Hillside Winery & Bistro

Hillside Winery and Bistro is a great place to stop for lunch when you’ve been working hard all morning tasting wines on the Bench. It has a nice outdoor patio and since it’s not on the lake side of the street you can usually get in! That’s no reflection on the food but rather on the lack of water view while you’re dining. Have the burger and chase it down with one of their cabs or meritage blends. Highly recommend.

great view and great food, super relaxed environment, me and my wife enjoy our visits out to this place a few times a year

Was touring was wineries in naramata and of course had to have lunch here. Summer pasta with an egg on top and a glass of their famous rose. HEAVEN. I love this winery and bistro, it’s the best in all of naramata.

We had a wonderful lunch on the patio. Food was great! I loved the Cesar salat which had fried herbs as a topping. Excellent! I’ve guarded the salat with the Pinot Gris. It turned out this was a excellent choice with the salat.

After a busy morning of wine tastings, my husband, a friend, her 11 month old, and myself were looking for a nice restaurant to have lunch on a Saturday morning. We heard good things about the Hillside Winery and Bistro, so we decided to head there.
The restaurant was expecting two large groups on the patio, but we were able to get a table inside. The waitress also brought a high chair out for the little one. While it was appreciated, the cloth seat of the chair was disgusting. For a «fine dining» establishment, this didn’t really give a good impression. Also, there were tons of flies in the restaurant. I don’t think there is much that can be done to prevent that, but it didn’t help the atmosphere.
For lunch, I ordered the Rossdown Farms Chicken Ciabatta Sandwich with the side salad. While the portion of chicken was a good size, and the bread was good, the sandwich itself was quite bland. All you could taste was chicken and goat cheese. I expected a little bit more for $ 19. My husband ordered the special, which was a salmon and cream cheese panini with deep fried capers. While the bite I stole of it was better than my chicken sandwich, I thought it was pretty mediocre for the $ 21 price tag.
I was also disappointed that not only did the women’s washroom smell vaguely like an outhouse, but they watered down the hand soap! For a bistro that boats itself to be the «Best Bistro in the Southern Okanagan», this was really disappointing and unhygienic.
I was really hoping to try out some wines and maybe pick up a bottle, but both tasting room counters were packed, and after waiting a few minutes, we decided it wasn’t worth our time. As we were walking back to the car and packing the child back in the vehicle, a few other couples entered the winery and immediately turned around once they saw the crowds.
I wish I could recommend this winery to you, but there are just so many better wineries down the road that you shouldn’t settle for mediocrity.

This is a terrific restaurant and a definite must-​do. We loved the rustic décor and the staff were friendly, cheerful and helpful.
We started by sharing the cheese plate, which is the perfect starter for two (although the Camembert was cold, and not quite ripe). Then I had the roasted carrot and apple soup. The serving was a little too large… there is a sweet undertaste to this soup which, all of a sudden, becomes unappetizing. They’d be better to make it a smaller serving so that the experience of it doesn’t ‘turn’.
Simultaneously, I had the Fraser Valley Duck Parfait which, if you like a creamy pâté, is the best I’ve had in years.
Meanwhile, my companion had the Lois Lake Steelhead Trout. He said it was superb, that he hadn’t had a more delicious fish dish in months.
Then we split the Lemon Buttermilk Pudding Cake, which was the perfect cap to a delicious meal.

Well, after my last meal here, I really need to upgrade this to a 4 star venue. Please read my previous review for general info about the winery, Bistro & accessibility.
While yes, I have had sub-​par food here, I have also had spectacular food here, including the best quiche I have ever eaten. This last visit (May 2015) I had one of the top 10 pasta dishes I have ever eaten (and since I am vegetarian, I end up with a lot of pasta, some of it quite good!) it was an amazing wild mushroom mix with a light cream sauce — the balance of flavours was extraordinary, & the mushrooms were divine. I even had several morels! I could not finish the dish, so passed it to my partner to try. He claimed he was full after his steelhead trout main — but he ended up finishing every last bite of my pasta. It was that delicious!
Always make reservations here, as they do get quite busy sometimes, especially if the weather does not allow for patio dining.

Love the wines here, especially their Gewurtz and the tasting room experience is pretty solid but each time I visit the restaurant I’m more and more disappointed, to the extent that I will think twice about bothering to visit in the future. Food is good but overpriced and the staff seem bored, verging on unprofessional. Overall the feeling is that they know they’re the only restaurant in the area and so you can put up with whatever they want to dish out. I hope other wineries in the area will open restaurants and shake them out of their complacency.

The winery is located on the lovely Naramata Bench. Great location with a beautiful vineyard. The staff was super friendly, and we were seated promptly.
Our server had good menu knowledge when asked about vegetarian options. We didn’t inquire too much about wine.
Starters came out and looked amazing. Fantastic presentation, big bold flavours, and just delicious. Now I’m a stickler for details. My plate was cleared before my guys (because I was done early). Cutlery wasn’t cleared between courses either. Hate. That. Shiz. Would definitely recommend the Tom Yum mussels (it was… YumY) and the kale salad that came loaded with good stuff including bacon that almost turned me back Meatatarian; it looked SO good and totally *thick* cut.
We decided to split the gnocchi as a mid course. Again, stickler for details, the dish came out and wasn’t split; I had to ask for side plates and use last course’s cutlery. No serving spoon. Lame. The dish was beautifully presented yet again. Big handmade gnocchi that was finished in a pan. Pesto. And an egg to crack. I must say it looked better than it tasted. It was missing some salt and acidity. Other than that it was a pretty stellar dish.
Really appreciated the team effort by the staff. Water was always full. Tea came out when I asked right away. There was somebody at the door to greet us. And the food came out quickly. Kudos for that.
Would I come back? Oh yes. And recommend? Definitely. Were there a few points that would have added a star? Yep. Oh yea, and the view is like right there. You can imagine it’s one of the best in the Okanagan, but for some reason it’s well, JUST out of view. You can’t see it from the restaurant. What’s up with that?

My friends and I first ate at Hillside Bistro three years ago. We loved it so much that we ended up eating two meals there on our three-​day roadtrip. What I remember fondly: their delicious hangar steak over a potato salad, the gorgeous patio, and a view of the sunset.
This summer, my boyfriend and I went on a road trip and I insisted we have dinner at the bistro while in Penticton. I’m so glad that we did! We each started with fresh and delicious salads, enjoyed our main courses (prime rib special for me, gnocchi for vegetarian him), and shared an amazing lemon buttermilk pudding cake with a basil parfait. The prices were a bit steep, but as we had just spent a week camping I thought it was a justifiable expense.
My only complaint was that we felt a bit tricked when ordering wine. Prices on the wine list are for 5 oz glasses rather than 8 oz, so when we got the bill, our 8 oz glasses costed more than we anticipated.
I would also recommend making reservations so that you get to sit on the patio upstairs, as we walked in and were seated downstairs, and our view of the sunset was blocked by the building.
The bill came to around $ 150 for the two of us including tips – given the quality, taste, and that it was a rare visit to Penticton, it was worth it.

we reserved a patio seat for my birthday on June 28. What an amazing patio! wow, fantastic view for sunset!
the food was really really interesting and delicious. I had the gnocchi. usually i find the gnocchi gets boring before i finish it. every mouthful the same. not this one. there was more other stuff than actual gnocchi. i was a little worried about the cilantro hazelnut pesto (not liking hazelnuts much) but it just gave the cilanto pesto a really nice texture without a strong taste. the hubby had the steak, he said it wasn’t the most awesome steak ever but seasoned and cooked well. for desert the chef made some kind of frozen basil cream thing that sounded scary but tasted amazing.
the wine was a really good price point too, and very yum.
bad bits?
not enough blankets — the patio gets chilly when the sun goes down. the service was only ok — there were several very large tables that sucked up the servers time and energy (and blankets)… there was only one veg choice — which is kind of lame, lucky for me it was awesome.

Good but over priced!!! I ordered their vegan stew it was 5 rice balls for $ 26 and a small piece of flat bread for $ 15. If they want to charge high end prices they should treat it like one, give free bread or something

Food is pretty good, but a little expensive. The fact that they charge a $ 13 corkage fee on a bottle you buy in their own winery is offensive.

We came to taste at the Hillside Estate Winery after hearing many positive things about the wines and being generally excited to check this spot out.
The grounds and gardens are simple and colorful. I think this place was likely built in the late 80s, and it had that retro Steely Dan vibe to the place.
We didn’t try the dining area, but they do have a low key spot that while not as atmospheric as other winery restaurants in the area, did seem to have a active crowd enjoying the afternoon sun. It reminded me a little bit of V. Sattui in Napa.
We sampled several wines in the tasting room and this was one of the few real wine misses we had in the Okanagan Valley. Nothing here really hit the mark and we tried four to six wines, to no avail. Wine tasting can be fairly subjective, but the wines here just didn’t mesh with our palate or interests. For us, this winery was a miss.

Beautiful winery and restaurant on the Naramata side of Penticton and the Okanagan. We stopped in for a leisurely lunch on the upstairs patio, which was the perfectly placed restaurant. The view of the valley and lake was great.
Our service was pretty good. The food was also good. 3 of the people at our table had the special of the day, the bbq pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw. It was very tasty and very messy. The other three people had the salmon sandwich which they all raved about and I wish I had gotten a bite. We all thought the portion sizes were good and the bbq pork sandwich was a hefty portion size. We had several desserts among us and the most popular was the buttermilk pudding cake. It was unusual but really delicious. And of course, everything is better with a garnish of locally grown fruit.
We made a reservation which I recommend. We were able to get a nice spot on the deck rather than inside, so definitely a plus.
I would recommend this place for lunch. I don’t drink, so no idea on the wine.

Stopped in with visiting Family on a wine tour of the Naramata bench. Wine is overpriced and lacklustre in the tasting room.
Food is good, but service sucked… like terrible. Cheese and fruit plate was a bit pricey for what we got.
Okanagan wine has a long way to come before it compares to equivalently priced wines from elsewhere.

Service = excellent.
Food = excellent.
Portion size = small.
Prices = expensive.
We had seven people at our table and we all agreed on the above points. If the portion sizes were a bit larger this restaurant would get a ⁵⁄₅.

I have enjoyed thousands of restaurants in over 30 countries around the world, and this is one of the best meals I have ever had. I enjoyed the charcuterie, a salad, and Confit Duck Leg «Grilled Cheese» Sandwich. It was a struggle to eat anywhere else in the Okanagan on my 5 day trip when this was only an hour’s drive from my hotel.
The service was pretty good, the view was amazing, and the food was perfect.

We love the ambiance of Hillside — intimate, w/​beautifully designed interior & exterior. It felt like we were back in Tuscany. Loved menu — it had wonderful vegetarian choices; Nina’s service & recommendations were amazing! Great value for your money — a perfect experience! A worthwhile visit with beautiful wines as souvenirs to be enjoyed at home.
What we had:
Artisan Green Salad w/​Apple Dressing (topped with Chevre, Candied Pecans & Apple Slices) — Fresh, perfectly balanced
Unbelievable Mushroom Bolognese Pasta Bowl (Hand-​rolled Pasta, Wild Mushrooms & Caramelized Onions) — I was in heaven and cleaned my plate.
Oktoberfest special: Kesler (Smoked & Cured) Ham, Bratwurst, Pork Belly w/​Spetzle & Braised Cabbage — brought you Germany on a plate
Wines: Riesling, Muscat & KVR — both affordable & delightful
Desserts were a light sweet finish!
Open during the Wine Season — Closed during Winter

Had a delicious lunch here overlooking the lake and the mountains with some of their terrific wine. We all loved our food, especially the Pulled Chicken BBQ Sandwich with Apple Coleslaw on Ciabatta.