Baan Thai, Oak Bay

Baan Thai have three locations across Victoria, one downtown, one in Royal Oak, and one on the edge of Oak Bay.  I've been to the downtown before and remember thinking it was pretty good.  My friend asked if I wanted to grab food there after hanging down by sea in Oak Bay, it seemed like a good idea.

The venue is a small mall near to the Safeways in Oak Bay, and from outside it looks pretty unimposing,  Inside it has a long bench with push together tables, and whole set of individual tables, with a small bar up front. There are some wall hangings to make the place seem more cosy and private, and a lot of wood and wood effect.  It's a nice environment, and the wall hangings and paintings mix up a feeling of 'ethnic' and modern.  I say ethnic, as I have no idea if they are Thai, or Egyptian, or just stuff.

We got seated quickly, as it was towards the end of the evening session.  Couple of tables hadn't been bussed yet, and no-one seemed in a huge hurry to clean it up, but hardly a problem. Water was served, with the menus, and then the hard part of deciding what to eat began.  They've decent sized menu with a variety of Thai dishes, ranging from Thai-style curry, noodles, rice and meat dishes.  A decent slew of Vegeterian options, though I'd have liked less options with Tofu there.

I got a Jasmine tea and my friend got a bottle of Phoenix Lager.  Our waitress served well throughout the meal, never rushing us, but making sure everything was okay, and water was kept topped up.  She also had the looks of a model, but I try not to stare at the staff too hard, but when a female friend comments that someone is stunning... well you should look at least.

I went for the Om Gai, a slow cooked bone-in chicken dish, served in a hot, spicy gravy.  No veg, just a rich, sauce that combined well with the steamed rice.  The meat was fall of the bone delicious, the chicken fat merging into the sauce, making it incredibly comforting and satiating food.  The sauce was hotter than I was expecting, but I hadn't had spicy food for a while.  A very pleasant kick. The rice was a just a little dry, but with the sauce, worked beautifully.

My friend had the Preow Wan Gai, a Thai-style Sweet and Sour chicken.  A vibrant looking dish, cooked with lemons as well as bell peppers, cucumbers and pineapple.  The lemon and a nice sour tang to the sweet and sour sauce, and the veggies and meat were nicely cooked. A little bit of buyers regret on my side.  Definitely the healthy of the two dishes.

The extra for the steamed rice was a bit annoying, as the main dishes weren't super cheap, and steamed rice isn't a huge overhead, but otherwise I felt we got good value for money in terms of quality of food and service.

Final Bill :
Om Gai, $13.50
Preow Wann Gai, $13.50
Two steamed rice bowls, $5.00
Bottle of Phillips Gold Phoenix, $5.00
Jasmine Tea, $1.25

Total with taxes and tip : $50.50

Phone :  250-598-0057
Address : 104-2000 Cadboro Bay Road, Oak Bay, Victoria
Website : http://baanthaivictoria.ca

Travel : Jasper to Banff, Alberta

Recently, I went on a road trip across some of Canada.  Most of it isn't of huge interest to anyone but my friends and family, and they've seen the pictures.  And if you really want a great in-depth road trip report seeing Canada from away from the everywhere brands, checkout the Retro Roadtrip by Reb Stevenson.

But I did want to recommend two things I did, as things people might want to do one day.  Things that aren't IN Victoria, for sure, but I am, so I'll muse about them.

The first is the Icefields Parkway, which runs through the Rockies from Jasper to Banff. We spent the day driving up to just beyond Jasper, to a small motel cabin at Miette Hot Springs.  This was a full days drive, but worth it.  First the Yellowhead Pass has Mount Robson in the middle of it.  Mount Robson is the highest point in the Canadian Rockies, but also isolated from the rest of the range in such a way that you get a impression of one HUGE chunk of rock, covered in snow, and holding onto it's own clouds around the top.  Gorgeous.

Mount Robson

Miette Hot Springs is a naturally hot spring up, now turned into a simple spa.  The water is cooled to 104 Fahrenheit (about 40 Celsius), making it perfect to relax and float in.  I'm sure there's some minerals and other stuff in their that has some useful effects, but it just felt nice to relax in.  Tip : the pools to one side aren't heated.  That's why no-one is sitting in them.  Brrr.  You can sluice off in the outflow and not pay the small fee to get into the pool (which look like an outdoor lido), but the pool seemed more... civilized.  The resort also has a good cafe for a plate of bacon and pancakes.  Perfect fuel for the 350km drive south.

Jasper seems to be the centre for outdoor pursuits in this area.  I didn't see much of the town, but we did grab some food in the Jasper Brew Pub. I'd not recommend you do the same.  It was average, and the service was sloppy and slow. However, our first Elk siting was here, it was just moseying through the edge of town.  No harm to no-one.

Just outside Jasper is the gates to the park proper.  They'll charge $20 for the car for the day in the National Park, but it's worth it.  You start out following the course of the Athabasca (here flowing North) along a wide valley, slowing climbing up into the Rockies.  The valley narrows, the mountains seem to get taller, and more vertical, and the temperature noticeably drops. Eventually, you'll come to the Columbia Ice Fields, and the Glacier source of the Athabasca river.  Sheets and sheets of ice and snow stretch up the mountain sides.  We were there in May, and missed the snow falls by about 2 hours.

Iced Lakes, Icefields Parkway

As you get over the watershed, you start to drop slowly into the North Sasketchwan river source.  Here the road sweeps down into a valley where at points all you can see is the sheer sides of the mountains ahead.  The scale of the mountains was beyond my experience at this point.  Everything was BIG.  The sheets of snow we could see with huge crevasses.  Every mountain had it's differences.  We crossed the North Sasketchwan, and then cross into the Bow River Valley.  Here the scenery changes, with another wider river valley, litter with lakes, some a milky chalky white, others an intense blue-green.  The changes are from the mineral porridge that is scoured of the mountains.

Waterfowl Lakes

 As the valley widens, the road does as well, and the single lane each way becomes a dual lane highway again.  Less extreme climbs and twists, but the mountains still make up the view either side.  To help the local wildlife, bridges wide enough to have trees and bushes on cross the highway, so animals can wander unharmed by speeding trucks.

Lake Louise

Just north of Banff is the turn off for Lake Louise.  The road climbs back into the mountains (and here we were rewarded with a close up view of a Porcupine) for a mile or two, before we parking us up next to the Fairmont at Lake Louise.  The lake is a glacier lake, fed by three or four glacier fields in the mountains above.  It was still partly iced up, which is the norm for May. My southern BC living doesn't deal with the idea of iced lakes in late May. But the scenery is excellent.

We then dropped into Banff, leaving the bigger peaks behind, but still mountains on all side. Banff reminded me of Whistler's Ski Village, but with less ski bums and more mountaineers and mountain bikers (maybe that was a function of the time of year).  Plus I did get to see a bear and her year old cubs just loitering in the picnic area outside of town. If you do stay in Banff, Irwin's Mountain Lodge was a good standard hotel for a fair price.

We took our time on the drive, but we were heading East relatively quickly, so didn't spend too much time sight seeing.  There was a east a half dozen more places we could have stopped for a look around next to the roadside, or spent a while longer on the ice fields, at an interpretive centre, or walking down to a falls. But a very memorable drive.  I'd take it again.

Website : http://www.icefieldsparkway.ca/

The Clay Pigeon, Downtown, Victoria

The Clay Pigeon takes over on a corner that has been home to a faceless cafe.  It might have been the best cafe in Victoria, but it always looked worn out, and more likely to serve me instant coffee than espresso.  Appearances... are important at times.

Blanshard and Broughton now has The Clay Pigeon. Opened ten weeks ago, it doesn't feel like an upscale restaurant, or a feeding house.  I think the word is "Bistro"... small, relatively intimate, but not over the top on fussy service or fancy trimmings.  The menu is short, concise but interesting.

I've been twice. Once for breakfast, where the choices start from your normal breakfast sandwiches, but then head into the less normal ratatouille or braised beef or green lentils.  I didn't take any notes on the "Normal Man" I had, but I know it was a competent plate of eggs, potatoes and a side of sage sausages. Which was not served on the side, but on the plate, as it should be in my world. I like my food to be in one place when I order it together.

For my recent Sunday dinner, I had the Basque Lamb Stew.  It was served in a lightly spiced sauce, with a mound of mashed potatoes, which had been crisped on one side.  The dish had lots of merguez sausage in the stew, but not too much lamb.  This meant it lacked a bit of the richness of well cooked lamb, which I love.  That said, I really liked the dish.  My companion had the Chicken Pot Pie.  This looked great, packed with chicken, snow peas and a rich gravy. 


No drinks, I didn't even check the drinks menu as I had driven down.  Which is I think just as well, as I note they have Delirium Tremens, a strong Belgian beer, much loved by many of friends.  Still, some other time, no doubt.  I was kept well topped up with water by the attentive, but innocuous wait staff. We got served, checked on for happiness and otherwise left alone.


I like the Clay Pigeon.  It has a low key vibe, good food, done with a bit of twist without disappearing into the gourmand fuss that wouldn't work in the area they seem to be targeting.

Final Bill:

Basque Lamb Stew - $17.00
Chicken Pot Pie - $16.00

Total $42.50 with taxes and tip

Phone: (250) 590-6657

Location : 1002 Blanshard Street, Victoria, BC, V8W 2H6

The Alix Goolden Hall, Downtown, Victoria

The Alix Goolden Hall is the performance hall for the Victoria Conservatory of Music. It's also the location for several bands to play when they visit Victoria. Seating around 800 people it's a special place to watch live music. It's an old church, that's been converted into a music space. The seating is on two tiers, with bench pews around the top, still well underneath the high vaulted ceiling, and wooden chairs in the large space below. The stage is a about six inches high, and bring the audience and performers really close together. The background to the performance is a large pipe organ, while both walls have huge stained glass windows... the west facing one catching the evening sun just as the evening performances start.

I've seen two concert there. The first was Billy Bragg, Britain's Working Class Hero singer-song writer and socialist agitator. He fitted the venue perfectly. One man, his guitar and his songs front and centre, surrounded by a very appreciative audience. The acoustics are great, and his simple songs of love, loss and struggle of the common man reached out to all. As did his monologues about the songs, his take on the politics of Canada and general observations of being a father with a son whose growing up and playing guitars.

The other concert I saw, much more recently, was the rescheduled Said the Whale show. Very different group for this one. While Billy Bragg's audience tended to be my age and older, Said the Whale have a much younger following. It also being an all-ages show also helped to fill the venue with 15-23 year olds, out to appreciate a local BC band. Not many of the seats on the lower floor had bodies in by half way through the support act (Abbotsford's Oh No! Yoko), standing up to the stage. But very well behaved, no-one jumped on the stage or started a crazy mosh pit (or any sort of overly energetic dancing).

Oh No! kicked things off with a mismash of emo/indie-rock. Lots of jumping around by the guitars, bashing on the drums, but not going anywhere. The energy seemed, wasted. They either want to be a high energy, rock out band, or focus more on the tunes and mellow out. But this sort of half-measure didn't strike me at all.

The main act, however, owned it. Said the Whale mix up a laid back west coast guitar indie with elements of 60's pop and folk roots. Half the songs are observations on the people they've met, and the other half on the places they love across North America. Or are a combination of the two. The two leads complement each other's styles, with very able backing on bass and keyboards. The drummer really ties the band together though, just like the rug in the Big Lebowski. Spot on rhythms, using not just the standard drum kit, but a variety of other percussion. They led of with the excellent "Heavy Ceiling", which didn't quite hit home, but the sound man sorted out the levels, and they just got better. The highlight was probably "Big Sky, Montana", a song about a grandfather's love for his wife, about wandering the mountainsides, a tribute to a man who obviously had a great influence on the singer's life.

The venue really set of this BC band's style as well. Close up and personal with a band who really react to their environment, and to their fans. They got better as the event went on. If your thinking of seeing someone when they come to town, and the venue is the Alix Goolden, it's worth it. I'm guessing a post-hardcore, full-bore mosh out concert wouldn't be so good, but for a more casual band, if they can't work well in there, they probably won't be able to go well anywhere.

Website : http://vcm.bc.ca/venues/alix-goolden-hall/
Location : 907 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, V8V 3N4

Shine Cafe, Downtown, Victoria

The Shine Cafe has two locations. The original, up on Fort Street near Strathcona Park, and a newer location, almost a year old, downtown. I've been to the Fort Street location on three occasions, and had excellent meals. The downside to great breakfast locations in Victoria, is there is always a big line up. The Strathcona location often requires a wait of an hour if you are 6 people (it's quicker for couple), but they provide for you with coffee and a seat outside in the sun.

The downtown location doesn't have the luxury of a large outside area to let people wait in the sun. They also seem to be not to set up for groups larger than four. We got their just before 11.45, and asked for a table for six. We were told they'd be a forty-five minute to an hour wait, but that was plenty of time to chat. No offer of coffee was made, so two us wandered into Habit and got coffee for us all. Habit, in the Atrium at Yates Street is a wonderful place place, open till 10pm, and excellent drinks.

Anyways, we waited for around an hour, but with no sign of being seated, despite several smaller table being empty inside. Nobody came out to check up, or tell us to keep waiting, or to discourage us from waiting. If you can't seat 6 people, just let 'em know. Eventually, seventy minutes in, one of our group went in and asked to be sat at a smaller table. They let us in, and as we got in we noticed a lot of two person groups sat at four person tables... doesn't seem the most efficient way to get the volume through the door. Yeah, we were a bit grumpy at this point. But it's Shine! They do great food!

Or at least the Strathcona venue does. This, this was not good. It wasn't really bad, but I'm not going back again. I ordered the Burrito Del Sol. This a wholewheat wrap around avocado, scrambled egg, refried beans, cheddar and caramelized onions. On reviewing the menu it also claims bell peppers and tomato, but I didn't get any of those. A breakfast burrito can be a wonderful thing. Fluffy eggs, some tasty veggies, savoury beans to round it out. This was a stodgy lump of eggs with the merest hint of beans, a scattering of avocado and the caramelized onions had soaked into the wrap, making the tortilla soggy. My side of corn bread was over cooked, and instead of the light, savoury mass I expected, it was dry, and crumbly, and tasted a bit burnt. And it was cold. The sour cream livened it up, and the salsa was pretty good too, but those two things didn't rescue a disappointing dish.

Two of my friends had the special Yorkshire Pudding Benedict. Pretty good was the report, though the sausages were uninspiring. Pretty good, that was until they found broken egg shell in their eggs. Only a bit, but you expect a bit more for $12 food. The guest eating the vegan platter was happy though. While the gentleman who tried the Blintzes (cream cheese filled crepes with a mound of blueberry compote) reported them as 'so-so'. The waitress offered 50% off for his disappointment at least.

There was ample coffee, and the service was pretty good front of house once we got in, though it took about thirty minutes to get the order out. That's okay, but we were really ready to east as soon as we got in.

I feel Shine downtown is not set up for large groups. My previous experience when it first opened was also poor. My simple breakfast was the last to come out, missing the ham on the platter I had ordered. I think the kitchen struggles to get six plates out at the same time. If this is the case, they should discourage large groups more actively. I won't be going back again though... long wait, average food, higher prices. Victoria has a surfeit of brunch places. I can find somewhere else...

Final Bill
Burrito Del Sol - $11.95
Coffee - $2.50
Total - $17.00 with taxes and tip.

Phone : (250) 595 2134
Location : 1320 Blanshard Street, Victoria BC, V8W 2J1
Website : http://shinecafe.ca