicy and nicely marinated. I will definitely be coming back to try all the other food offerings here! The Bent Mast also has tasty specialty coffees :) The service was a bit odd... it doesn't seem like the owners (i think) are in uniform... so when we were asked how many people were in our party we honestly thought we were being asked by random restaurant go-ers. Also, initially when we came into the restaurant we were told to sit anywhere and that someone would come take care of us, so we opted for the patio. However after about 20 minutes of not being attended to, we started to get cold (since one of the patio heaters was out of order) so we popped back inside where someone ended up apologizing to us not having been attended to earlier. We opted to just stay seated inside which was fine :) however, service here is definitely something that may need to be revisited by management. read more

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I went with friends for a drink. It was a very pleasant, chilled and hipster restaurant. The place has a good vibe; like a small business laid back ambience. The restaurant was easy to find and well priced. read more

Being a server.. I usually give a restaurant or bar a chance before I star critiquing them. But... I have been coming here off and on for 2 years for a beer and a meal and I can honestly say... it is the worst service I have ever received.. every time I have come here..I wish it wasn't true.. The attitudes of the servers is beyond rude and irresponsible..I've seen everything from swearing at customers to even servers throwing their change at customers for not leaving a "good enough" tip.. It should be ashamed of itself for being in James Bay. James Bay is full of successful, young, old, people who want to escape the craziness of downtown.. all we want is to have a cold pint.. a good meal.. but it never happens here.. It literally takes everything in me to walk over there on a Friday night to have a cold pint and deal with what goes on there.. but it literally is the only place open after midnight in James Bay (i work evenings).. I do not reccomend going there.. go the Heron Rock across the street.. or Bellevilles at the corner of Menzies and Bellville St. Sincerely, A James Bay Resident read more

nice patio, not so much service. went here and had a jug of cider with my friend. Was a nice day but the waitress didn't seem too thrilled to be there haha read more

A convenient location if you reside or work in James Bay. Restaurant/pub is located across from Thrifty Foods. The restaurant has a pleasant environment while waiting for your order to arrive or feast within. There is a patio. The menu is not large but has a bit of everything and you get a variety of beverages to choose from --- alcoholic and non-alcoholic. The soup of the day is usually pretty good. The wait staff is varied from mediocre to ok. There are days when I only want to leave the tip for the kitchen staff. I haven't tried every dish that is served though the dishes I have had has been decent. There is a bus stop nearby and close enough to walk to the inner harbour and surrounding attractions. read more

I've been here several times and where I quite enjoy the cozy atmosphere, the service is perpetually....shit. But seriously, excuse us for entering your business, purchasing your wares, being polite and making eye contact while you loathe your existence and everyone around you. I say this politely but firmly. It's also not frivolous....this is consistent. There is zero fluctuation between servers or time of day. Proximity wins and atmosphere also has the upper hand here, but holy jeez..... Bent Mast employees are the dregs of service life loathing. Fail. 3 for having beer, working toilets and heat. -2 for having an atmosphere that stinks like rotting wood, irritation and leftover life. Period. read more

Always a great place to hang out with some friends on a Saturday afternoon or after a long ride. I usually just stick to the beer and the occasional appy, and I have never been disappointed. Maybe it cause I don't go in with great expectations, its a pub not the Bengal Lounge. Its your typical small community local watering hole, filled with the eclectic, the faux Uni intellectuals and the average Joe looking for a decent priced beer and some edible scran. Plus you can't go wrong enjoying a cold bevy in a haunted house. read more

The ambience of the restaurant are great, a nice heritage home feel, but the food is blah. They need to get a good chef in this place and revamp the menu and it would kick ass. It is in a great location, and the patio is great in the summer for beers if you can get a seat, but the food always seems overcooked or tasteless and lacking essential ingrediants. read more

I just have to add a more recent review - a lot of the negative ones are from several years ago, and they have changed up their menu a lot in the past year. I love this place to bits - not just because I live a block away and it's within staggering distance. The beers are local are reasonably priced, and they even have Merrydale cider from up island. The decor is... well... it's an old house, it's slightly creepy (they say it's haunted too!), which is awesome, and they have old trivial pursuit cards on the tables, which can make for interesting chats. The food is actually really good now, and they have some great veggie options too. My partner had the veggie burger, which was delightfully thick and meaty, with a generous helping of sauteed mushrooms and onions on top. I had the felafel sandwich with a side salad, and it was great, although maybe a little more tzatziki would have made it perfect. We had the baked bree as an appy (I suspect they use comox bree for it - god of all cheese) and it was in-cred-ible. I'm drooling a little bit just thinking about it. If you're in James Bay and want to check out a neat local place, give the bent mast a try. read more

I love the bent mast, but they really need to play better music at a better volume. For such a cool pub they really kill the ambience with bad sound/music. read more

Atmosphere is a 10 for me. Local, down to earth pub in a heritage home! There are board games to keep the table entertained and live band is pretty good. I just love the feel. Open late so that's definitely a plus. The location is obviously amazing!! read more

Good good, reaally good beer (homemade, local and imported) and I like the fact that it's an old house, feels welcoming.

We have had brunch here two days in a row. Both breakfasts were amazing, the service was excellent and the food super tasty. Another positive is the cost of the meal, extremely fair. We had Eggs Benedict both days and it was terrific, only $10! Great deal, apparently they have fairly new ownership and it shows. Lovely atmosphere as well. You've gotta try it! read more

Good food at a decent price.. good variety, side vegetarian menu with budget in mind highly spoken of by companion (who was vegan! lol)

I have always wanted to check this place out. I was reading about haunted buildings in James bay and the bent mast restaurant was mentioned. The restaurant is an old house built in the 1880s. It was lived until the 40s and after that had many different uses. When you come in you seat your self. If you are with a large group they have a special room upstairs. I ordered the chocolate porter from Phillips. My drink came quickly and was very fresh. I ordered the steak and house greens and fries. I only had to wait 20 minutes for my food. The steak was excellent. The price was right and the service was excellent. I definitely recommend a visit to the bent mast. Very casual atmosphere. read more

Set up in a character house with cozy atmosphere, this pub is casual and cheap. Mostly full of University students looking for a mellow venue to wile away the night deep in philosophical discussion. read more

I tried calling the General Manager to ask a couple of questions on the food as i am glutton intolerant. whoever answered the phone was completely rude, offered no help and half way through asking when the Manager would be back hung up on me. Was going to take a party of 15 for my friends surprise birthday. On that call alone they can forget it! read more

Such bad bad food. I agree the ambiance and old school haunted effect is great, I just wish the food would add up to that. We have such a lack of great neighbourhood pubs - why not get a decent menu? read more

This was an awesome little restaurant in the middle of James Bay Square. Short walk from downtown and the perfect spot with a market and a Spinnaker across the street. Great food and ambiance lots of great local brews and the prices are not to bad. I highly recommend brunch and chill. read more