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