The Lion Rampant Scottish Pub

My sister and I are visiting the area on motorcycles. Our home base has been Shawnigan Lake. Today we decided to venture out and explore the back roads. We ended up in Maple Bay and saw the sign for the Lion Rampant. «SCOTTISH pub??» I got very excited. Our family background is mostly Scottish! Anyway. The interior is beautiful, the patio even better.
FOOD TIME. Service was quick and very friendly. We ordered a Scottish Roll for an appetizer. Bacon and sausage in a flakey pastry in a sea of gravy. The most delicious gravy. I could have eaten eight more of them. We both ordered entrees for lunch, which seemed a bit silly. However, Scottish pub. I didn’t just want a wrap, burger or sandwich. I can get that anywhere or make it at home. Shepherds Pie for me, taco mac and cheese for my sister.
SO GOOD. I did not want the food to stop. Everything was seriously so delicious. I’m also pretty sure it was ground lamb. Friggin delicious.
Pay no attention to these two bad reviews because they are so wrong. This place is amazing. If I’m in the area again, I will go out of my way to eat here. Holy crap.

Fantastic dinner Fathers Day special. Great supply of local and imported Scottish liquers and of course Guinness. Great commumity atmosphere. The deck overlooks Maple Bay.

Food was weird. very Scottish menu… haggis? Seriously… i guess if your from Scotland there would be something familiar. Had some wings that were tasteless. Only good thing is the view. Cold atmosphere too. We went last summer and haven’t been back. There’s a much nicer place down the street with much better food and a fun atmosphere

When the garlic toast is the best thing about the meal and the view is the only reason for 2 stars, you have a problem.
I had lunch with my dad and my aunt here, and boy was it a disappointment. The view is great, but that’s all this place has going for it. Go for the unobstructed view of the bay, and maybe a pint of beer. But skip the food.
Our waitress/​everything woman seemed overwhelmed by the number of people at the restaurant and wasn’t particularly friendly. They didn’t have printed menus, just two white boards with the menu scrawled on it that they move around from table to table. So seconds after my aunt arrived we were asked for our order. We hadn’t even looked at the white board that had been brought over, and this was apparently a real problem because another table needed it. So we were allowed another minute to decide. There are maybe 8 items total on the menu, and half were breakfast specials. I had already eaten breakfast so was looking for lunch, not eggs. Dad and I decided on the clam chowder and crab cakes. My aunt had the steak and Caesar salad.
When our food eventually arrived I was disappointed. The crab cakes looked pre-​frozen, not fresh as I had hoped, being on the seaside with abundant resources nearby. They were flat, round patties, like a frozen burger patty. I tried some. They tasted strange, with a chewy texture. I couldn’t place it, but they didn’t taste like crab. So I tried some soup. Bland as bland can be. The white chowder was clearly more flour and stock than actual cream, so cheap ingredients. Not a hint of tarragon, carrot or any other usual suspects in a good clam chowder. Just bland, floury slop with some chunks of potato and clam. And it was mildly warm. Not even hot. I tried some more crab cake. Then it hit me… fake crab. Pollock. Not even a crustacean. Don’t you dare call something containing fake crab a crab cake. They are not the same in the slightest, and I don’t know who decided pollock and red food dye make a good substitute for real crab, but they are dead wrong and I would like to slap them. What a sham. I was really hoping for a crab cake, instead I got fish cakes, and not very good ones. Blech. I crammed the garlic toast in my mouth as it helped disguise the flavour. It was they only good part of that meal, and it was basic at best.
Our surly waitress seemed to have cheered up a bit by the time we went to pay and leave, but the damage was done. I wish this place had been great. Or at least good. But it was neither. No on the food. No on the service. No on the stupid menu system. Their view is their saving grace, but even that won’t bring me back.
Gawd, with a lottery winning I would buy this place out and make it something special. If I can’t, someone else should. What a waste.