March 26, 2010

The Superior Cafe, James Bay

After a less than stellar experience at Cafe Brio, a recommendations, and bad "small plates" at the Tapas Bar I was a little worried about another recommendation for a small plate/sharing concept place. Great sharing food with a good environment would exactly match the above tagline of 'social dining'.

Well, apart from one problem, the short version is the Superior is indeed superior, the food is excellent, the atmosphere conducive to a relaxed discussion and the beer list also meets my standards of being worthwhile.

We got there just around 7pm, and the place was already full, so we squeezed onto the end of the bar. Which isn't a problem for me, I like eating at the bar, as there's something going on there, and you can see whats on offer. Plus if the staff are friendly, you get quick service.

So we settled in, and ordered drinks while looking at the menu. Which is a single page divided into salads, snacks, plates, vegetables and flatbreads, with the dessert tucked into the bottom. A lot things are twists on bar standards, but which promised to show something quite difference. For instance, ox tail poutine, root chips and a grilled ceasar. I was particularly drawn to the battered oysters in a Salt Spring Heather Ale batter, but not knowing how great the food would be, I passed.. I've had oysters destroyed this way, but the thought of the botanical heather flavour of the beer batter is tempting.

I ordered a bottle of Phillips Double Dragon, a great Imperial Red Ale from Victoria. The rest of the choices were mostly Phillips bottles or taps, with one or two from Beacon and some imports (nothing exciting if you ever drunk in any bar in Europe though). Imperial means they've mad it along the lines of Imperial Stouts (though not a stout at all)... extra hops, more fermentable grains, longer conditioning for a great, rich flavour.

My friend enjoyed the Twisted Tree Red, but I'm afraid what I know about wine is minimal, so I can't describe anything more than the colour was indeed red.

Food arrived. The chickpea fritters were probably the best thing I have ever tasted mad from Chickpeas. I've had awesome Hummus, and chickpea pakoras that made me seriously consider vegetarianism (the lamb biryani that followed cured that idea), but these were fluffy, yet substantial, with a warm earthy flavour, and lovely crispy outside that reminded me of the fairground-fresh donuts.

My friends had gone for the Spinach Salad, with proscuitto ham, feta cheese and balasmic reduction.  The Balsamic vinegar had gone sweet and this mixed well with the cheese, which was sharp AND creamy.  I'm not a fan of spinach on it's own, but whatever they'd done, the leaves had lost the slightly waxy feel I can't stand.

Then came the wings.  I ordered wings.  There wasn't a TV in the place, no sport was on, but I ordered the wings.  These were Korean sweet and spicy wings.  These were a king among wings.  The meat was succulent, the spice aggressive, yet not overpowering.  It did remind me a little of Kimchee.  But that might have been the name of the wings that recalled that memory.

Beer finished, I went for the Phillips IPA and waited for deserts.  Someone had mentioned that Phillips had changed their recipe for the IPA, so I wanted to try it.  And it has changed, there's a nasty aftertaste that catches the back of your throat.  Ugh.

So, dessert.  I went for the rice pudding. This came a 3 inch round pile with a pretty smear of raspberry 'gel' and a marscapone/white chocolate scoop.  Rich, but the raspberry clean the palate and it was the end to an excellent meal.  Except my friend let me try the ginger and stout cake.  With salted caramel ice cream.  The cake was moist, but not much stout in there. But tasty.  But hold on...the salted-caramel ice cream was fantastic.  Sweet, but creamy, but salty.  I couldn't eat much, but I was left with the desire to try and make my own.  Or get someone to make me some.  Please?

So the meal finished, there was still a beer and a glass of wine to finish.  The place was still busy... it's the inside of an old church (though looks like the inside of a mid-Oxfordshire barn conversion to me), and perfect for sitting around and catching up.  The acoustics don't make the other conversations drown yours out, and there's a relaxed efficancy about the staff.

Then the jazz band came on.  There's a comedy cliche about jazz, that it's smug and a-rhythmic and dissappears up it's own fundament.  This is possibly unfair, but given the right mood, I'll let some of the more blues-inspired jazz wash over me, or tap along to 'Kind of Blue'.   The trio on this night however were the cliche.  The music noodled on, occasionally promising to stop, but never actually doing so.  After 7.2 minutes of this, the conversation had lost it's rhythm, so we settled up to leave.

Still, I did get to admire outside the shoe tree... 400 pairs of trainers chucked over a dead tree in the patio garden.  It looked good in the fading evening sun.

Will go back, but will check what the entertainment is next time...

Final Bill :
Spinach Salad - $11
Korean Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings - $13
Chickpea Fritters - $6
Rice Pudding - $9
Stout and Candied Ginger Cake - $8
Phillips IPA - $5.50
Phillips Double Dragon - $9
2 glasses Twisted Tree - $8 each

Location : 106, Superior Street, Victoria, BC
Telephone : (250)-380-9515

Website : http://www.thesuperior.ca/

March 01, 2010

The Beagle, Cook Street Village

Last Friday was the men's ice hockey semi-final, and a plan had been hatched to go watch it. By my very calling it 'ice' hockey, you know can tell I am not from round here. But still, I like watching hockey, and have a passing familiarity with the sport, watching the Salmon Kings for most home series, and following the Red Wings... once the NFL season is over. So with a plan to watch the game, I joined three or four other real Canadians to get in to the Olympic spirit and feel the national pride (as seen down the pub). And see if it's different to the raving madness that is a England Football game.

So, this review of the Beagle might be a little tainted as I was headed on a very busy night. But, I've been there before on quieter nights (watching the Phoenix Suns, and homeboy hero Steve Nash, or after a long walk in Beacon Hill Park), and there's not much difference.

Except the place was packed. We were asked to wait in the lobby while other's finished up drinking through the curling finals. Being 3rd in line, this wasn't a big deal, and after a bit of a wait at the bar, we got a seat. Though we couldn't get served at the bar as it was blocked off by patrons sitting down. Not a big deal over here, as table service is standard, and standing around isn't. But one of my biggest peeves in a British pub is it being filled up with people drinking and not people buying booze, so I can have my turn.

Still we found half a table, then got a full table and squeezed ourselves in. The Beagle has several screens, but none that big, so viewing across the bar was a bit of pain. Could see the game, but not as well as it would have been at home, or on a large projection screen or decent sized flat screen.

But there was a buzz. Red and white, face paint everywhere, maple leaves on shirts, faces and tied into people's hair. O Canada was sung at least three times (I can't imagine a full pub in London breaking into to Good Save the Queen). Beer was served quickly enough, and I missed pints of Lighthouse being $5.25 on Friday and opted for Molson Canadian. What? They didn't have any Slovak beer. And, I find Canadian drinkable, unlike most light lagers. Cold, fresh, good sports-watching beer. I did switch the the Beacon IPA, which was okay, but seemed slightly less hoppy than normal. Whether it was the batch or the service, hard to tell.
They serve a full slate of local beer on draft, including Driftwood, Phillips and Lighthouse, and more than just a token effort from each, which is supporting the side nicely. There's also your standard Okangan Spring, Sleeman's and the Molson range. So thats the beer. Unadventurous, but that's not the point. There's one for your taste there.

The food is standard pub grub. I ordered chicken and yam fries. These were nasty, with the yam fried under cooked, the dipping sauces cloying and manufactured (and plum sauce is not good), and the chicken strips over crisped in batter. The Halibut burger looked a lot better, being not, as I imagined, a deep fried organge battered traingle, but a seasoned, extra-lightly battered wedge of nice white flaky fish. But with underdone fries.
But, dammit, there was a hockey game on. The canned music was turned off (nothing worse than music being forced instead of sports when the sports is the point... I'm looking at the Podium downtown there as an offender), the commentary just discernible and the noise in the room amped up. Each hit was cheered, each chance clapped and each save by Bobby Luongo causing the audience to break out in a chorus of 'Loooouuu'. Not Boo. The place, of course, erupted when Patrick Marleau's goal was given after a second look. Tip to the Slovak goalie... probably best to concentrate on stopping the goal first, and protesting a high stick after making the save, not as it whizzes past you.

Not dissimiliar to watching England take a 1-0 lead in a football match. But less swearing. In fact, even after Canada gave up a 3-0 lead to have it 302 in the dying minutes of the third period, there was no abuse, just a subdued hush and a vague sense of panic. People half hid their eyes, shoulders dropped and exhortations to 'skate hard' punctured the air more than 'Go Canada Go'.

Still, after 2 minutes of something less like hockey, and more like scrambling on ice by both teams, the right team one, the fever pitch came back on and another chorus of Canada was sung. My friends checked I knew the words (I do, from it being played before every game of ECHL hockey), and beers were finished, and the bill settled.

So, as a venue to watch a major sporting event where everyone's on the same side... good plan. As a venue for casual sporting events... not so sure. And for food... erm, no. Overpriced, and badly cooked. Still the service IS good, so full marks to our server.

Final Bill :
2 pints Beacon IPA - $5.25 each
1 pint Molson Canadian - $5.75
Chicken Strips and Yam Fries -$11.95

Location : 301, Cook Street
Telephone : (250) - 382 - 3301
Website : http://www.beaglepub.com

(I watched the final from the safety of my own home...  excellent match, and downtown was crazy till at least 9pm...)