Foo, Downtown, Victoria

Foo is a little cabin on the corner of Yates and Blanshard, right next to the Rialto Hotel and one of the down town liquor stores.  It might even have been the original liquor store, but I don't quite recall from when I moved here.  Foo specializes in Asian Street Food.  Meaning quick dishes, like Pad Thai, Butter Chicken or Pork and Pineapple Fried Rice.

I've been there several times and never had a bad meal.  I've had one or two things I didn't care for as muck (like the Tofu Pad Thai), but that was more trying out a different taste/texture combination than my normal choices.

I can recommend the Pork Fried Rice if you like a sweeter friend rice, which is balanced by the fatty, porky goodness.  It's a great meal to kill the hunger cravings before watching a film at the Odeon.  And  not much more expensive than a couple of boxes of popcorn.  I've also tried my friend's Saag Paneer.  Which is a truly wonderful dish.  Cheesy, spiced beautifully with a chili fried bread. Seriously good. The caramel chicken is a favourite as well, but I find the sauce a little too heavy for a full dish.

There's normally 2-3 specials plus about 8 standard choices.  The specials often sell out, and like any sell out you wanted to eat is a disappointment, but what can you do?  Tonight the specials were Rare Beef Salad, a Chop Salad and a Tofu Chow Mein.  The later was sold out, but I wasn't feel like a salad or vegeterian.

I decided on the Beef and Broccoli Chow Mein with a bottle Cane Sugar Cola (diet).  II'm not sure how a cane sugar cola can have 0 calories (or if it has cane sugar in it in the diet version), but refreshed parts that needed it after some beach volleyball at the Strathcona.  The dish was another hit for me.  Big chunks of boneless beef short rib, moist and perfectly cooked, with crisp greens, crisp bean sprouts and a mound of thin noodles.  All covered in a well balanced, savoury sauce.  A thin sauce in consistency, but with a great punch.  I'd normally want to add some Soy Sauce to a dish like this, but the dressing here worked perfectly.

Which is just as well, as there's no condiments at Foo.  Just chop sticks or cutlery on the side. Minor misstep for me, but I suspect I've enjoyed the food more by not auto-condimenting.  You can also get food to go, though there's a trend for it to come in "parts" for the rice and meat dishes, in containers not big enough to add it all together to eat. But I normally sit down at the benches and just take a few minutes to enjoy the food, the world passing by and some conversation.

Final Bill 
Beef and Broccoli Chow Mein - $13
Diet Cane Cola - $2.50
Total : $17.50 with taxes and tip

Address : 769 Yates Street, Victoria, British Columbia
Phone : (250) 383-3111
Website : http://foofood.ca/