Fantastic dining experience!
We had a very pleasant Sunday brunch at Fuse. The atmosphere is lovely, the view is serene, the service was friendly and efficient, and the food was divine!
It even has a baby change station, which adds to its family friendly atmosphere.    [18 Feb 2007 17:48:16]

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Recommended Dishes: Any of the Benedicts

     ­Anonymous   

Fuse needs better lighting and decorating.
We tried the new Fuse, and found it to be very dark, and when our food came, it was cold after waiting quite a long time.
Menu, not much of a variety. No specials listed.
Owner was pleasant and service was good.
Would be nice to see white linen table cloths and some artificial plants with sparkling lights on them.    [21 Feb 2007 11:31:14]

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     ­Anonymous   

Very comfortable and welcoming atmosphere. Efficient friendly service from knowledgable servers. Yummy food options, well presented, at very reasonable prices. Children's menu. Incredible view. Can't wait to go again!    [03 Apr 2007 00:36:15]

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Recommended Dishes: trout, lamb, french fries, yams, salads

     ­Anonymous   

Look no further
Eating at Fuse this evening was easily one of the best dining experiences of our lives: The atmosphere is quite pleasant, the service was excellent, and the food was transcendent. We've often paid more for lesser food, and never less for food this good. My companion and I mused that the legendary restaurant further up the road might be more expensive, but is unlikely to serve better food.

This is a chef who knows what he is doing: We started with the garlic prawns; they seemed particularly fresh somehow (perfect texture), and the garlicky broth demanded that we sop it up with the delicious bread (provided with olive oil and balsamic vinegar at the outset). My companion went with the lamb shank done in the chocolate stout reduction for her main, and it was everything you'd want from a lamb shank: It combined melt in your mouth texture (as the server rightly guessed, the steak knife she brought was not at all required) and loads of flavour. I went with the Sooke Trout, and the first thing I should say about it is that it was essentially perfect: The skin was crispy, the pinkish-white flesh was moist and delectable.

Another nice thing about the Fuse approach is that all mains (except the pastas) come with your choice of two sides. I regard this is particularly clever ... why not allow the diner to pick the sides she or he finds appealing? My companion had the Moroccan spiced yams and the braised greens, and I had the mashed potatos and seasonal veg (which in this case was Chinese long beans and carrots). The yams are not to be missed, the braised greens (kai-lan in this case) were delicious. The mashed potatoes were done such that I was forced to wonder how mashed potatos could be that good (well ... lots of butter but I suspect there is more to it than that), and while I am normally not a fan of beans, these were utterly delicious, as were the carrots.

We finished by sharing the chocolate lava cake. With a dollop of first rate vanilla ice cream on top, and served in a warm, small, square earthenware bowl sitting upon a larger plate, it was everything that a desert should be. If there was a single thing that I would suggest that could be improved about Fuse, it would be the coffee available. They do not have an espresso machine (understandable for the size of house/number of staff/business model) and the drip coffee was adequate (which is noteworthy only because everything else is far beyond just okay), but considering the degree to which the offerings at Fuse go above and beyond in all other areas, I consider this to be a small thing.    [16 Apr 2007 01:44:41]

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Recommended Dishes: The Sooke Trout sets the standard for trout everywhere

     ­Anonymous   

Nice
We have enjoyed our last couple of visits to this new restaurant. The food has been hot and fresh and the service pleasant. I do find the decor a bit harsh with all the black but otherwise nice. Not really a suitable place to bring young children, but otherwise a nice addition to Sooke.    [05 Jun 2007 21:43:06]

Food: -   Service: -   Ambiance: -   Overall: 

     ­Anonymous   

Poor experience, less than satisfactory value for the $$
I had a poor experience at Fuse because of the lack of service from our three inattentive waitresses, a lack of menu knowledge from the waitress(es), and a slow response from the kitchen.

We were greeted & seated promptly, and were immediately upgraded from in inside seat to a beautiful outside table overlooking the cove. The restaurant was only half full and nearly everyone was sitting outside.

We sat for approximately 10 minutes before having to ask a passing waitress if she could serve us some water. Approx 2-3 minutes later, another waitress brought us some bread & oil, and shortly after that yet another waitress brought us some warm water and small glasses. Given that the daytime temperatures were nearly 40oC/100oF we could have used some ice & larger glasses (oversight). We were still not asked for an order from the Bar by this point. When finally asked, I was told that they were out of stock on the two most common selections available. I was given a small glass of beer even though I asked for a pint. I had to request a pint when I finished the first glass. We also had to ask for ice and more water.

After finally ordering, we waited another 20 minutes for a simple lamb salad, and prawns with rice. The prawns & rice were simply presented in separate bowls and tasted as if they were prepared from prepacked sealed bags (both slightly watery). The lamb chops (two) were over-done, even though the waitress confirmed that the Chef would prepare them medium-rare. The salad (with the lamb) consisted of eight pulverized black olives (to remove the pits), nine "bits" of halved orange wedges, approx 20 1/4 rings of red onions, one piece of rocket lettuce, and one huge leaf of leaf lettuce (untorn to form smaller pieces). Olive juice and bitter olive oil were drizzled on the "salad".

The only saving dish was the homemade cinnamon cheese cake. It was incredibly light and delicately spiced. It was also served well chilled and remained firm even though the evening temperatures were still quite warm.

We had to ask our server (the third one by now) for our bill. This still would not have been good value even if the food had been better prepared. The beer & wine list was more than adequate.

If you want a nice view while you eat, I'd recommend that you eat elsewhere, then go fo a walk near the cove.    [12 Jul 2007 13:09:52]

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Recommended Dishes: none

     ­Anonymous   

Disappointed
My family & I went out to dinner there Sunday evening. We got 3 small glasses of warm water served up in an old wine bottle. I had to ask for ice as it was very warm. I had the seafood chowder about 2 months ago and there was plenty of seafood. I think they scraped the pot as there were a few tiny bits of clam, 2 prawns and no mussels. Mostly liquid which was pleasant, but not worth the $7 charged for it. At 5:30 there was no soup of the day. After having a good luncheon experience last time, I think I'd not return there for dinner.    [17 Jul 2007 00:44:28]

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Recommended Dishes: 1/2 chicken

     ­Anonymous   

A great place
While staying at one of the Sooke B&B's, which was great, we were recommended Fuse. The recommendation was lived up to and more. We had a wonderful view upon which to toast our anniversary. The service was kind, fun and attentive even though the place was quite busy. Our food was great, we enjoyed some of the local seafood selections and a perfectly cooked ribeye steak. We finished our evening with a shared dessert and some more toasts. Thanks to all at Fuse a memorable evening!    [10 Sep 2007 22:29:16]

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Recommended Dishes: Sooke Trout, ribeye steak

     ­Paul and Diana Mann   

Disgusted
My husband and I decided to go out to eat on the spur of the moment. Being new to Sooke we do not know about many of the restaurants. We decided to try Fuse. What a mistake!

Food: Not much of a selection. My husband ordered the 8 oz beef burger with bacon, no onions and fries. The fries were so greasy they left a film on the top of his mouth. The burger came with the onions even though he had asked for no onions. He just scraped them off. The bacon had no taste whatsoever. The burger itself was dry, hard to chew and tasted like sawdust. I ordered a full order of Caesar salad with chicken. When it arrived, I was quite disappointed. The salad was so small that it should have been considered a side and not a full meal. Certainly not worth the $15 charged for it. It was very good though.

Service: Our waitress was very slow and inattentive. We had to try and flag her down in order to get refills on our drinks.

Overall we found Fuse to be nicely decorated and clean. However, the food was pretty deplorable both in taste and quantity for the price charged. The kitchen was very slow and the lack of service from our inattentive waitress made our experience even worse.    [16 Aug 2008 12:44:34]

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     ­Anonymous   

Excellent
Overall great experience.

Superb value for the good food and delightfully relaxing atmosphere.

Skur!    [23 Sep 2008 17:31:18]

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     ­Gene Coleman