The Babel Fish Bistro is my favorite restaurant in Guelph. I have enjoyed many great meals there through dates with my wife and special events with family and friends. The food has always been excellent and the service wonderful. The wine list is full of great choices and the price range is reasonable. I have to say their homemade Caesar dressing is the best I have ever had, and I try Caesar almost everywhere I go. They do a great job with the steaks they offer and the bbq'ed back ribs are definitely the best in town. My wife loves the pistachio salmon with maple and teriyaki sauce and is also a big fan of the Asian pork tenderloin. We're not big dessert people but we tried the creme brulée once and now we're hooked. We travel around quite a bit and I used to try the creme brulée everywhere we went. I have since stopped because more times than not I've been served the equivelent of scammbled eggs with sugar on top. The Babel Fish is a consistently great spot and we recommend all the time.
Recommended: ribs, salmon, beef, pork
Food: 8
Service: 10
Ambiance: 8
Overall: 10

Yum Yum Yum
I was dining alone the evening I decided to try the bistro. Service was attentive but not obtrusive. I had an appetizer if Mussels in a tomato, garlic, bacon broth which was excellent, the smokey bacon gave it a very nice taste. The mussels were tender and plentiful. I followed with a main course of monkfish in a tomato, capers and red wine reduction served with rice, and an assortment of grilled and steamed vegetables (broccoli, green beans, zucchini and red pepper). The fish was cooked to perfection. The reduction sauce complemented the fish very nicely. A couple of glasses of wine and a coffee completed my meal as I passed on dessert.
Recommended: mussels, monkfish
Food: 8
Service: 8
Ambiance: 6
Overall: 6

One of Guelph's Finest
After eating out at several of the fantastic restaurants downtown Guelph has to offer, I would have to say that the Babel Fish Bistro on MacDonell St. ranks as my #1. The menu has something for everyone, whether it be seafood, pasta, or red meat. The service is always top notch, and the prices are much more affordable than other over rated restaurants in the area. Whenever I have a special occasion to celebrate, I've never been let down by a night out at Babel Fish.
Recommended: seafood pasta, BBQ ribs, salmon
Food: 10
Service: 10
Ambiance: 8
Overall: 10
- Guelph

Sauce Left a Bad Taste in our Mouths
At first menu items appear interesting, if somewhat limited. After further investigation, many menu items seem to consist of the same ingredients. How many ways can you prepare baby greens? Given the restaurant's name, one would think that a seafood appetizer would be the best bet. Scallops with mushrooms and blue cheese (and the above mentioned baby greens)was swimming in sauce. An unexpected, odd shade of brown, the sauce became sickening after the first couple of bites. Second course choices did not fare any better. Cheese ravioli with mushrooms and smoked bacon in tomato sauce tasted like the smoke you'd inhale at a bonfire. Unfortunately, there was so much sauce that it was impossible to get through to the ordinary, yet more appetizing ravioli that lay beneath. The beef tenderloin was cooked as ordered but again was overshadowed by the sauce. The sauce had an indistinguishable, bitter, burnt, sour taste that can only be described as awful. The accompanying mashed potatoes were dry and tasteless-again awful. The service started out fine but deteriorated as the two-hour dining experience progressed. No-one commented on the uneaten meals we returned to the kitchen but we feel they sensed our dissatisfaction as the wait staff avoided our table for the remainder of the evening. In the 45 minutes following the clearing of the table, we were not offered dessert and coffee and only got our bill by flagging down a passing server who was not responsible for our section. After dropping $100.00, we feel dissatisfied.
Recommended: something without sauce
Food: 2
Service: 4
Ambiance: 6
Overall: 2