February 26, 2010

Cafe Brio

Dine Around Victoria is an annual event in town where a selection of restaurants offer up cheaper tasting menus, I guess to showcase themselves and to fill up tables in a the quiet time before the tourist season sets in. Word of mouth is always a good advertisement. The old maxim goes that it's better to be talked about than not talked about, but I'm pretty sure in the restaurant industry, being talked about badly is worse.

Cafe Brio has had several people praise it to me, so I decided to try it out with their $30 Dine Around menu. The Cafe was purpose built on the location, according to the blurb on the website, and the restaurant itself is a fine building. Set back from the road it has a small court yard, before the yellow frontage, which I am sure is meant to remind you of Tuscany. In side there's a large space with a mix of booth, cost tables andlarger areas for groups. A nice high ceiling seems to soak up the noise, so while there's a buzz, you can talk and hear yourself.

Drinks were offered, the menu considered and the starters came out in reasonable time. We both had the Sweet Parnsip soup, which was indeed sweet, with large bits of black pepper in. Slightly too sweet for me, and the raw earthiness of the parsnip wasn't there.

For main course I had Sooke trout, with spinach, a brown butter foam and "pancetta-scallion arancini".   The trout was nicely crisped, with a nice flaky-yet-moist white meat.  The foam okay, and spinach is well, spinach.  I had never heard of arancini before, but they are fried rice balls coated in breadcrumbs, here flavoured with pancetta and scallion (of course) which made for a great delicate flavour.  

My friend had the beef short-rib, served with a stout-jus and seasonal vegetables (tatties and neeps, I think).  The short rib was lovely and tender, but the stout jus overwhelmed the beef flavour, making it a bit of a muddy mix of flavours.

For desert, the lemon tart was tart and light, with wafer thin-crust of sugar.  Probably the best thing I had.  And as not-a-dessert-person, one of the best desserts eating out in a long time.  The poached pear was served cold, which surprised me, expecting it to be a steaming juicy fruit with a light mousse topping.  

A couple of coffee's and we weren't hurried  out the door, even if the drinks server was a little over zealous on coming over to fuss during the meal. Nice relaxed atmosphere, good, but not great food.  Wasn't the super high mark I had expected from recommendations.  Plenty of other places to try, several of which I know won't be as good as here, but I know there's also better in town.

Final Bill :
Parsnip Soup, Sooke Trout and Lemon Tart - $30
Parsnip Soup, Beef Shortrib and Baked Pear - $30
Coffee x2 - $4.50
Vodka Cranberry - $4.75

Location : 944 Fort Street
Telephone : (250) - 383 - 0009
Website : http://www.cafebrio.com

February 21, 2010

Tibetan Kitchen

Sorry Victoria, it's been a month. A long month which involved birthdays (mine), confusion (mostly mine) and immigration (mine). Attempt have been made to post more often. And take advantage of Dine Around Victoria.

So, I was out and about and the normal conversation came up... "where do we fancy eating?". With just two people, that's always a slightly easier task, and wander down Fort Street reminded me the the old Hand-made Noodle place had closed and been replaced by the Tibetan Kitchen.

I know nothing about Tibetan Cuisine. Nor did my friend. Time to investigate.

The inside has been nicely redecorated, with lots of browns and wood tones. A simple menu was given to us, but it left me none the wiser as to what to expect. It seemed to various curries, on rice or noodles. Brown rice was an option, which is a good thing.

A couple of portion of momo's were ordered for starter. These a doughy balls filled with meat or veg, and served with a salsa-like sauce and a heap of coleslaw. Much like a gyoza, but with a thicker wall of pastry. These had been steamed and then fried off. The contents were a little bland (the pork just tasted meaty and the veg was a melange of winter vegetable flavours), but filled a gap.

I ordered a Chicken Shepka (I think that was the name), while my friend ordered Butter Chicken. The Butter Chicken came with an unknown soup/sauce in a seperate bowl, a big mound of brown rice and a smallish bowl of butter chicken and a couple of fried flat breads. The mystery sauce was also a little bland, but the butter chicken, I am told, was okay. I can take or leave butter chicken myself, but I know other people love it.

The Shepka was more interesting. A pile of rice was topped with cooked mushrooms, friend chicken and fresh bean sprouts, all mixed with a subtly spicy and savoury sauce. The chicken was all small pieces each nicely cooked and tender. The rice was nutty, which is why I love brown rice, and worked well with the chicken.

Overall the price was good for an average meal, that was a little different but Tibetan here seemed to be a cross between Japanese and Indian styles. This is possibly due to a lack of understanding of what I was eating, style wise, but with a slightly off normal cuisine, I think it does help that the menu explains it's self more.

Final Bill:
Pork Momo's : $4
Vegetable Momo's : $4
Chicken Shepka : $10
Butter Chicken : $9

Location : 680 Broughton Street
Telephone : (250) - 383 - 5564