The Fireside Grill, Royal Oak

There comes a time when one has to rehash old reviews. Five years ago, I visited the Fireside Grill with colleagues from my old job for a pub-style lunch. It seems I expected to be taken there for fireside chats and conversations about my career. I left that job about five months later with no more visits to the Grill. It also seems that I didn't like the fish and chips I was served but also didn't have the balls to take it up with the server. I recall a conversation with the owner of Solomon's(*) and a friend about how I dealt with it. I resolved afterwards to speak up when I didn't like a meal, so the team can fix problems.  Though some meals are beyond fixing.

Five years on, and I am back at the Fireside Grill, with work colleagues, in a job I've been at for a while. I've been there a few times since for lunch in the main dining room and had good food. For full disclosure, I play softball with one of the sous chefs and have played fantasy football with the owner.

The building was created in 1930's as a tea room and dance hall for Victoria. Opening in May 1939, it was soon sold as a home and gallery space to the Maltwoods, who used the large space for their sculpture collection in the 'Thatch'. War rationing had made it hard to run any sort of fancy place. From their, the building was gifted to the University of Victoria in the 70's.  The gallery pieces moved in with the main collection in the late 70's.  Most of the collection is now part of the McPherson Library, or the downtown Legacy Art Gallery. The building got transferred back to Saanich's hands and then sold to a private owner in 1999.  They opened the Fireside Grill in 2000.

Now, the mock Tudor 'cottage' style building has plenty of space for small and large groups. Our booking of eighteen had caused them to set up a big long table for all of us, right in the middle of the cavernous main dining room. There would have been room for six more tables that sized, with room to spare for a few families. And a few more outside on the wind shielded, heated patio. The patio has nice vista across a path of rolling fields and onto towards Victoria, backdropped with the Olympic mountains across the strait.  It would have been a great view in the 30's before the highways and Royal Oak got built up.  Here's an old time photo from the Saanich Archives from the nearby Rithet's sheep farm for a tiny idea.

The main room has high, timbered ceilings, a brick farmhouse, and a strange rustic looking interior balcony filled with wine. The balcony has a little crane on it, so but no other visible way up there. I assume the sommelier has to get a step ladder up there, then uses the crane to lift up boxes of wine. Must be kind of awkward to get down the 1974 vintage claret during a busy service.  And if you get seated up there, the service will be slow... but you can at least access the finest wines quickly.

The room is managed by a troop of smart servers. All seemed to be wearing a white shirt, black trouser/skirt combination. All seemed to know exactly where they were going, and what was happening at eash table. There was no "Who ordered the fish tacos? Fish tacos? Whose are these fish tacos?". You know the drill, someone has ordered the fish tacos. Three-quarters of the table know it's Gord, but Gord's too busy extolling the virtues of his brand new cell phone to Cindy to listen out for his order. Not a problem in this case. Gord and Cindy and the rest of us ill get the plate delivered hot from the kitchen to the right seat. Done and done.  Water is kept topped up. Bread is served fresh, wrapped up in a white napkin.  All those little details just done smoothly with no pretensions.

The Fireside does a great $13 lunch menu which, from my experience, is good value. For thirteen bucks I had the Crispy Butter Chicken, for example. This was tender chicken, served with a rich, gently spiced sauce and served with a crisp half-moon of poppadum. I'm not a butter chicken fan at all, but this combined the flavours well to make a dish that wasn't just 'light curry', but had an assertive flavour that worked with the meat, and with vegetables in the sauce. Also on the special menu is candied salmon pizza, made with creme Fraiche and sun-dried tomatoes. A thin crust based with a crunch, combined with the sweeter flavours of the fish and sauce blend well with the tomatoes to create a summery pizza that isn't a heavy cheese ball of goo. Eat it outside. With a crisp lager beer if you can.

The head chef, Morgan Milward, has won a trophy at the local 'Colour Your Palate' competition six times out of the eight runnings. This shows a consistency of making good food that works on both looks, aromas and taste. And it has shown every time I have eaten here since that first less-than-good fish and chips basket. I've not yet been tempted to go for dinner or the Sunday Buffet Brunch. Reports I've heard is the latter is a big favourite on Mother's Day.  My timing is impeccable to tell you about it afterwards. At $28, it has to be to keep going. The tip I was told was to go for the Dine Around meal next year, as it's a really good showcase of the kitchen.

So you have a place with a varied history, doing good food with imagination, and a great standard of service.  And I've not been paid to say that.





(*) Solomon's is no more and hasn't been for a long while. But like George Orwell has 'The Moon Under Water', I have Solomon's. It remains, despite its drawbacks, is the closest to my imagination of the ideal bar.