The Red Door Bistro is situated on the shore of Nita Lake in the Creekside area of Whistler. It is a small, boutique style restaurant with a decently sized patio. It is a quick drive from Whistler and literally steps away from beautiful paths and trails along Nita Lake.

This is apparently a very busy eatery, so we were only able to get a 5:00pm seating on a Sunday while we were in Whistler. This made for a less interesting atmosphere, but we had a very comfortable table on the patio with a view of the rest of the restaurant and the kitchen.

The menu has a few options which are gluten free and/or vegetarian, but those options are limited. For those with dairy-free and gluten-free diets, there are very few options. Fortunately, the kitchen is happy to make accommodations and did so in our case.

We started with the calamari and the carpaccio. The calamari was sautéed with a tarragon sauce, which gave it a slight hint of spice. We love calamari, and we are usually pleasantly surprised when it is gluten and dairy free! We also appreciate calamari which is not deep fried (although we love that variety, too!) Our only regret was that there wasn’t more (the portion size was on the lower end). The carpaccio was also quite nice, although we found some of the pieces a bit tougher and chewier than we typically like when it comes to carpaccio. It was still good, but we would not rank it amongst the best carpaccio we have had.

Due to our gluten and dairy free restrictions, the carpaccio came without bread and parmesan, which made the dish less filling. Because the calamari was also on the lower end in terms of portion size, we ended up also ordering the truffle fries before we finished our appetizers. These came out quickly. The kitchen omitted the parmesan given our dietary restrictions, but it was still delicious and a welcome addition which made the meal a bit more fulsome.

We then moved on to mains. We had the roasted, slow cooked beef and the duck. Both the beef and the duck were delicious and very tender. The portions were decently generous, as compared to the appetizers which were on the smaller side. They did not have any gluten or dairy free options for dessert other than sorbet, and we were feeling relatively full, so we passed on dessert.

After dinner, we went for a nice walk along Nita Lake. The proximity of this restaurant to the natural beauty of Nita Lake is certainly a draw. If you come here for dinner during this spring or summer, certainly consider saving some time for a pre or post dinner walk.

In general, we enjoyed our dining experience at Red Door Bistro Whistler. We would say the experience was very good but not exceptional. The dishes were well prepared and delicious, but the dishes were not particularly unique or uniquely presented. It was a satisfying dinner, but not the unforgettable kind that we have had elsewhere.

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If you enjoyed this article, you might also like to read about our other culinary adventures sharing our gluten-free and dairy-free experiences such as Earnest Ice Cream in Olympic Village, Hook Seabar in English Bay, and Craft Beer Market English Bay.