Original Joe's, Langford

An friend of mine mentioned this place as being run by a friend of an ex-work colleague.  Another person mentioned it as being good for large portions of good food, pub-style food.  And another person recommended it to a friend, who mentioned it when we were considering places to eat after helping them move.  We didn't actually go there after the move (making a repeat trip to Spoons), but we (my breakfast crew and I) headed there for brunch one hot summer's morning.

Except someone had failed to notice that they don't do breakfast at all (not a special Sunday brunch, or a late breakfast weekend menu, same menu all week), so lunch it was.  Joe's is a big old barn of a place out in the big box-store land Langford.  One box, filled with booths, and bar tables, a long counter top bar and plenty of TVs showing the sports (the Olympics were on then, I'd expect a steady diet of baseball, football and basketball at other times of the year).

Styling itself as a restaurant and bar, it had all the character of an airport lounge, without the tannoy or flickering departure screens.  It was quiet (no flights yet, I guess).  We got a good large 7 person table/booth area, with plenty of room for us to spread out and chat.  The lay out there was good for a mid-sized group, rather than being strung down a long thin table.

I'm guessing the staff didn't really want to be there yet, as the waitress went through motions of seating us and taking the drinks orders while everyone was still trying to work out where they were sitting.That caused confusion with the drink.  Let folks sit down first before asking how many coffees.  Coffee and water was delivered while were still on the menus, and apart from one trip back after serving food, we didn't get any top ups, or check ups if the food was okay, or if we needed anything.

The food did not match the service or the location.  I've heard they do big portions, and they indeed give you a solid amount of food (not US levels of food mountains, but enough to more than kill the hunger).  Everything seems to be served with two sides.  I went for the Sgt. Pepper Burger, with fries and green salad.    Solid pile of fries, well cooked, with a portion of tasty beef gravy.  Fresh green salad, and a nice dressing.  Big slab of a burger.  I regretted spicing it up with the chillies, chipotle and pepper-jack cheese.  It didn't need any of that.  Good meaty burger, cooked with a slight crisp on the outside, but juicy on the inside. The kaiser bun it was served on was glazed, soft, but still substantial enough to keep the works together.

Others had (among other things) the chicken tenders (fine), poutine (close to the second best in Victoria, after La Belle Patate) and meal with the garlic mash (very good indeed).  Everyone was satisfied. Good food, average service.

Which leads to whether I would go back... probably not, unless there was a good sized group of us in Langford, pre-cinema or some sort of social event.   But if I was there, in a group, the food shouldn't disappoint, and maybe early evening the place livens up a bit. If I lived nearby, I might head there for the sports and meal.  The food was more than good enough to deal with disinterested service once.

Final Bill
Sgt. Pepper Burger - $14.00
Coffee - $2.50
Total :  $20.00 with taxes and small tip

Phone : 250-380-4910
Address : #125 - 2955 Phipps Road, Langford, BC, V9B 0J9
Website : http://www.originaljoes.ca/langford

Canoe Brewpub, Downtown Victoria

Breakfast! Last time I wrote about the Canoe Club in 2009 I was marginally happy with it as a place to meet a lot of people. It appears to have slightly rebranded to the "Canoe Brewpub". Recent trips to the Canoe of an evening have not changed my mind.  The beer is average (and in some cases, unsettled and yeasty), the service varies, but it's good enough to meet a random large group of people.

But this time it was going to check out the Brunch service.  A previous trip had hit all the right notes, and with the parents in town, I decided it was a good place to take them, and meet another half-dozen of my closest friends.  And subject my parents to them (I'm joking, the two of you who may read this...)

We got there at midday, just before another large group, so we grabbed the big carvery table upstairs and spread out.  Coffee and tea was served, though the speciality coffee took a bit longer to turn up, the rest was fast, and it's a decent mug of warm brown stuff.

I went for the special Cheddar and Ham benny, which promised to be served on cornbread. And I love good corn bread.  Dad went for the big breakfast (and an oath he'd not need to eat again that day), while Mum was proud to ask for the Bambino breakfast - "only available to under 12's and over 65's".  I think she was slightly disappointed that the waitress didn't demand proof of age (having just turned sixty-five, she's keen to get all the respect and discounts afforded to her).

The meals took longer than you'd have to wait at a one of Victoria's many Breakfast-only places, but you'd not be complaining about the wait at a normal dinner restaurant.  And that gave plenty of time for everyone to ask my parents about all the embarrassing things I must have done while growing up, and my parents to check up I was behaving myself in Victoria.  Or at least this is how I heard the conversation, but I'm told it was much less about me, and much more about the Scottish borders, going to University of England and Wales, printing presses, living on the island, the local history and whether I was behaving myself in Victoria (I joke, again).

So food arrived.  Two perfectly poached benny eggs, cheese with just enough bite, small pile of breakfast potatoes and nicely cooked cornbread. It didn't crumble as you looked at it, but soaked up the Hollandaise sauce and egg yolks perfectly. Fantastic breakfast, probably my favourite Eggs Benedict I've had.  I'm not a great fan of the Eggs in Eggs sauce, but this, this was good. The herbed breakfast potatoes rode that line between fluffy/mushy insides and crispy outsides very well.  The rosemary just adds a nice hint in there to round the flavour out.

Dad's Big Breakfast was indeed big.  2 eggs, bacon, sausage, a small pile of breakfast potatoes, a toasted baguette, roasted potatoes and some fruit. Dad felt his oath of fasting would be easy enough to keep.  Mum's Bambino was scrambled eggs, bacon and a baguette.  It also promised fruit juice, but we had to ask for this.  The waitress then checked the menu, and to her surprise, yes this was part of the meal.  Apologies all around, and some fresh OJ rounded out the meal.  Just the right size for brunch, declared mum.

We got in just in time to avoid two big parties, but they seemed about half a waitress under staffed upstairs Our waitress was great, just had slightly too many covers. I'm glad there wasn't actually half a waitress though.  I leave that sort of thing to the gothic horror movies, not brunch with my parents.

So brunch was had, and my secrets were kept safe. That's success in my book. I'll probably be back there again with larger groups.

Final Bill
Coffee x 2 : $6.00
Tea : $3.25
Benny with Cheddar and Ham : $13.50
Big Breakfast : $13.50
Bambino Breakfast : $8.50
Total : $65.00 with tip and taxes.

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

Famoso Pizzeria, Downtown Victoria

A couple of weeks ago, unexpectedly, and without warning, I was sent an invite to the opening night of a new Pizzeria in Victoria. I've never heard of the Famoso chain, and I have no idea why I was picked out of the morass of Victoria restaurant bloggers.  I was at first going to turn it down.  How do I maintain objectivity or distance? How will my readers react?  I then got over myself, decided to point out that someone else paid for this meal, and then just write what I wanted to write.  Course it might be coloured, but I'll let the reader decide what to take from it.

So, here it is. Fresh of the keyboard.

I found a friend whose equally (if not more so) into good food as I am, and headed down town. Famoso is in Market Square, in the location formally occupied by "Dig This", a gardening shop.  You couldn't tell, they've carefully cleared out the bags of peat, moss and foilage displays. They've been replaced with plenty of solid tables, tasteful brown walls and a large open plan pizza kitchen. The high ceilings in the open plan of the dining area didn't soak up the noise very well, and coupled with the sound track, it was quite hard to have normal conversation.  However, it did make for a buzz about the place and an energy, which no doubt helped kick the opening night off.  But it probably needs to have some noise reduction in there to get a more food-first, conversation friendly experience.

We were greeted with an Italian Spritz (Presseco, Aperol and soda water) which has a bitter-sweet orangey-grapefruit flavour.  I'm not sure if I loved it or hated it.  I drank it though.  We were shown to our table, right in the middle of the main dining area, and surrounded by a variety of folks. There was the party table, being photographed by "Snap Victoria".  There was the hipsters.  There was a more serious date night going on to my left, and what I imagine were some foodies to my right.

We were then given the talk about the system by our servers. Ordering is done by going up to the counter and handing in a slip with the food choice on, then table service from then on.  Apparently this is to keep things at the diner's own pace.  The pizza, we were promised, can be cooked in just 90 seconds, so fast service was assured.

We browsed the menu, and plumped for a couple of pizzas on the traditional menu.  Famoso is going for authentic Neapolitan pizza.  Thin bases, pure tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, fresh cooked in a big fired furnace that took pride of place in the corner.

We were treated to the full founding story and branding after our meal.  The founder of the chain came across this pizza style while travelling in Italy, and spent a year perfecting his knowledge of the style, and getting his first restaurant in Edmonton certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana for authentic Napoli pizza.  The best flour, the best Italian tomatoes for a simple sauce, hand stretch dough, 900 degree fired oven.  The works. You can read the rest on their website.There's a passion for the food from the founder at work here, at least.

I ordered the Margherita with anchovies (which could be cooked or raw, I took cooked), while my friend went for the Conforto, hoping for chilli oil to give it a bit of a kick.  We were handed some roasted olives and flat-bread as an appetizer, and waited for the meal.  The olives were good... salty, meaty, with a spicy chilli oil (there was hope!).

The pizzas arrived (I can never call them pies... pie has a top crust in my world). Two 10" pizzas with crispy charred rims, a red base of sauce and scattering of toppings.  This is not a triple decked pizza filled with stodge. We were warned that the quick cooking and crushed tomatoes made for a sloppy topping, and it does... you need to fold over the slice to keep it in all in check, and even then, a good amount of the topping slid away from base.

The mozzarella on the margherita with the salty, cooked anchovies was delicious. I love anchovies.  These tasted like good anchovies.  The tomato sauce was disappointing though.  It was a bit weak and watery for me.  This may be me being used to the thick paste-based sauces, but coupled with the soggy base, it just left it all a bit wanting.  The base though... the quick fired dough around the edges had a scent and texture reminiscent of making scout dough twists.  I wasn't sold straight away, but I've been thinking about that pizza base all day today. I want more of it. Dough, tendered, charred, tasty.

The Conforto was topped with roasted peppers and mushrooms and spicy Italian sausage. No chilli oil on the side, so black pepper and chilli flakes were applied.  Again the toppings wanted to escape the base. The sausage was a miss, it didn't add anything to the dish (no spice, no meaty flavour) but the mushrooms were packed with a intense flavour that I liked, and worked well with the pizza.  Just that sloppy, watery sauce again.  I wanted a bigger tomato burst from it.  Or more consistency to hold the topping and base together, rather than sliding away.

Or maybe Naples style pizza is not for me?  My friend told me I had to try Prima Strada (Cook Street village for one) to compare and contrast their take on the style.

Still, there was desert. We had tried a taster from the Fiasco Gelatto bar.  Blueberry and Basil is a great combination, and salty caramel is tasty too. This is worth going back for to try a full scoop.  But for afters, I had the Affogato, a scoop of Vanilla Bean gelatto with a shot of espresso on top.  At first, I thought I'd made a terrible mistake.  The bitterness of the coffee and the sweetness of the ice cream were at war, and just didn't work.  But after it melted into the coffee, and made a cold, foamy iced coffee, it was damn fine finish to the meal.

The tiramasu was tried as well by my friend.  It wasn't bad, but judged against Il Terrazo and other's dishes, it was found wanting.  I think the sponge base tasted too dry and rough, it needed to soak in more to complement rather than fight the marscarpone.  Not too bad, though.

Service was excellent, and the staff seemed very pleased to help out, talk to everyone and we got to hand shake the owner, the founder and a couple of other people who were probably important.  Course you can't tell much about the service on an opening night when it's best foot forward.

In the end, it's good pizza. It's different from what I've had elsewhere, and the idea and passion is there.  Good ingredients, simply cooked the right way. Ramsay and Bourdain would approve.  I just wouldn't say it was great from what I had, but as my friend said, you might just need to find the right dish.  I noticed a $16 pizza and cinema ticket deal they have during the week, and I suspect I may just take up that offer to give them another go.

Phone : (250)-590-2648
Address : 128 - 560 Johnson Street, Victoria
Website : http://www.famoso.ca/

Kuma Noodle, Mount Tolmie, Victoria

So, after a series of long travel articles... lets get local.  Ultra local for me.  Two blocks from my house and there's three places you can get soup noodle meals.  This one, Kuma Noodles, is Japanese-style noodles.  Pork-based broth, thin noodles, small cuts of meat and veg.  The noodles come in soy, miso or salty flavour, or you can go for BBQ-pork miso noodles.  Or if not in a noodle mood, Katsu-don (Pork culet, egg and rice), or a chicken or BBQ pork version.  I love me some Katsu-don. But went for the Soy Noodles, with a side of fried rice, and an upsell of Gyozas to start with.

The food came out in an odd order, with the gyoza's following the soup noodle which followed the side of fried rice.  Had expected the dumplings first.  The dumpling were... okay.  I don't think I'm a big fan of gyoza, and these weren't the finest example I've ever had.  The filling was pretty bland pork mince and some nameless vegetables.

The fried rice though did take me back to eating in the Toshiba canteen when I had a short trip working in Japan.  Tasty, filling, just greasy enough to satisfy a craving without being sodden in fat.  Mix of meat and veg.  Cheap and easy fast food.

The noodles were pretty tasty as well.  The pork broth is a blander dish than the beef broth in Pho.  Slighty salty, slightly oily from the pig fat. Not complex, just there as a container for the contents.The noodles have more of a savoury bite, and the thin, thread like ramen is not your packet ramen beloved of students, but a more substantial beast. There's half a boiled egg and some green onions in there with a couple or so slices of pork, making it a decent sized meal on it's own.

The service wasn't super fast, and I hadn't realized we had to go up to pay our bills, rather than pay at the table.  So that took a while to sort out, doubled as the Interac machine had gone down.  Still, the best part of the meal was it's cost.  Super-cheap for a meal out (only went higher as we got some sides) and tasty.  If they could get us sorted a bit quicker, this would be a great in-and-out joint.  That said, it's another choice in my neighbourhood.

Final Bill
Soy Noodles and Fried Rice - $9.25
Gyoza - $3.25
Total : $14 with tip and taxes.

Address : 1551 Cedar Hill Cross Road, Victoria, BC
Phone : (778)-678-1267