Marilena Cafe & Raw Bar

A fine dining experience you need to have. The service was immaculate. Our server, Josh, was incredible. Very detailed oriented. Made my fiancée and I, feel like rock stars. We ordered the pork belly, crispy calamari, and the sea divers scallops. We also order the dynamite roll and the short ribs for the table, wasn't able to take pics of those. All the food was incredible especially their sushi. The food is well priced. I left paying about 360$ for food and alcohol. If you're looking for a fine dining experience in Victoria. Go to Marilena. You won't be disappointed. Parking: Parking spots on the side streets. No parking lot at this location.

This is a new, fancy and upscale restaurant in town. Every dish we ordered offered top-notch cuisine. We celebrated a friend’s birthday here, and it wasn’t just the birthday boy who enjoyed an incredible dinner; we all did! I came back to visit Marilena again and again because I was spoiled by the food here.

Our first visit to Marilena was phenomenal. It truly exceeded our expectations. To start, we got the aburi sockeye salmon oshi, walla walla onion rings, and jumbo shrimp à la plancha, all of which were delectable, boasting great textures and rich flavours. Their house-made milk roll buns were really delicious! For our main courses, we ordered the miso glazed sablefish and lobster spaghetti, which were both fantastic. Our dinner was perfectly capped off with the most tasty crème brûlée I've ever had— maple crème brûlée! The excellent service, notably Marlee’s attentiveness and recommendations led to a remarkable evening. The softly illuminated ambiance set the ideal tone for an intimate, high-end dining experience, and the opportunity to watch the kitchen in action added a unique element. To anyone looking for an unforgettable fine dining experience in Victoria, we highly recommend it!

I have been waiting for 5 years for this place to open because I used to frequent Blue Water Cafe, their sister location in Yaletown. Due to this context, the scoring I am giving on this review is based on the comparison of Marilena's compared to what I expect is Toptable Group standard. Trust me, I've been itching to do this review for a very long time. For a place like this, I was dressed really bougie like my former Yaletown frequenting days formerly with my ex-boyfriend who can go eat asphalt at this point, accompanied with a very special +1 who would understand this kind of food, ambiance, and class on what is my belated birthday dinner 6 days post; we had too crazy of a scheduled weekend the week of my birthday True attentiveness of the servers at this restaurant is not all there for a place of this price point. The server dropped utensils more than once, the clearing of tables to keep it flawlessly clean and comfortable was nope. There are a few restaurants in Victoria at a lower price point who have a higher level of care than this, and at BWC, the servers who remember each of my visits are like hawks clearing empty plates and going through tables with crumb sweepers, ensuring the experience was throughly a welcoming one. Of course, there's other servers pouring glass and checking on us, but BWC level is that you never see the servers with empty hands, as how my father who was a retired floor manager of a very established restaurant in this city used to taught me. The food was very good, plating is excellent and gorgeous as expected. My only qualm is the sauce for the Crispy Skin Stripped Bass is a bit salty for the dish and the yu choy doesn't quite soak up all the oiliness of the sea bass... Kinda wonder if a very small bed of rice would've helped the dish a tad more? In hindsight, I wished I ordered the Sablefish which I know was a classic hit at BWC and when my +1 allowed me to sample, it was made to the deliciousness of what I remembered in Yaletown. Bill was because when the server asked tap or sparkling, it was my cloud nine idiocy which let my guard down and okayed my +1 who didn't totally clue in as well sparkling water was an added cost. San Pellegrino x2 = $28! I'm sorry but tap should be offered as default for anyone still deciding on the drink menu and I thought that was a slight underhand trickery. The washrooms are very nice, with very tall floor to ceiling water closets. My only concern is that sometimes there's a bunch of loud and obnoxious customers howling away in laughter with ridiculous locker room talk directly outside the stalls while waiting for occupant which doesn't not allow you to have the peace of mind while doing one's powdering of the nose to put it lightly. I love the use of hand towels because it gives me the chance to thoroughly wipe down the countertop and faucet after drying my hands to ensure cleanliness for the next user as I expect clientele in this restaurant to maintain the level of respect and care to other patrons. I was mildly bummed that though the toilet have self opening/closing seat lids with illuminated lighting and warmed seats, it was not a bidet like those I've seen in upscale restaurants in Vancouver. Fooled me for a moment there! Still a wonderful place to experience which I highly recommend, especially those who never leave the Island to try top notch restaurants. I understand this restaurant is still new with room for improvement and I hope that'll happen over time so it'll match the caliber that BWC delivers. The ambiance is nice which really sets the mood for me to listen to my +1 all evening. Parking: Centennial Square parkade and street parking are free after 8pm. The Hudson parkade provides free 2 hour parking but their lot locks up at 8pm. Wheelchair accessibility: A revolving door in this restaurant. The kid in me screams, "Yay, bonus points!" But there is another standard door which I presume is for wheelchair accessibility; can't quite see if it's automated. I believe there are tables that are reserved for mobility bound clientele but cannot quite discern with the naked eye. I would recommend contacting the restaurant when reserving to ask for accessibility friendly seating.

Absolutely amazing experience. Had the pleasure of celebrating a wedding anniversary here while seated at the chefs table. Service and food was truly top notch. It was incredible to see the care the team put into the food and how in sync they all were. Hard to choose a favourite when they were all so delicious!Food: 5/5

Amazing atmosphere, and good food. We came here for my daughter’s birthday we were very excited. I will say I was very disappointed with the side of peppers on my beef short ribs, I found it to be very underwhelming. A medley of different peppers would have worked much better than 5 charred jalapeños laying on my beef. Lastly the dessert was a 50/50, the cheesecake was amazing and the crème caramel was not deserving to be on the dessert menu, while visually pleasing it was rubbery and very bland. My wife’s steak and my daughters sushi was very well prepared and they both enjoyed their food.

Lovely place. The food was delicious, we had sushi that just melted on our mouth that was so tasty, crab cake as our small plate and crispy skin striped bass & english pea agnolotti. The food comes in a good portion per person. Our server of the night was really sweet and at the end of the night she sent an anniversary plate because we mentioned in the begging of the night that we were celebrating, was very nice of her. Definitely a good place to go once in a while because it’s expensive but very worth it!

Amazing service and probably the only restaurant and Victoria that gives that “high-end” vibe that you can find easily in Vancouver. Our server Josh was great and very professional. Food was great and I especially enjoyed the sushi with house made soy sauce, despite it not being a sushi restaurant.Food: 4/5

Everything about Marilena is aesthetically and otherwise breathtaking, from the service to sommelier to atmosphere to plating. The Seabass was a personal favorite. With such visually high standards, though, the flavor lacks a bit in comparison. The desserts on the other hand had the flavor and depth to match their looks. Overall worth a try, but at the price point, slightly underwhelming. Still recommend as there isn't much like it on the island :

1. Just awesome. You must visit this place if you want to have the great experience in the town. I absolutely loved it. 2. Awesome food 3. Stunning ambience. 4. Unparalleled food quality 5. Best service 6. 200% recommended to try 7. Even l, I liked the washroom of this restaurant. 8. Amazing place.