The Canoe Club

I've always been slightly underwhelmed by the Canoe Club. In my past trips, the brewpub beer has been poor to average, the food passable and the service bordering on the lousy. But one trip with a good group of friends redeemed a bit when we had a great night out. So, when I was looking for a bar to meet a dozen or so friends, we went for the Canoe Club to see if it was a lucky shot.

The Canoe Brew Pub is a big barn of building, an original Victoria heritage build on the gorge, overlooking a marina, and the Inner Harbour boat works. The patio is always busy during the summer, not least because it's one of the few sunny patios in the downtown core (I can only think of the Swiftsure as a rival as having any decent amount of evening sun, and that's limited). But it was winter, and we headed inside. Only managing to grab a couple of small tables at the start, as our group expanded, we over took a few more spots and took up one side of the bar area.

This probably gave our server fits, as everyone was there to drink, chat and catch up just before Christmas, and the normal trick of numbering the table wasn't going to help. Still the first pints came along rapidly enough, and I sampled the joy of the Winter Gale Strong Ale. A rich, strong spicy beer, with a nice malty sweetness. Very drinkable, and while not matching some of the craft breweries winter special, better than I had expected. At 8%, I couldn't drink it all night, though.

A variety of other beers and wines were ordered, and after the first round, the service slowed down. Getting the server to our table wasn't a case of him checking if we were okay, but having to signal, wave or lean over as he ran past. The service hadn't improved much, maybe excusable that our area was three times busier than they'd expect, but the head server should then realise this and make life easier somehow. I ended up getting served at the bar. And to the server's credit, no final bill was screwed up.

I also drank the Beaver Brown Ale. A thick, dark, beer, with plenty of body, but not a smooth pint, it has a slightly chewy mouth feel. Drinkable, enjoyable, but there's better local brew in Victoria. I tried the Siren's Song Pale Ale and this was definitely a pass. Overly bittered, with an astringent taste rather than a more pleasant hoppy character.

We did order some food. The poutine got the thumbs up, the gyoza were average as was the rest of the fare I tried. Except the Calamari. Crisply battered and almost, but not quite under cooked. Perfectly quivering hoops of squidy goodness tasting of squid, slightly akin to crabsticks but much more subtle and sweeter.

The DJ was playing deep house beats, but this was low enough to carry on talking all night across and around the tables, but loud enough to fill in the edges of the conversation. Being advertised as Deep House Beats did scare me, but it was chilled rather than trance. And nobody was dancing. The group swelled to 20 plus at one point, but there was space, and plenty of ability to move the tables and chairs around to mingle and catch up. As far as I know, there's few places in Victoria where we could have done this unannounced and unbooked. And have a good, social time.

So the service is still poor, the beer is better and the food either good or indifferent; but if the company is good and large, place to have beer that's not my front room. Which means less empties and clean up.

Final Bill :
Winter Gale Strong Ale (140z) - $6.10
Beaver Brown Ale (20oz) - $6.10
Calamari - $12.00
Gyoza - $10.00

Location : 450 Swift Street
Telephone : (250) - 361 - 1940
Website : http://www.canoebrewpub.com/

Solomon's

I've been putting of writing this review for a while. Mostly because it's my favourite drinking establishment in Victoria and I want to do it justice. But also because it's one I can always write something about. And also because I might be accused of being a shill. I await my check if I am....

Still, Solomon's is a relatively new bar (just over a year old) a little out of the way on Herald Street. It's not passing trade that gets you in there, but word of mouth and recommendations. And the atomosphere and beer list keep me coming back. It's a small place, one frontage wide, a big long bar and seating for maybe 30-40 people. Bigger than some UK pubs I know of, mind.

The place specialises in two things... cocktails and beer. Solomon, the owner, has created a menu of his favourite cocktails, both self invented and old pre-prohibition classics, and they are all made with premium spirits and plenty of care. Service can take a little longer with the cocktails, but those who drink them seem to love them ... I've heard good things about the Hartland Landfill, and the Tequila Salsa concoction was an interesting use of tequila (as opposed to being poured by semi-naked, leather clad tequila girls, which is more an interesting use of marketing and leather rather than tequila).

The beer menu is (currently) 40-odd bottles long with 2-3 beers on tap. There's also an massive selection of neat spirits for selecting. The draft is normally 2 fresh, regular beers from Driftwood and a special. Recently it was an fantastic 12 (yes twelve) year old cheery lambic from Storm Brewing. Tart and sour and one of the most interesting beers I have ever drunk. But that went, and now it's Howe Sound's Winter Warmer ale. Next keg? Who knows.

I love the beer menu though. 40 bottles, in a variety of styles and a variety of prices. If your looking a great $7 bottle, they've got 'em (The Hop Rod Ale from Bear Republic Brewing is my top choice). If your a real beer ticker, try the Rogue Imperial Stout though. Yes it's well over $25, but you can sup it all night, and you'd pay that for a good wine. Between the two there's European imports, beers from south of the border and Canadian goodies. I think I've tried half the menu now with a good friend who knows his beer, and only one was so bad we swore never again (La Merle Saison from North Coast Brewing, in case you are wondering).

But if you do like a good beer, but not sure which one to try, the staff can help you decide and know what beers will suit which palates. Solomon knows his beers, flavours and styles, and flavours seem to be his passion. And a recommendation from Katie I've not seen miss yet. The other thing to try, maybe on a slower night, is a tasting selection of the spirits. $10 gets you 3 0.5oz samplers of the various whiskies, vodkas and distillations on the back bar. The staff will guide you through.

There is also food available. I used to love the Bottomless Chilli bowl, but that came off the menu, and was replaced by a selection of more novel (or nouvelle) cuisine. I tried the shrimp dumplings, which were good, but a little too doughy for my tastes. The lamb stew on a bed of couscous, olives and figs is, my friend tells me, one to 'die for'. Other choices include Beignets (doughy and sweet) and cheese cake (wonderfully tart and moist). The chef has big ideas to come, so that should be interesting.

Solomon doesn't have a TV, and he doesn't play loud chart music.  Wednesday night is Jazz night if you like a bit of live music. The place is designed for good tastings and good conversation. The place can get a little packed and a bit sweaty on a busy night, and service can be a little slower than other places. Cocktails can take time to serve, and if the company is good, and you have the time, it's not a problem. Prices aren't as cheap as Sopranos. But this isn't Sopranos...

Location : 542 Herald Street
Telephone : (250) - 590 - 7656
Website : http://www.solomons.ca/Solomons_Victoria_BC/Home.html

Travel : The Alibi Room, Alexander Street, Vancouver

Last weekend I was over in Vancouver for a Cask Beer event (see more details elsewhere in this blog), and we headed down to the Alibi Room for a post-fest meal and drink.

The Alibi room is towards the seedy end of Vancouver, down near Main and Hastings, but just about clings to the more trendy Gastown fringes. An old warehouse has been converted into a big drinking space with a slightly more intimate downstairs cellar. The Vancouverites I know swear by it's selection of beers, both bottled and on pump, and reverent tones have been uttered about it by many of the CAMRA-fans I know.

So, we got seated at the end of a long row of tables (no cosy little booths upstairs, you'll probably share your table unless you have a lot of friends) handed a beer menu and a food menu. The beer menu was two sides of relatively closely scrawled A4 graph paper. Not the easiest to read, and didn't seem in any logical order. But a great selection, and we were also referred to the chalk board. Which had recently been scrubbed and had just two specials on... and not the Driftwood Satori IPA that had been tapped just two days ago. Damn.

Still, I ordered a pint of Central City's Red Racer IPA, my go to IPA when I want a bunch of hops jammed up my nose and not much fuss. And the Bison Cheese steak. My friends ordered up a pair Yaletown Oud Bruin Sour Ale and a big fat hamburger and falafel. They also serve a frat-pack of four sampler sized beers, but after a beer fest I was done with experimenting the menu.

Food came soon enough, and a big plated was covered with a large pile of fries, a wonderfully crunchy coleslaw and a fresh bun crammed full of meat'n'cheese. Cheese-steak can be greasy and lardy and rather unpleasant. This wasn't. Nice bite to the cheese, lovely meaty bison, soft bun. Life was reaching a lovely glow of good food and a pleasant amount of beer. The Red Racer IPA was served and just what the doctor ordered. My friends were rather happy with the food as well, and conversation carried on happily and merrily about the relative merits of the island, how to sleep in the cold and Christmas. And probably other topics. It was one of those rambling evenings.

I can see why people make the longish walk from downtown to the Alibi Room. Good beer, good food, plenty of space, knowledgeable and mostly pleasant staff. One of the servers seemed to not be happy with us being joined by a couple of friends at a spare slot at the long, uncrowded table, but that was the only sour note that wasn't intentionally placed in beer or food.

Final Bill :
Bison Cheese Steak - $14
Central City Red Racer IPA (pint) - $6

Location : 157 Alexander Street, Vancouver
Telephone : (604)-624-3383
Website : http://www.alibi.ca/

Travel : Dix Winter Extreme Caskival, Vancouver

This weekend just gone I headed over on the early ferry to head to the Winter Cask Ale event at Dix's BBQ and Brewery, in downtown Vancouver. The queue had already formed by the time we got outside the bar at 11.30am. I hadn't woken up properly yet. And I was about to drink what I expected to be several very strong beers.

I don't always make the most sensible, clean living choices.

Dix has its own in house brewery and BBQ pit (you can smell the smoke from the passage way near the restrooms), and serves a variety of good beers. It's also ground central on gameday for the BC Lions and hosts many CAMRA events as well. Dix is part of the Mark James Group, which owns other establishments, including Yaletown Brewing (Vancouver), Taylor's Crossing (North Vancouver) and the Whistler Brewhouse (Whistler, duh). A lot of these breweries were in evidence here, which was a little bit disappointing, as the Summer event always seems to spread the love a lot further.

Still, there was plenty of good beers, and a good crowd as well. Except for the Morris Dancers. Who I am sure are all very pleasant people, but dancing and singing in a crowded pub for four hours in black face and silly hats is a bit much. I'm not sure why that entitled them to get in first and not to pay the entrance fee. The accompanying music however was a nice pleasant background, so I'll let that part of the contingent off.

But apart from the recreation of silly English folk traditions, what about the beer? Here's my comments, based on my notes. They got progressively less detailed. I am sure there was a reason for that...

1 - Taylor's Crossing - Festbier - 12-midday. Marzen style lager, lots of subtle bitterness. Spiced with juniper berries. Not your lucky lager. I got this first as a simple beer to kick off, and to compare to my own homebrewed Marzen. This one was much better (of course) but nice to see mine was at least in the right style.

2 - Howe Sound - Father John Winter Ale - I am convinced this was the wrong beer served. From the bottle last year this was a big flavoured, vanilla, spiced malty beer of greatness. The beer from the cask I was given was a bit weak and not exciting at all.

3 - Storm - Mole Poblano Ale - Chipotle and ancho peppers with chocolate. A muddy, murky brew. Lacking in the hot peppery spark I was expecting, but a great dark chocolate bitterness to it.

4 - Dead Frog - Winter Warmer - Dry hopped with whisky soaked oak chips. You could taste the oaky barrel flavour over the mellow but nicely bittered beer.

5 - Spinnakers - IPA - Charged with a sweet wort and Magnum Hops. Spinnakers used to do a great IPA called Doc's. It was a light, mellow IPA, brilliant when served cellar temperature ('warm' if you insist) that was easy drinking and one of my favourite beers ever. Then they seemed to change the recipe and it was harsh, overly bittered drink and not worth the trip to Esquimalt to drink. This IPA was back to form. A nice undertone of bitterness but the sweetness was also there and it'd be a great beer to while away an hour or five, if it wasn't also 7.3%.

6 - Dockside - Winterbock - Great Flavour with Malts and Hops and Goodness (word for word what I wrote. Hmm).

7 - Yaletown - Le Nez Rouge - Really strong ale with the only flavour being really strong alcohol flavour.

8 - Taylor's Crossing - Christmas Cake - Pretty much what it said on the tin (well barrel). Amber ale made with Molasses, candied fruits and Christmas spices. Smelt like my dad's best Christmas Cake recipe. Which is awesome.

9 - Steamworks - Espresso Stout - A shot of caffeine to wake me up. Guinness with coffee.

10 - Whistler Brewery - Wolfbeer - Good session beer, nice hints of malt flavours. I wrote 'malt liquors' but I am sure that would have been not good. Hmmm. These were only 1/4 pint glasses, but most were pretty strong. And I'd only eaten a bowl of gumbo....

11 - Dix - IPA - Traditional IPA - You can get this anytime at DIX. Or any other local brewpub. Or in a bottle marked 'Standard IPA that this brewery does because we should have an IPA on our list'. Not bad. Just nothing to get excited about. Or travel to Vancouver for.

12 - Yaletown - Oud Bruin - A flemish style sour beer, aged since January, made with 6 yeasts. Some sour beers are face puckering and aggressive. This was much more subtle. Yes it was sour, but there was still a nice dark ale nuttiness in there. Probably the best beer at the event for the ability it seemed to show in the brewers craft.

13 - Whistler Brewery - Double IPA - My notes say 'marvellous IPA'. I think I went back for a second. 

By this point the event was winding down after 5 hours, the golden bung for best beer had been handed out, and it was time to think about heading onwards.  It felt like much past 8. Early drinking ruins my body clock. So we headed down to the Alibi room...

Sura Korean

I've been to Sura twice.  My friend asked me if it's possible to review a place after just visiting once.  I think it is, especially as I'm trying to get a handle on the experience and the general quality of food and ambience, rather than to dissect the menu and food into the parts a professional foodie would.  But I have been twice, so that's a good start.  Serve me badly once, and I'm really not going to go back to find out if it was chance, a bad day or the general miasma of the place.  Places only get one shot to make a first impression.  Just like the old Head and Shoulders tagline used to say.

Ahem, Sura.  Korean BBQ.  The first time I went, we had the Korean BBQ for two, and the amount of meat was a generous two person serving.  Pork, chicken and beef, marinated and ready to go on the grill.  And if you don't know, Korean BBQ is where you cook your own meat on grill in the middle of the table.  The kitchen just provides the meat, the tongs and the sides (salad, miso soup and kimchi in this case).  Cooking without chargrilling everything or starting a small oil fire was a bit of a challenge, especially as you wanna keep talking and having a beer with your friend at the same time.  Luckily the wait staff seem to keep an eye on you.  The food was excellent, even if I cooked it myself.

The second time I went was just the other day.  My friends had lived in Korean for a good period of time, and were used to Korean cuisine, and wanted to get the dishes and flavours they were used to as a reminder of that time.  The ability to order off the menu with well pronouced Korean help endear them to the staff.  As did the offer of dried squid treats from the local Korean supermarket.

Two of us went for the the Dolsot Seasac Bibimbop.  This is a selection of vegetables and small slices of beef and sprouts, topped with an egg, served on rice in a baking hot stone dish. The amount of beef was minimal (I had to ask later if I'd ordered a vegeterian option), but the action of the hot dish crisped the rice on the bottom, and mixing in the vegetables made for a tasty, filling dish. The sprouts were alfalfa sprouts, not bean sprouts as I'd have expected.  But that's just the difference between imagining what your going to get and actually getting it.

My other friend ordered a Tofu and Chicken Jijigae, a hearty stew, slightly spicy served in another baking hot stone dish.  This came with a side of rice as well.  I tasted a small amount and it wouldn't have been added to my wish list for future visits, but the other two liked it well enough.

We also shared a Seafood  Jeon, which is a Korean style of pancake.  This was baked with clams, various vegetables and shrimp, and was fantastic.  Would be a great bar snack, or small plate appy with a good beer.    We were also served a variety of pickles and kimchi.  The kimchi isn't very spicy or garlicy, and I've been told the best in town is at Saigon Nights (a Vietnamese restaurant...). But these are nice to flavour up your food.  We also got plenty of hot jasmine tea to wash it all down with.  Would be nice to be left the pot behind.

The place was buzzing, and we had to wait a few minutes to get a table.  A lot of the clintele are (I believe) foreign students, and judging by the waiter chatting to them, a lot from Korea.  Normally a good sign.  But then hundreds of people eat in MacDonalds, and it's not a good sign for a traditional North American burger, so I'd take that with a pinch of salt.   What it does mean is that restaurnat has a great buzz about it, with chat, the sizzle of BBQ'd meat and the steam coming of the stews and soups running out of the kitchen.

No music to drown you out, or soak up the ambient sound. Seating is one of several booths or big long tables to really group together.  The rest of the decor is pretty spartan (except for plenty of extraction hoods to get cooking smoke of the BBQ), but the focus here is the eating, the communal experience of BBQ-ing or sharing dishes.

Final Bill :
Dolsot Seasac Bibimbop - $11.95 (x2)

Seafood Jeon - $8.95

Chicken and Tofu Jijigae - $9.95.

Total ~ $45 including Tax.

Location : 1696 Douglas Street
Telephone : (250) 385-7872
Website : None

Cabin 12

Cabin 12 occupies the corner of Pandora and Government, where downtown gets the seediest it really gets, kitty-corner from Bohemian Victoria and Lower Pandora. The Jamaican Jerk House used to reside here, and in it's last few months was bloody awful. Cabin 12 isn't. That's hardly an achievement.

What is the way the owners have fought and scrapped to keep the venue going, after a late night 'reveler' (read idiot) smashed a window days after opening and wiped out what little cash the restaurant had in it's coffers. Then just two weeks a go, a fund raiser, chilli cook out and appeal to the masses revived the pot of money enough to keep doors open over winter. Last I heard a new backer has come along to keep the place on a more solid fiscal footing, and even out the highs and lows.

Course, who cares, right? Just another mess of a restaurant who can't keep itself going? The staff have all tried to make the restaurant less of a top down dictatorship and more of a collective, based on the Summer Camp ideal of everyone pitching in and working together. People have worked hard, and it's nice to see a more social model of business coming through.

But enough history, can you eat there? We wandered in for a late lunch around 1.30pm and were greeted by the wait staff and grabbed the first table we saw empty. Decoration is a jumble of old furniture, a big old motorbike (actually might just be the owners) and a mix of kitshy and arty photos, posters and chalkboards. The menu is all-day breakfast (including Breakfast Beer at $4.25 a sleeve... no brand name written on it, so who knows what it actually is, I didn't try it to guess), including the ever present Eggs Benny, various mixes of eggs/pork products/bread and variety of more lunchy options. Including salads, sandwiches and green poutine.

I went for a cup of coffee and the N-R-Eh? a Chicken Club sandwich, with a side of hash browns. Green Poutine is a Vegan option, with a veggie gravy, soy cheese chunks, spring onions and mushrooms. My friend who knows that soy cheese is some sort of comedy item sold to trap the unwary. So she opted for real cheese.

Coffee was thick, black and roasted hard. This is the sort of coffee that drags you out of bed and gives you a cold shower before pummeling you with coarse towels to wake you up. Not so great when I've been awake for the last 4 hours when I want something a little more gentle. A delicate whisper in my ear to stay alert rather than a police siren. But, that's not their game here.

Food came out promptly, hot and ready. The NR-Eh was a triple stacked sandwich, with crisp lettuce, bacon, tomato and nice piece of chicken.The Hash Browns weren't. Hash Browns on my planet are grated potato, which is then fried. Country fries/homestyle fires/breakfast fries are cubed potato, which is then fried. I like both. I just really like Hash Browns, and should remember to check what the restaurant thinks are hash browns before ordering them. Still, the cubed tatties went down a treat with a little hot sauce.

The Green Poutine took my friend a while to get into. She just wasn't sure if it was really good, interesting or just odd. She settled on really good, and I have to agree. It's not a classic poutine flavour, and has no squeaky curds, but the gravy is lovely and the addition of mushrooms really added to it. Was a hit.

The staff were super efficient, chatty and helpful. The place plays live music later on, and has plenty of space to spread out, read papers and chat. It's possibly too spread out (the venue is good size) to make it feel intimate, but that means your not being over heard by the table next door. The clientele seem to be a mix, but tend towards the younger, working types.

I'll be back again, no doubt, and hope the model keeps working for them. They'll not set the world on fire, but they should keep a corner smoldering for a good while longer.

Final Bill :

Green Poutine with Real Cheese - $8.95,
NR- Eh Chicken Club with Hash Browns - $8.95,
Coffee - $2.25.
Total : $21.25 including Tax.

Location : 607 Pandora Avenue
Telephone : (250) 590-1500
Website : None

The Fort Street Cafe - The Friday Quiz

I've been for a pint and snack here before, and for lunch.  Nothing really made it stand out those times, except there's something very slightly odd about the whole set up which I can't quite put my finger on.  Not odd in a bad way, just not quite normal.  One friend was convinced it was a front for a cult.  He has quite fanciful ideas though.  No, not a cult, it's just that the people who go there all seem very similar in a way that's very hard to explain.  They are all post university age.  No-one looks like a bank clerk or legal secretary, and you imagine them having jobs like master carpenter or home-arrangement specialist or wattle-and-daub aristisan.  It's an air of the offbeat culture.  Not quite hipster, not quite hippie. This means anything to you, you'll fit right in.

Friday Night is Quiz Night at the Fort Street Cafe.  I'd never been before, but love a good pub quiz.  It's a staple of the community pub in the UK.  So we go in, grabbed a table and decided to gather reinforcements to make our meagre team of two at least four.  But by the time we could be joined, the place had filled to capacity.  Good sign.

Beer was in the shape of Saltspring Golden Ale (they also serve Race Rocks, Chocolate Porter and Phillips IPA, so double thumbs up there), served at the right temperature (see entries about The Office).  A nice, inoffensive pint, but not quite enough going on to be marvelous.  Add a game of Jenga, and we were set ready for the quiz.  Primer^2 was gonna take the world by storm.

The two hosts are English men. One by the name of Benji owns the place.  The other's name I didn't remember.  The quiz style is comedic.  They don't take it too seriously, and neither should you.  The best description I've come up with is two fifths Vic Reeves Big Night Out, a third Fry and Laurie, and the remainder Coldplay on a lads night out.  But only because Benji looks like Chris Martin.  And those references probably don't make any sense in Canada.  Think surreal, cerebral and silly.

The first round I thought I was on a roll.  With questions about the Teletubbies, Winnie the Pooh and Minotaurs, this was all up my street.  The general knowledge then turned into word association, guessing the order of things, random true and false facts, music, telephone impressions and ascending numbers.  I was ashamed not to know that a dodecahedron is 12 side solid, not a 20 sided.  This meant I guessed the number of Madonna hit records incorrectly.  Still, we'd not have been in a shout of winning, but much enjoyment was had at not coming last either.  As I said, don't take it too seriously... one or two of the questions were a bit vague, or mishmashed up by the hosts antics.  But if you want a staid quiz, watch back episodes of Mastermind.

The beer supply was kept flowing by two friendly and efficient waitresses.  And a plate of crispy Mac'n'Cheese kept the brain ticking over.  This is the house specialty... large crispy tubes of pasta filled with cheese sauce.  Well worth the $4 for snack with the pint.

Location : 742 Fort Street
Telephone : (250) 382-3130
Website : None

The Office

Not named after the Ricky Gervias sit-com, The Office lounge is a bar/restaurant aiming for the classy side of after work drinkers and diners.  No sign of painful farce was apparent.  At least in this incarnation of 759 View.

The location has been home to at least two failed restaurants while I've lived here, including one that offered 'steak, sushi, italian, chinese'.  Which in my book is at least three things too many to try at once.  The Office doesn't claim any specialism at all, instead has a short menu of small plates, build your own salad, pizza and pasta, and a variety of burgers/sandwiches. Gordon Ramsay doesn't approve of build your menus as it makes the offerings to complicated.  The Office has made it a simple 1-2-3 selection.  I can't vouch for the ability of the chef as we didn't eat any of these options, but it there was a nice mix of variety with out being overwhelming.

They also have duck poutine.  Anywhere selling good poutine is an instant hit with my friend, so a bowl was on the way by the time I walked in from the rain.

We sat in the glass front, which was was chilly, but the heating fans were doing their best to remove the frost from the air.  Not sure this sort of arrangement is a good idea on a cold day, and sitting in one of the small two person booths would have been more comfortable.  Especially as the glass from is opaqued off, so you can't sit and watch people as they pass by.

Not that the booths looked enjoyable.  They were parked next to the bar, so lots of foot traffic, and in direct site of the big flat screen TV's showing the sports channels.  Not exactly a cosy booth for a date, and if there's a group your going to be moving on to the big sofa areas, or the booths which are a bit more away from the main traffic.  So wasn't quite sure what they were meant to achieve.

The poutine however, was good.  Squeaky curds, beautiful duck gravy and a nice crispy flakes of duck meat.  The frites could have been a tad more cooked, but for the price it filled a good hole, and set us for braving the night.  There was also a free appy on Friday night.  It was a tempura fried salmon and brown grain sushi roll thing.  Overly fussy, and not very interesting to taste.  Still a free bonus is nice.  And added to air of being a well run, customer focused place, the sort of vibe I'd more expect at a good restaurant.

The beer selection is good, though not extensive.  The four local breweries are all represented, as is Saltspring Island.  I'm not sure if they'd approved of their beer being served in a frozen pint glass though.  The Saltspring Golden Ale lost some of the flavour in being too cold.  I assume all the rest of the selection is also served the same way, and the beer list is missing an IPA to round out the selections.  There's also a good dozen 'import' beers and national brews like Sleeman's Honey and Okanagan Spring.

My friend enjoyed the wine list and that seems to be a mix of BC wines and imports from South America, Europe and Australia.  What I know about wine is about extensive as my knowledge of agricultural systems during the Incan period, so that's as far as I can judge.

The service was spot on. No fuss, professional but friendly.  And the wait staff are cute (my companion's vote, not mine... though she was right, they were all attractive).   The vibe they are going for is definitely being hit.  It'd be a good place to grab a drink or two after work (or later) with a mid-sized group. Space to stretch out, no loud music to drown out the chat, reasonable prices and relaxed air.  There was several after work groups in there, a mid-20's to early 40's crowd.  And a few confused couples in various booths who didn't looks so comfortable.

Location : 759 View Street
Telephone : (250) 590-5253
Website : http://theofficelounge.ca/

Travel : The Eagles Landing, Victoria Airport

The Eagles Landing is not a bar or restaurant.  However, I'd like to occasionally through in a travel or tourism item about Victoria.  The Eagles Landing is a recently (May '09) opened observation lounge at Victoria Airport.

There is no food or drink (unless your bringing your Timmies up from the check-in hall), the space overlooks the runway and gates at the airport and was relatively quiet when I headed up there a few days ago before heading out to Seattle.

There's some cozy couches and a few tables.  And a long series of boards about the history of the area on which the airport sits, from the First Nations to the present day. There's also several carvings in the local First Nations style.  Best of all it was peaceful, and away from the buzz of the airport.  While YYJ is not very busy at the best of times, it's nice to have somewhere to get away from even that minor turmoil downstairs.

I managed to concentrate enough to almost finish the Globe and Mail's cryptic crossword, while away my 90 minute wait before heading through security.  Of course my plane was delayed so I still had to wait for another hour in the departure hall.  But that was Alaska Air's problem.

Vietnam House

The Vietnam House has little pretension about being fine dining. The restaurant sits next to Brickyard Pizza on View in a single width unit.  A third of the space is filled with the open plan kitchen, and the rest a few chairs and tables.  The art on the wall was painted by the owner, who was born and raised in Vietnam. The food is traditional and simple Vietnamese - Pho or Rice Noodles with meat.  There are a couple of variation on this theme, but it's all basic.

Basic doesn't mean uninteresting though.  On the specials occasionally (and I think you can always ask for it) is an awesome chicken curry : spicy, slightly creamy and made with perfectly cooked green beans.  Around the $8 mark and a perfect lunch filler.  The pho is a good big bowl full of noodles with your choice of meat cuts (including tripe, flank and tendon).  My friend had the spicy beef stew, which is a pho dish with dash of chilli, big chunks of meat and buckets of noodle goodness.  The meat however is definitely 'mystery', and looked to be two varieties of beef sausage made from various parts of the cow.  This doesn't bother me, as it tastes good.  Other's I know prefer to know which part of the animal they are eating.

The Vermicelli rice noodle dish I had was lemon grass chicken with spring roll.  Plenty of flavour in the chicken, though the spring rolls were probably a touch over cooked.  Right amount of carbs with it, and the tomato sauce has plenty of kick.

There's no atmosphere in the Vietnam house, and since it's been opened (about 2 years ago), I don't think they've had a proper strip down and clean out, so it feels a bit run down.  Not some where to linger over dinner, but somewhere to grab good, cheap dinner to fortify yourself for the night ahead.

Location : 788 View Street
Telephone : (250) 384-3843
Website : None

The Garrick's Head

Interactive drinking. Drinking with the purpose of talking with other people, having a conversation and you know, meeting the world. I don't like bars where someone else music is all I can hear. I don't like pubs where they pay a band to entertain me, whether I want them to or not. Especially not to listen to a shoddy version of a 80's hit that I didn't like the first time around, played with too much feedback and no bass line.

I also don't generally choose a pub on the food. Pubs should concentrate on good beer and wine, not frilly table food. Gastropubs are an exception, and a class of their own.

This makes the Garrick's a very good spot. They don't play live music. The jukebox is audible but not so that you can't talk over Motorhead's Ace of Spades. And they have good beer. Lighthouse's Race Rocks or Beacon IPA, Phillips Blue Buck and Vancouver Island all grace the pubs. They also often get a guest barrel or two in, such a Central City's Red Racer IPA (a wonderful hoppy brew). It's served well, fast and fresh. Score one.

The place is small, and packs out weekend nights. Don't expect plush seats and brass fittings. This is wooden seats, chipped bar and an original brick fireplace. Blue collar bar, with a mix of real blue collar workers, rockers and wannabe scensters. This makes for an interesting crowd of people, and striking up a conversation about the hockey or the guy who just got asked to leave can happen easily. Or you can find a corner of the patio on a summer day and catch up with you best friends. Score two.

The staff are great. They work flat out to keep the beer flowing, the patrons seated and not too rowdy, and will happily stand and chat to you if they're not slinging out the beers. They have some odd love for the Ottawa Senators, but you can't have everything. Plus the ability of the waitress to manage crowd control on a busy Friday evening quite the sight... despite giving up 50 pounds and 4 inches on the smallest of the trouble makers I've seen her deal with, no-one's ever actually stood their ground. Maybe that's Canadian politeness. Or force of personality. Score three.

The one thing that's not so good is the food. Which is okay, as I stated, I don't go to a pub to eat. But it's only just passable at the Garricks, so moping up the fourth pint of Race Rocks is approached with caution. Grease is liberally used to fry up 90% of the menu, and the freezer is well stocked for instant everything. The good news is you can see the kitchen, as it takes up one corner of the bar area. But it's never great, and I'll never be eating the nachos again. But Nachos and me don't agree, so might not be the Garrick's fault that one. One against.

That all said, on my list of place to drink socially in Victoria, the Garrick always features in the decision.

Location : 69 Bastion Square
Telephone : (250) 384-6835
Website : http://www.bedfordregency.com/pub.htm 

Kaz

Kaz is a small restaurant that you wouldn't necessarily see wandering round town. Kaz does a variety of donburi, simple sushi rolls and nigiri. It's down near the Johnson Street bridge, hidden in a row of store fronts near Swan's. I only went in in a quest to find good Katsu-don. Rice and meat is one of the simplest Japanese dishes, but can be spoilt by uninteresting meat, a badly cooked egg or dry rice. Or, as some place have done, not the meat I ordered.

Kaz doesn't fail on any of these steps and does a competent Katsu-don. Tonkatsu is breaded pork cutlet (think wiener-schnitzel but pig not calf), served on donburi (a rice bowl). Concatenated to make Katsu-don. It's normally top with egg and maybe some onion or scallions. Kaz doesn't do the best in town (that's for a later entry) but it is well cooked, the right amount of warm fluffy rice and a cooked egg that's actually gelled and not still solidifying from the heat of the rice.

The rest of the fare is also competent. The tempura is lightly battered and not greasy, the salmon nigiri fresh and well portioned, and the BC roll is always tasty. It's never too busy, and the surroundings are perfect for a mid-afternoon lunch, a cup of green tea and chat. Plus you can people gaze at the world going by down Store Street.

If, and it's a big if, the service is on form. Sometimes I have waited for the menu, the tea, the food and the bill far longer than necessary when I've been one of two tables. I've known things are ready, as the chef has placed them ready to go. The staff have just been hiding, or slow. And painfully slow. This makes me seem like an impatient moody customer. Maybe I am, but I like to settle up and get going relatively quickly.

Other times, the service has been spot on, and I've gotten in, fed and out in a reasonable, relaxed manner. You just can't tell.

Location : 1619 Store Street
Telephone : (250) 386-9121
Website : None

The Reef

I used to eat at The Reef every couple of weeks when I worked down town.  The lunch menu was quick and simple, and tasty.  But I hadn't been there for a while, and when a random choice led us down Yates the other day, it seemed like a good idea.

The Reef offers a good selection of Carribbean food, or 'Tings'. Curried, jerked and spiced is your main descriptor, in the menu.  The Moca Burger, for example, jerked beef served with plaintains or greens.  I ordered the Ital (veggie) Roti, served with coleslaw.  Roti's are simple food, and I fancied something simple.  My co-diner ordered the curry (also ital).  Which is really the Roti contents without the flatbread wrapper and rice as the carb portion.

The server then came around with some Johnny Cakes.  Corn flour balls, fried to give a lovely crispy outside, soft doughy inside.  They remind me of French Beignets.  The coconut butter they are served is adds to the 'just one more' so a second portion was ordered, which they didn't charge us for.

The main course came out quickly, and was better than when I'd eaten there a year ago.  The roti has a nice seasoning, the contents a good mix of beans, yams, potatoes and other goodies.  The special house hot sauce added a nice pep if you like things heated up a bit.  Best of all, the coleslaw was crisp and fresh. In the past it's been a bit of an after thought, but there was plenty there, and it helped cool down the hot sauce a little. The Curry also got the thumbs up, served with plenty of rice and mango chutney and dahi (yoghurty sauce).

So that's the food.  The venue itself has plenty off booths for groups of 2-4 to settle in and start talking it up.  The ambient music (if there was any) doesn't stop you talking, which is key for a good social dinner.  There's space for larger groups (a party of ten had just sat down), and more intimate booths in the back part.  You could sit outside, but in mid-October I wouldn't recommend it.  The old fake fishtanks have been replaced by new fake fishtanks.  There's an assortment of thematically correct posters and photographs on the wall, and the central bar is designed to remind you of a beach hut. Vaguely of a beach hut.

Beer is a mix of local, import standards (Newcastle Brown, Heineken, Corona) and Caribbean (including Dragon Stout that I've heard good things about).  The Lighthouse was on special when I was there, and one assumes that other specials come on tap as they desire.  The staff kept us watered and never waiting, but also not in the way by asking if we were okay every two minutes.

So the conversation could flow, the food was good, the beer cold and fresh.  Works for me.

Location : 533 Yates, Victoria
Website : http://www.thereefrestaurant.com/

Welcome

Right now, as I scan across the internet, I couldn't find any content about Victoria that filled my interests.  Victoria has some great restaurants and bars.  Victoria also has some shoddy ones too.  Victoria also has several places that are worth a visit that don't always spring to mind.  And I forget them and then draw a blank when people say "what should we go and do....".

So this blog will be updated around once a week with a review of something Victorian.  And other notes will go in between as I find something worth noting.  It's not intended to be a listings guide or a full list of everything ever you can eat, drink or inhale in the area.  It may venture out of Victoria. Probably only as far as Sooke or Sidney though. 

This is just an idea, a concept that I hope to grow and germinate and flower slowly into something.  What that something is half the fun for me.