Catalano Restaurant & Cicchetti Bar, Downtown Victoria

Not to be confused with the Catalina Wine Mixer, the Catalano Restaurant & Cicchetti Bar is in the space formerly occupied by Prime Steak House and before that the sit down eatery part of Hugo's.  It also had a temporary chef running it for a 50 days as a 'pop restaurant' a couple of years back, and may have had a couple of other incarnations in the years I've been in Victoria.

Now it's a partnership between Tim Ferris (of Ferris's Oyster Bar), Dave Craggs (of the Ferris's as well) and Aaron Lawrence, formerly of the Canoe Club.  I read this afterwards, but the big clue to the Ferris link is the 'Weekend Crossword' on the brunch menu. Or the advert on your Ferris bill if you've been there.  Our server Kim was only too happy to tell us about the link, and how the Crossword is a signature dish of the head chef.

Catalano has been open over a year, and made waves in the Huffington Post as one of the top 20 places to eat in BC. Then again that list has Willies bakery at number 20, praising its brunch menu.  Which pretty underwhelming.  And they were writing about the Ciccihetti (basically Italian Tapas) and we were headed in for breakfast.  So different strokes for different times of the day.

We were seated right at the back of the place, on the third of the three split levels, with on side of our table seated along a very comfy bench seat, at a trim and smart brown dining table.  Views saw us looking out across the Union Club and peaking through the streets to the Ledge and the Empress.  There's an array of booths and semi-private tables, with space for you and a half dozen friends to eat.

We got coffee, and the decaf double shot Americano was reviewed by Andrea as 'not the worst coffee she had ever had'.  I think this was praise.  And now I have fulfilled my contractual obligation to quote her this week.  I had the standard pot coffee and it was warm and roasty.  Not super dark, but good to kick start my braincells again after this mornings run along Dallas Road.

The brunch menu lifts from Ferris's with the aforementioned Weekend Crossword.  This is poached eggs, creamed leeks, English muffin and crispy prosciutto lightly topped with Hollandaise. I ordered this, not sure what else I really wanted.  It was damn tasty, with a good scattering of fried cubed potatoes.  The poached eggs were about as good as you can make them, just oozing the yolk over my food, while the white was cooked to a quiver.  If that's not the correct term, it should be...

I did pass on the breakfast tagine.  Not feeling overly adventurous, but I am going to try and convince folks for a second visit to try it now I know the food is well done here.  Other people tried the corn pancakes, which got demolished on both plates, and Andrea ate the Gina Lola.  This was a very light omelette with vegetables, onions and goats cheese.  With a side (topping?) of greens and toasted bread.  The cheese was held back for Andrea and she did seem to be apprehensive when it arrived.  Even though Kim, the server, claimed it was her go to.  A few minutes later and I think Andrea said something like 'You should quote me more in this weeks blog'.  And a few minutes after that 'That wasn't bad at all, I wasn't sure, but I kinda liked it after all'.

My fee for mentions of Andrea is quite high, by the way.  She'll be getting an invoice.

Meanwhile, another friend who doesn't want to be quoted (I think) ordered the flight of bacon with his meal.  This came put as a long narrow plate with six types of bacon, all labelled.  Double smoked bacon, back bacon and lamb bacon were among the samples.  Kim recommended he try the lamb bacon last.  All the bacon was eaten apart from the back bacon, as this appeared to be twice the thickness of a normal slice, and a little fatty rather than a nice medallion of porky joy. The other five types were viewed a success. A flight of bacon!  A taster of bacon!  Why this hasn't been more commonly mentioned, I don't know. It's almost as awesome as the glass of bacon you can order at The Guild.

Overall, everyone emptied as much of their plates as they wanted (rather than leaving some because it wasn't good).  We got the bills, and I was charged for Kim twice.  Apparently she's only worth $0 though, and just there to track the orders.  I'd say a little more than that to their bottom line, as she was chatty, engaging and informative.  She also encouraged us to try out the happy hour, with half price Cicchetti between 4 and 6pm or after 9pm.  If the beer menu is any good (looks okay to me), I'll try and encourage it to happen with the Brunette of my Acquaintance.  Well done on her cross selling us as well, and in a way that worked rather than feeling like a push.

Overall, a place I'll add to my list of place to go and recommend to others.

Stone's Throw, Downtown Victoria

Sometimes, I go to a place and have very little to say about it.

The Stone's Throw is something like that.  It's just a place to get breakfast.  It has triangle buns for it burgers.  Apart from that, there's nothing unique about the place that I could discern. Located in down town Victoria in the Best Western, it once was a De Dutch crepe house.  Now it's a locally owned and operated place serving food all day.

The space is large, functional and nondescript.  I have nothing interesting to say about it.  Our server was bright and smiling. I have nothing more interesting to say about her. Our menu was short and had a half dozen breakfast options and four Eggs Benny options.  I have nothing more interesting to say about it.

I settled for the two egg breakfast, and lashings of coffee.  The coffee was hot and coffee flavoured. The eggs were scrambled and pretty tasty, and the best part of the meal.  The toast was dry, but pre-buttered, and the potatoes were crunchy. Not in a bad way.  Just crispy.  The sausages were a good example of a breakfast sausage.  Lightly herbed but on the small side.  The Brunette of my Acquaintance reported enjoying her bean burrito.  One eggs benedict was eaten, and I think half it came home with the eater. I hope he ordered his eggs hard.  If he didn't, they missed.  Other people had other food.  They may have said something about it, but if they did, it was lost in the general conversation.  As I had a pleasant conversation, and could hear everyone, that's a big plus point.

I also ordered a side of pancakes.  Now, these were big, fluffy and soaked up the butter and syrup well.  I'd order these again with bacon and eggs.  If I ended up in the Stone's Throw again.  Which is unlikely. Not because it was bad.  It's just average.  I wouldn't recommend it and expect huge congratulations for a good choice.  But I would go there if passing early one morning with a half a dozen people and we wanted feeding.  No queue, okay faire, decent price.

But you know, even then, I might think about walking down to the Sour Pickle.

The Rathskeller Schnitzel House, Downtown Victoria

Oddly,  have not yet written a review of this German style restaurant.  I thought I had, with a long and fulsome praise of the amounts of meat I had eaten, cooked in different ways and from different animals.  I haven't, it seems.  Possibly, because the food coma I had afterwards took too long to recover from, and by the point I came around, it was yesterdays news, and hazy in my mind.

So, that introduction has given most of the game away.  If you are vegetarian and don't want to eat four types of potato and sauerkraut, don't come here.  Move along.  It's not for you.  If you don't like piles of meat of unknown provenance, don't come here. If you insist each pigyou eat comes with it's own biography, don't eat here. If the cows you grill have to have signed a waiver that they really are happy to be eaten, and would you like to try the specially massaged flank steak (*), don't eat here.

I'm not intending to cast aspersions about the meat quality.  I have no doubts about it.  It's just not a west coast, organic granola hippie place.  It's a German-style Tavern.  The food is plentiful, the tables are your gran's old oak affairs, the décor not changed since opening day, and the staff are dressed in dirndls.  I like to think out back the chef has on a full lederhosen, but maybe that doesn't pass BC Health regulations.  But on the right night, you can be serenaded by a proper Om-pah-pah band or a guy on accordion, bringing back memories of the Fatherland, hiking in the Alps and wining multiple World Cups.  Yes, as Englishman, I am a little jealous of their continued footballing glory.

The Germans didn't boil the hell out of everything they came across, turning it into grey mash.  They breaded, bashed, fried and grilled it.  They pickled the cabbage before serving, and didn't leave it on the stove for 22 hours, just in case.  They also made great beer.  The English do as well, so we can call that one a tie.

What we had at the Rathskeller was the family style meal.  Twelve of us gathered at a big long table, and ordered the sit down, plate sharing meal.  For $20 (plus tips, taxes and beers), they will bring out plates of all the good stuff.  Bowls of sauerkraut, red cabbage and Spätzle to fill out the corners of the plate are then followed by Vienna/Weiner Schnitzel, Jager Schiztel, Cordon Blue Schnitzel, Bratwurst, Rahm Schitzel (not to be confused with Ramstein) and potato pancakes.  Oh, and some cubed potatoes too.  There's also apple sauce, sour cream and the VERY important jugs of gravy.  Pro-tip Number 1... order extra gravy.

The meat is all delicious.  It's not lovingly spiced or delicately flavoured.  It's meat.  Cooked well, greased up with fat to make your taste buds happy.  The cordon blue schnitzel has gooey cheese insides, and look like huge fangs.  The (#) Jager Schniztel is pounded flat and served with mushrooms.  The Weiner Schitzel is that breaded, flat veal type that I associate mostly with Schnitzel. I could eat about 20 of these.  Not at once, but maybe in a week. The Rahm Schnitzel is just Weiner Schnitzel with extra sour cream. 'Just' being a word that fails to cover the awesomeness of adding those two things together.

The good news about the family style meal... you ask for more, they will bring it, as long as you don't look like you are wasting food.  What more bratwurst, but have some Wiener Schitzel left over... you aren't getting any more, until you finish what's on your plate. Like a good Bavarian should. But if you do polish off the heaps you've been served, the kitchen will bring out more.  It's easy to think this will be rounds and rounds of food, but after you've tried a little of everything, and little bit more of the things you really liked, you will be stuffed.  Meat takes up room.  It makes you feel full and satiated.  The Rathskeller will do that for you.  And with this style, the conversation flows, even if it's asking John to pass over the gravy boat, please.

The beers are also good.  You can get decent Oktoberfest there at the moment.  Malty, just a shade darker than a pilsner with a heaping of extra flavour.  I tend to order it in the straight glass, but the Pro-tip Number two is to order the Boot..  A beer in a glass shaped like a boot. And that is all I can say about the boots of beer without ever being ostracised from my friends.

If after a beer or two, and plate (or three) you are still hungry, they serve dessert. I have never been hungry enough to eat dessert.  It might be the world's best apple strudel. I have no idea.  I suspect I will never find out.  You can also get a shot of schnapps, for sipping on,  If it's your birthday,  you HAVE to get an after dinner schnapps.  It's required under the Reinheitsgebot (**).  

In short, a great place for family style eating. Provided you like meat.  And whatever family you are eating with, be it blood family, adopted family, or the awesome extended friends I have in Victoria that are a bit like distant cousins I like hanging out with, so I do so, not because there's any real kin relationship, but because they are fine people.



(*) Thank you, Douglas Adams and the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
(**) Obviously, it isn't.
(***) Pro-tip Number Three - always choose the black toilet.
(#) Jon Mason has pointed out to me the factual errors in that I have made in this section and now corrected.

The Malahat Chalet, South Vancouver Island

The Malahat Drive sweeps up the island, keeping the folks of Duncan and Nanaimo less bothered by the likes of me living down here in Victoria.  A narrow winding road, with a steep drop into the Saanich inlet on one side, and big forested slopes on the others.  Traffic can come to a stop at the drop of a suitcase from a roof rack, and it's been said that traffic problems here have stopped Vancouver reaching the number one ranked livable city in the world.  Which is much like blaming the Paris Metro for the failings of London Underground.

The peak of the Malahat is home to the Malahat Chalet and Moon Over Water Lodge.  This has had a variety of names and owners in the past, but new ownership has tried to add a little flair to the two buildings.  I headed up this past week to meet a good friend from out of town for a meal and catch up.  And to enjoy the much promoted view.

The view is excellent.  One side of the restaurant is windows overlooking a large patio and excellent vista right down the inlet up towards the bulk of Saltspring Island.  You can look down towards Brentwood Bay as well, and see much of the Saanich Peninsula. Views.. stunning.. check.

Inside, there's a slightly sparse feeling, though I think most of the seating during the summer is set up outside.  There just feels like the space is a bit empty.  On the other side of the entrance area, two large totem poles, from the original, burned down chalet, flank the wooden varnished bar.  These nicely set of the bar area.  One side of the main area is taken up with a chill display cabinet and line up areas for take out food.  There's a small sofa/lounge section, and then a few more tables.

I got seated with my friends who were in full flow already, and checked the menu.  Four decent drafts from Victoria, including Hoyne's Dark Matter were on offer.  I was driving so took the diet coke with refills with my meal.  There was a decent range of single malts too.  Maybe I should check the room prices if I go next time.

The food was good.  Not world class, but good, though prices were a little higher than I'd expect for what was served.  We got some of the Bannock dipping bread to start.  Served with a very savoury goat cheese and sharp jam, this went down well to kick things off between us all.  For the main course, I ordered the 10 oz rib eye with roast potatoes and veg.  There's a choice of potato, mashed, roasted, fries or dirty fries.  The latter are fries dusted with garlic and pepper.  Everyone who had them seemed to like them.

The rib eye was pounded or bashed, making it a thinner than I expected cut.  However, it was cooked nicely to a medium-rare turn, and had a smattering of onions and mushroom on top.  These were cooked to complement the beef, and worked well. Normally I like my steak unadorned and unfussed with.  This worked in it's simplicity.  The roasted potatoes were scattered underneath the steak, making it look a little bigger than it was. But ten ounces is enough meat for me.  With the medley of vegetables (including some weird tufty strands of something tasting close to aniseed... which I assume was fennel stalks) it was a decent meal.

The two strips of halibut in the fish and chips were huge curly pieces and filled up the eaters, and the chicken cordon bleu filled our friend up that he cried of any of the desert.  I tried a little of the seafood grill, and the fish was well cooked... possibly a little too far cooked for white fish.

We completed the meal with a slice of pecan pie a la mode.  Share between about four.  The pasty was short, crumbly and more-ish, and the topping a decent goopy mess of sugar and nuts.  Stopping by for a slice of pie on the way up island isn't a bad plan.

That's the one problem with the location. The view is excellent, but it's a good 30 minute drive on a good day from Victoria proper.  But not far enough to be a roadside stop on the way north if on a long journey.  Being a place to travel too, alcohol sales will be reduced, which will make turning a profit slightly harder.  The food is good.  No complaints, though I'd have expected to pay 2-4 dollars less for my meal.  It's worth the trip out for the view and somewhere a little unusual to eat.  They also serve a breakfast, so an early morning run north could be stopped by a meal here once on the way.