Crows Restaurant, Gorge Road, Victoria

The Crows restaurant is in the Ramada on Gorge, in the same space that used to be occupied by the Cecelia Creek Restaurant. The Creek did really good food when it first opened, but was marred by a very odd attitude to splitting bills and taking cards.  They had a change of ownership last year, but that seems to not have saved the venue; and it's now under a brand new name; and another set of owners.

So, we headed of for brunch on Sunday morning, as two of my friends have moved within walking distance.  No lines, but there was a good number of people eating in there. Quietly busy.  Which is probably the sweet spot for any brunch joint. Enough to keep things lively, but not crammed in so it's a rushed, painful experience.

The coffee is brewed dark and strong, and has kept wired until 11 o'clock. Cream is sadly single server creamer in plastic cartons, which doesn't jive with the hipster mason jars of brown sugar and a tiny coffee spoon. The water is provided in big glass bottles, so no waiting for the servers to keep you hydrated.  Much prefer little jugs of milk or cream.  It seems more homely and welcoming.

The menu is extensive, but doesn't over stretch itself into too many options.  You have a variety of benny's, a variety of traditional meat/eggs/potato combinations, some waffley/pancakes and a small set of specials.  Including Shakshouka, poached eggs in Moroccan tomato sauce, with garlic bread.  Which sounded awesome, but the Trueman grabbed my eyes.

Spoons and Floyd's have their own 'dealer's choice' options, and the Trueman is the Crows version.  Choose either breakfast or lunch, omnivore or veggie, sweet or savoury, and for $11, the chef will send out something random.

I like random. I like surprises. I also liked the $11 price tag.  So I went for that, and got a plate of potatoes and double deck burger bun stuffed with a sausage+chicken omelette, with big chunks of tomato.

The Trueman

It was indeed delicious, as promised, and not so huge my stomach muscles were over stretched.  A hearty breakfast, not an idiot sized one.  I did have to ask for ketchup and hot sauce (neither were offered), but the mole spicy sauce was worth asking for, and added a pleasant level of heat and pepped up the eggs just how I like them.    The potatoes were cooked to a dark crisp.  They looked burnt and not incredibly appetizing... until I tasted them, and they were crunchy yet soft on the insides.  I am not sure it was intentional to have a couple of stray yams pieces in there as well, but there they were, and they seem like a happy accident.

Two of my friends ordered the Goat Benny, which was reported back as tasty, with a good (not great, but good) Hollandaise.  The sausages that came with Crow's nest (French toast with eggs) were huge fat boys.  Reported back as juicy and full of flavour, though they also looked like they had been over-cooked, they weren't.

The general verdict was to visit again.  It was a good price, and they were more than happy to split bills and let us pay in any way we saw fit.  The need to do it as one big bill seems to have gone with the new ownership.  Thank goodness.  The visual presentation possibly needs a bit of a tweak, but this was a solid breakfast, with no lines, no mucking around and decent size servings to keep you going all day.

The Crows space doesn't seem to have changed much.  Lots of big wooden tables, plenty of space and light making a farm house/country kitchen feel.  The owners are supportive of the gamer community in Victoria, hosting a regular Board Game night every month (see facebook for more details).  Being tied to the hotel as well should keep a good flow of customers through as well.

Gabriel's Gourmet Cafe, Nanaimo

Myself and the Brunette of my Acquaintance headed up to Newcastle Island for the May stat holiday.  Newcastle is my favourite of the BC campsites I've been too.  You can't drive in, so have to limit what you drag over.  This means there's no huge RVs looming over you, and no cars heading off at 5am as the driver has sobered up enough to head home.  It's quiet, and the sites have more space around them.

But there's still a shop, and lots of trails to walk, and the lights of Nanaimo are right there.  So you can head into the city if you've run out of beer, lost a can opener or just need to get back to the concrete jungle.  The foot ferry over costs $9 return, so you really have to want to make the day trip, but it's a comfortable safety blanket.

So we had a very nice relaxing weekend, cooking over the open fire some incredibly tasty burgers from Glenwood Meats.  All the wood smoke and good quality beef made for great outdoors feed.  The bean stew we made also was enhanced by wood fire and the fresh air.  And chicken we slapped directly on to the grill after weekend marinating was so tender and moist.

So after all that good food, the Monday morning we struck camp and headed in the city to grab breakfast before we headed home.   Gabriel's Gourmet is on the main street through Nanaimo.  They believe in local food from local farms and producers.  They tell you in great length on their website.  The cafe is full of pine wood, and fresh herbs growing on shelves, and art made from rusty old saws. They have a small patio, and about space for 20-30 inside.  You head to the back, order then get seated.  Means you have to think on your feet on what to order, but that probably speeds things up, and the wait staff not having to dance around through the coffee and perusal of long menus for twenty minutes will increase turn over.

I went for the Weekend Benny, which was a delicious pile of kale and bacon in a chive-enhanced Hollandaise.  Country potatoes rounded it out.  Every forkful was full of bright, rich flavours.  The bacon was thick cut, and cooked to just crispy.  Rounded out with coffee that was neither weka nor over strong, the day continued to maintain it's lvel of good.

The Brunette got the eggs on corn cakes with a mess of beans and salsa. The mouthfuls I tried were on par with the with the Benny.  Cooked well to combine the flavours, but not over cooked to a much.  And her daughters salmon wrap had perfectly cured salmon, with that rich, sea-salt sweetness that says to me it's great.

Overall, an excellent meal.  Kept me going until Duncan, where I did need to top off the caffeine with a can of Rockstar coffee.  Not a patch on the hot brew served in Nanaimo, or boiled up on the stove at the campsite, but the jolt was needed.

Saveur, Downtown Victoria

Saveur has a website that looks like Save Ur Restaurant (http://saveurrestaurant.ca/).  This might be a service like Bar Rescue, to come in to turn around failing food joints.  Maybe complete with a fake Gordon Ramsay to tell someone to F--- Off.  Perhaps it's really cheap, fast-food diner that offers quick Mesopotamian cuisine, served for the modern palate?

Instead, it offers modern French-inspired food.  According to the website, at least.  The space is starkly modern.  Matt-black walls.  Hardwood floors. A bar and cash register that wouldn't be out of place in a fancy hair salon. The kitchen eschews the little window you can peak into, instead, the range and prep stations open on to the dining floor.  Concrete flooring marks the edge of the chef's domain, and the start of the maitre'd's empire.

The restaurant is just one block up from Jam on Herald Street, and the long narrow space has suddenly reminded me of 'Solomon's', my ideal bar that's long been closed.  Space is going to be limited here, with maybe 30 covers.  The menu is concise, with the Chef's tasting menu looking like a fine array of good things, like Pork Belly with Fiddle head ferns, and Halibut with cheese grits.

BUT, this was brunch. And for brunch, there's the traditional breakfast; a hangover cure breakfast of  all the meats for $23, and my old favourite - Huevos Rancheros.  Plus a variety of Eggs Benny and a couscous porridge served with apricots and dates.

A photo posted by Chris (@thecesspit) on Apr 17, 2016 at 11:33am PDT

I went for the Huevos. Before they arrived we got ultra tiny scones.  Served with a house-made blackcurrant jam, these bite sized scones were warm and buttery.  The jam was sweet and tangy.  As my friend said... we could do with a bag of these to take home.

We also got coffee. It wasn't bad coffee, though I'd like to have had a teaspoon to stir my cream in with, and not to have to use the end of a butter knife.  And then use the thick, paper napkin to dry it on.  Just saying.

The Huevos were excellent.  A well toasted tortilla, topped with refried beans that had been cut with peppers and (I think) cilantro.  This lifted the flavour up a notch, and combined with the cheese and eggs and tortilla to make a great mouthful.  The eggs were served sunny-side up - no option was given on when I ordered, but I'm guessing they could have been done another style.  I don't mind my eggs that way, but I know some people -hate- it when the eggs white doesn't cook all the way through.

The guacamole was fresh, the pico de gallo tangy, and the cumin creme fraiche and great twist on serving it.  A good scattering of friend potato cubes added to the dish to make a sizable (though not super large meal).  A really good Huevos, and the price ($15) matched that... this is not a cheap and plenty type place.

For the price and vibe, I'd like to have seen the settings one step up.  The things I've not liked would get a pass at other places which weren't going for a fine dining vibe.  The food is excellent.  The service staff friendly.  They were doing plenty of trade, and feel there's plenty more people coming there to discuss their latest business projects and deals.  There's a seriousness about it all.  And good for them, it's a good addition to the scene in Victoria.

658 Herald Street, Victoria BC - info@saveurrestaurant.ca - 250.590.9251

Free Birthday Food - Denny's and Red Robin, Mayfair, Victoria

This past Monday I turn another year older.  I went in search of free stuff you might get for your birthday.  Plenty of offers for 2 for 1 deals, or 25% off.  But the two good offers I found (and used) were:

a) Free Denny's Grand Slam
b) Free Red Robin Gourmet Burger.

So as part of my birthday fun day, I went off on my bike to try out these two (and get in a 25km bike ride as well to burn of some of the calories).

Denny's, 3100 Douglas Street

Denny's offer a free Grand Slam breakfast for you on your birthday.  You can mix and match four items from their list, so I decided on pancakes, bacon, hash browns and sunny-side up eggs.  Coffee is extra, but a three bucks for bottomless coffee, that's not so bad.

It was a very wet and raining Monday morning, so I had the place pretty much to myself.  This didn't stop my table having a good speckling of toast crumbs for whoever was their last.  The staff were pretty fast attentive all throughout, and the coffee was kept well topped up.  Two of my friends joined me, including a big Denny's Breakfast fan ("I love me some Denny's" - true quote).  We all got slams.

Mine was fair to good.  The pancakes were the size of large side plates, fresh, and cooked beyond the point they taste like paste and before the point they taste like cardboard.  There was a whipped scoop of butter on top.  Don't think this is a tiny ice cream scoop. It's not.

The hash-browns are the real deal, grated potatoes, fried up and still slightly greasy, yet crispy on the outside.  The eggs were done okay...  I could have tested them further with scrambled eggs, but as I had a long day ahead of me, bad eggs would have put a damper on things.  But based on what I got, I'd try it next time.   The bacon was probably mostly water when it was put on the grill.. as it came out as two shriveled rashers, crisped to nothing much at all.  Sad loss of a pig to the world.

Everyone seems to have a Denny's horror story, about how there local one is the worst in the city/province/country.  I've heard it about Victoria, but it's been there so long, in a town with lots of breakfast joints, it can't be the WORST.   It was just breakfast done the way it's done in 2,000 other places.  No flair, but the same meal every time, more or less.

Still, it did what it said, it wasn't bad, it filled me up too.  It was free. Same time, same place next year?

Red Robin, 800 Tolmie Avenue

I went off from Denny's, avoiding a rainstorm, and headed out toe Cecelia Creek Gorge park.  I went down the mountain bike trials course there a couple of times (easy route, I've got a road bike, and bad balance).  That was fun.  Then I head over to The Pedaler to start a loop of Victoria they've designed and I'm writing a puzzle hunt for.  More to come on that, hopefully.

18km later, I was outside the Red Robin, which sits proud above the triple-lane highway into downtown core.  It has no bike parking outside, so I strapped my bicycle to one of the concrete posts that hold up the signage.

The building is under renovations, so half the place is torn up, and a lot of the walls and floors are bare, or tarped over.  It's not so bad that it's dusty and dirty, just a bit battered while they work on it.  I got a seat in the bar area (it might have been called the club lounge, which is a five dollar description of a twenty-five cent place).  Found out the free burger deal, which had just gone to an online club I had to join. They have about twenty burgers on the gourmet list, which is the birthday freebie, plus another set of premium sandwiches.  And the normal hodge podge of starters.

But I wanted free, but nothing super heavy, so went with the turkey burger.  Topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese and bacon, it's a super with extra cheese and turkey.  I wasn't expecting much, and had the broccoli option as my side.  You know, for healthy reasons.

The burger was actually damn fine.  Moist, flavourful and the veggies were all crisp.  The ciabatta bun soaked up some of the juices, which made it extra tasty.  The bacon was far better cooked than the rubbish at Denny's.  All over, a good burger.

The broccoli was cooked to the bright green (or a little beyond), not soggy.  Covered in butter, I think, so maybe not that healthy, but still, felt better than a bunch of supersized fries. The sides are meant to be bottomless. I would have got more broccoli, but didn't see a server again until checking out to leave, and I really didn't need it.  I did quite like the Red Robin special flavouring salt, which has a bunch celery salt, dried tomatoes, garlic and onions in it.  This tasted good on the greens.

I would have paid $10.49 for this burger normally.  That's a pretty good price.  On the flip side, the beer isn't.  I paid $8 for a 'jumbo size' Sam Adams. It looked like a normal sized beer to me.  And no where did I see the price quoted at such a rip off price.  I drank better beers for less at Churchill later on in the evening.

Would go back again for the food.  Was very pleasantly surprised by the quality for the price.  Would not drink there. Was unpleasantly surprised by the quality for the price.

Cafe Veneto, Downtown Victoria

I'm surprised.  I could have sworn I had reviewed the Cafe at Veneto at some point in the past, but my search-fu suggests I have not published anything.  Or even mentioned before how much I like the cocktail bar and restaurant.  I would of sworn on my copy of Nigel Slater's "Real Fast Food" I once wrote a paragraph on how awesome the breakfast tagine was.  Pulses and lentils and eggs, all steamed and crammed together into a wholesome, filling brunch.  But, I must have been feverish that week, and dreamed the whole 'writing it down' part.

The tagine is no longer on the menu.  The list is relatively standard for Victoria: a classic breakfast, a benny, a hash, something super sweet, huevos rancheros and a lighter option.  This is not a criticism.  Having crazy or odd food is great. If you can pull it off.  Of course, if you can't pull of a good traditional breakfast either, then your not going to get a good review from me.

The Veneto Cafe can pull of their menu with good skill. I went for the traditional breakfast, and was rewarded with two perfectly, medium poached eggs, perfectly toasted bread (pre-buttered just right) and a pile of breakfast potatoes, crisp yet floury on the inside.  For the meat, I went with the bacon, and was rewarded with four rashers, cooked crispy so they crunched and shattered under my bite.  And there was hot coffee, medium roasted with just enough of an eye opening caffeine hit.

One of my friends ordered the short rib beef hash.  Piles and piles of meat in the bottom of the skillet, covered with potatoes and onions and arugula and curds and eggs.  Massive meal, he took half it home, after raving about how good the first half was.

The London Tube, Downtown Victoria

A restaurant so new, it is not on Zomato yet.  Zomato (aka Urbanspoon lobotomised) has not yet updated their listings to include this place, or the fact that City of Victoria and Downtown Victoria are pretty much the same place.

The London Tube is the hotel restaurant for the Best Western on Johnson Street. This was also once home of De Dutch and later 'Stones throw'. It has been open for about a month now.  I fear no-one yet knows of it's existence, instead lining up for worst food in other locations that don't really deserve it.

This Sunday, after running an easy (ha!) 21.1 km around the city, myself and 3 other finishers of the run met with friends in the London Tube.  We had out pick of any table in there, so we took a big long table near the back. There's several big comfortable booths, and 2, 4 and 6 place tables.  They are riding on the London theme, with fake signs from London landmarks, like Carnaby Street.  I am not sure what the London Underground would say about their use of the Underground logo, but no-one should get too confused... this is Victoria, Canada, not Victoria Station.

The menu is just long enough, with several brunch options, a pile of burger choices and some British inspired main courses.  You got your scotch eggs, fish and chips, and chicken curry.  They say people reckon the chicken curry is the best in the city.  That's a very large claim to make... but I saw enough today that I am curious to see if they can back it up.

I ordered the Three Pancakes.  At some point on my run I got a craving for pancakes. I'd normally have chosen the full english or what has the most chicken in it.  But this time, my head said pancakes. I then got bacon, scrambled eggs and sausages added to it. Minor nitpick: when I get additional sides, it is always nice to have them on the same plate as the main course.  Two rashers of bacon don't look as attractive as three big pancakes with two rashers of bacon fitted onto the plate.  Admittedly, with the eggs, bacon and sausage, they'd have needed a bigger plate for me this morning.

The pancakes were, soft and fluffy and most edible.  The sausages were breakfast sausages, slightly herby. They had that bite of the skin done just right so your teeth sink through it with a satisfying piercing of the tube.  The eggs were scrambled to the turn, still moist.  The bacon was bacon.  There are better rashers to be had in town, but this was done decently. I got a nice jug of syrup to pour over my pancakes, which was better than the single serving packet of butter.  Again, it just looks nicer to have two pats of butter rather than a plastic package.  They brought out hot sauce, and had all the other condiments you need for breakfast ready to go.

The coffee... tasted like it had been stewed a little too long.  Was not a fan of the coffee.

My friends had the breakfast poutine, which was a pile of country-fried potatoes, big cubes crisply fried, then smothered in a gravy .  Inside that mess was a lot of cheese curds, some eggs and a few chunks of meat too.  I tried a bit.  I liked it.  I also got favourable reports of the the breakfast sandwich and the beans.  I wonder if they home bake their beans?

Overall, this was an improvement to the Stonesthrow.  There's a bit more passion and care on the plate.  It's not going to blow you away on the breakfast side, but your going to get something decent, with new cue and good service.  Now, they just need to fix the TV to go away from the Shaw music channel...

Revisits, Downtown Victoria

SuLT Perogi Bar.

So it was only two weeks ago I first went. But had to go back with the lovely Brunette to try out the evening menu.

I was happy, but not impressed, by the breakfast. The dinner I had was fantastic.  3 Green Kale perogies, 3 Clam Perogies, a mushroom gravy with cheese curds (the Poutine topping) and a small bowl of green salad.  Under $20.  Plenty enough to feed us both happily.

The perogies were deep fried under the poutine topping.  The kale ones (Green) are fantastic... that deep savoury flavour of kale I love, with a red chilli spice.  The clam and bacon ones were good too, with the filling flavours mingling and working well together.  It'd be easy to make everything lost in the sauce and the doughy outer.  They don't do that here.  The gravy on top was tasty too.  I will go back again for this meal, with a different sauce on top... and see how the dumplings come out when not fried.  I suspect excellent.

Oh, and full marks to the green salad. Plenty of different leaves and veg, to make it interesting, and just a light vinaigrette on top.  I really hope this place grows and grows.


The Churchill

Been over a year since they opened.  I love the Church.  I love their fine range of beers, their staff with the knowledge of what they are serving, the hundred yard long polished bar, and the cost booths.  I loved the Oktoberfest special night we walked into.  I loved the Paulaner Salvator beer special I had two pints of. I love the accordion players and the massive beer steins my friends won. And the smaller Paulaner glass I won.

I hated the next morning when I woke up from them and the other couple of pints I tried.

But I also love meeting friends there and being able to chat in an environment that's busy, up-tempo, but not over-burdened by loud tunes or a echoed buzz of other people.

Long may they thrive as well

Cora's

Speaking of places that I hope thrive, I am not talking about Cora's.  I will however upgrade them from truly terrible to merely bad.  I don't get the long line ups there.  There's nothing exceptional about the food.  There's nothing exceptional about the service.  There's nothing exceptional about the environment. There's not even anything great about the price.

It's a refectory that serves a lot of food.  They have this gimmick of piles of fresh fruit.  I guess that's the part that sets it apart, and as I don't like fresh fruit, it's lost on me.

But still, if I want a dried burger, topped with a smear of electric yellow, flavourless hollandaise, I know where to go.  If I want my cheese processed and my eggs pre-cooked into a folded sheet, I know where to go.  If I want staff too busy to serve their customers well, I know where to go.  But seriously, Victoria, there's a hundred places in town that do breakfast better than Cora's.  I bet Hawk and Hen was half empty at the same time.  So why the line-up?  It's a mystery to me.

Hawk and Hen, Downtown Victoria

I'd seen that "Hawk and Hen" was coming into the spot once occupied by The Podium.  The Podium was a big "sports bar" that failed to offer up sports in any way that differed from the other 15 places in town. I can watch a TV with sports on and drink beer in many places.  If your not giving the live commentary on the feature matches, and really pushing the 'place to watch' angle, then your just another bar.

So Hawk and Hen has a big location to fill, with lots of seats, so I was a little surprised to see the soft opening (no website I could find till very recently) and the west-coast niche it was filling.  Seems like a big ask to fill and 100+ seater place on a regular basis.  But, I did see that Liam Quinn was named as executive chef.  Liam runs the "Salt and Pepper Fox" (review), and if you work downtown and haven't had sandwich delivery from him yet, you should try it.  So, I was expecting good, fresh local food.

I got good, fresh food.  I have no idea where the albacore tuna I ate came from.  In fact, I have no idea where you find albacore tuna in general, and who smokes it to this rich, velvety, powerful flavour.  But I do know that the Tuna Melt I had was great.  Thick slices of the beautifully rich, meat, slapped onto a thick wedge of crusty white bread, covered in cheese and grilled to a cheesy, gooey mess.  The cheddar had enough bite to balance the soft white bread, and the tuna itself.  Yes, you can make a tuna melt at home... but this was a really good one.

I had mine with a side of Rösti potatoes.  These are grated potatoes, cooked into a crisp pattie.  Like a (proper) hash brown that had been cooked longer and with more fat.  Crunchy, and still rich and earthy.  Yum.  Would order these again and not be disappointed.  The dish was completed with a small pile of greens, which featured long shavings of celery, and a simple french dressing.

My friends complimented the meatballs as being big, rich and juicy, though the tomato base they were in was a little too chunky... the smoother sauce with the hash met with much more approval. The bacon served with the benny was big, thick and cooked to a stiff crisp... but not so far that the tasty bacon grease had all dried up.

The service had a couple of small problems: one item we ordered was no longer being made (the bread and butter pudding), but it took a trip to the kitchen to find that out.  Apparently it was not selling.  We mentioned that was odd to take it off for a place that had just opened.  We were told it had be at least a month they'd been in business... I guess long enough to know what doesn't sell.

Our table and another also had to have follow-ups to check how some of the orders should have their eggs cooked.  In a brunch first place, this should be a second nature to always ask.

That said, the service was fast, there were plenty of refills on coffee and water. The staff did seem enthusiastic about the food they were serving as well, which is key when for a place pushing local produce.

This has definitely gone on the revisit for brunch list. We all said we'd go back again, highly enjoying the food.

Top five brunches in Victoria

I'll admit it, I have had this posting on hold for a while for the week where I just don't have anything new to post and write about.  I just can't keep it back any longer, but in no particular order, here's my list of top brunch spots in Victoria:

1) The Fernwood Inn.  The two egg breakfast is a great deal, but  the steak and eggs skillet is fantastic.  Eat here on a hot summer's day, on the patio. Enjoy the parsnips muddled up into the breakfast potatoes, the big meaty pork sausages or the apricot toast.  Prices are a little high, but you pay for the quality.

2) Glo.  The beef short rib hash has all the right combinations for a meat eater's breakfast: potatoes are done with plenty of flavour and starch to fill you up, protein exuding a rich, savoury flavour and eggs letting out a golden yoke to add richness to the piles of veggies hash underneath.  You can get a wind-shaded spot outside, or enjoy the quiet indoors any time of the year.  Why this place is not rocking every Sunday is probably due to the location out of the down core.

3) The Blue Fox. If it just was as quiet as Glo, I'd probably not have anything else to write about, as I'd just go there all the time, and this blog would merely be 52 weeks of eating at the Blue Fox.  However, this isn't the Worst Idea of All Time (and anyways that would involve eating at Cora's every Sunday for a year).  Instead, it's a rare treat that remind me how good the basics of food can be done.

4) The Guild.  The full works breakfast at the Guild is a heart attack on a plate.  If you ate it every day, never exercised and washed it down with a pint of melted ice cream.  As the start to set yourself up for a long day's hike/renovations/moving a friend out of their fifth-floor walk-up apartment after a relationship-ending fight, it's a grand start.  I love the mix of west-coast and English-style gastropub at the Guild.  And the fact it's never too busy.

5) Spoons.  Only if you can catch it when it's just busy enough to be good for people watching, and not so busy the wait is half a day.  They do traditional breakfast here with plenty of everything. Or they twist it up a notch or five with a some extra combination, like breakfast fajitas or a massive side of poutine with your pulled pork benny.  Go for a diner style experience, and you'll be more than happy.

I think that's my top five.  Other favourites include Avalon, Picnic Too and Ferris's upstairs.  It's a hard list to confine to just five in Victoria.  And indicates the high bar you have to clear here to be notable.

EDIT: Uptairs at Ferris's no longer does a brunch menu, I am reliably informed. No more Weekend Crossword...

Northern Quarter, Downtown Victoria

The Friday Night Quiz at the old Fort Street Cafe was a night of legends.  Much loved and admired, so much so I still get hits on my post about it years after the Fort closed down.  But Benji and his team are back, with Torin Egan.  Torin ran the food at the Superior Cafe.  Another place I really liked, and that is also closed now.  So if two old favourites team up, you expect good things.

The Northern Quarter is the result.  Looking to have some of the vibe of live music and entertainment from the Fort, with interesting food and drink of the Superior.  It captures aspects of both, I feel in my two visits, but with something different.  It misses the rough, underground (literally) feel of the old Fort Cafe, and also the high art decor of the Superior.  Instead, it feels more like a big open loft apartment, with a big open space from the up front stage to the square bar at the back.  There's copious art on the walls.  There's lots of solid, tough wooden tables, regimented into rows.  The floor is polished concrete, the ceiling has a wavy set of slats hanging from it.  These probably do wonders for the acoustics.

I went in for a quick brunch this past Sunday.  In short, it's pretty good.  It didn't hit the top level of places in Victoria (Glo, Blue Fox, Picnic Too, etc), but it's a solid second tier in Victoria.  The best features of the Eggs Benedict I had were the bacon jam under each soft poached eggs, and the house made tomato ketchup.  Both had pep and zing to them, that worked with the dish. The eggs were soft with a nice runny yolk, but a solid white, so the whole thing kept it together, rather than being underdone and oozing.  The garlicky hollandaise was fresh and not over rich.  I would like to have seen a bit more garlic bite in it, but not everyone wants their breakfast to make them reek all day.

The coffee was plentiful, smooth and rich.  It was kept topped up by an efficient floor staff who made an effort, and went that bit further than just asking for my order.  Benji was working the floor, making sure all his guests were looked after, saying hi to everyone he knew, and making friends with those he didn't. The staff were all great.

I like the space, and I like the effort they are making to get good local music in, have social events, and bringing back the Quiz night.  They have a firm vision to have good food and good entertainment, to build a local scene for all sorts of talent.  I will hopefully convince my group to dine here again for a second opinion.

Picnic Too, Downtown Victoria

My first comment to Andrea on Picnic Too was:

"better than Tim Hortons"

This was not acceptable, she said via her Twitter account:

"Saying picnic is better than Timmy's is like saying it's better than dogs*** #obvious #nocomparison"

I followed up on Twitter with:

"For the record, it was MUCH better than Timmies.  Flavour, fresh veggies, proper smooth Americano "

This passed the Andrea test. Or at least she didn't come around my apartment, knock on my door and leave a paper bag of turds on fire on the carpet outside my door.  And that is acceptance if you ask me.

I went back with my brunch crew this morning to go a for second round.   I got there early and hooked up to the WiFi, on the wooden table in the window. The inside space is small and comfortable, with a variety of low and high seating, and walls covered in a maze of wooden slats. The staff are all super pleasant.

I ordered my 'better than Timmies' breakfast of an Americano and Breakfast sandwich again.  Guess what?  It's just as good as last time.  For $8, this a bargain. The Sour Pickle may give you more for your dollar, but nothing I know is this level of quality for under $10. Tasty crisp sandwich with all the right textures and colours melting together.  The pro-tip if that you can double it for a lunch meal.

But even after that, I had buyer's envy.  The plates of full breakfast that came out smelled like home. A home where hot buttered toast and rosemary and eggs and bacon are on the breakfast table. A home where you have awoken from a deep sleep on crisp cotton sheets, and the thickest, most comfortable pillows imaginable.  Breakfast is ready, and you are just refreshed enough to function within twenty seconds of opening your eyes.  You walk to the sunny kitchen table, where everything is ready for you.

It smelled like that.  It looked like it smelled.  I assume it tasted that way as well.  The breakfast burrito was a tightly rolled mass of eggs and meat.  The red potatoes on the side of the platters had been squashed gently, spilling out their white insides into the buttery covering.  The bacon was crisp.  The yolks golden.  The congee was full of greens and 

The Empire doughnuts they sell are stuffed to the gunnels with fillings. They are not a sorry sad affair, with a squirt of fake jam into a defrosted sugary lump that has been made two thousand miles east. 

I need to go for a run again down Fort Street soon, and then go and eat at Picnic Too again.  The next time I will go beyond the sandwich.

The Sour Pickle, Downtown Victoria

Hands down the best cheap breakfast and lunch in Downtown Victoria.

It's not fancy, it's not going to serve you free range bison on top of artisan bread rolls made by refugee farmers from the Okotoks.  The eggs are eggs made from battery hens, the bread comes from huge loaves, pre-sliced on delivery, the bacon is unsmoked and simple.

That's fine.  When my BLT and coffee give me change from a ten dollar bill, that's value.  Especially when the food is fast, fresh and well prepared.  Two slices of brown bread, a thick slice of tomato, crisp lettuce bed and a couple of rashers of bacon.  Nothing to complain about there.  It's not the world's greatest BLT.  But it's a good one.

To go with it, there's a small pile of crisp fries.  Wedged shaped potato chunks with the skin, they have a crispy outside and a fluffy centre.  There's not much of a potato flavour in there, but they are also decent, and work well with the hot sauce.  The hot sauce has a fair kick to it, just for the warning.  It's not just for flavour effect.

My friends got a thick Monte Cristo sandwich which looked to be overflowing with ham and chicken. The sandwich was scoffed up with no trouble at all and a happy smile on the recipient's face.   The two egg breakfast also got approval by my friend with a lighter appetite.

The service was friendly and kept the coffee levels topped up.  They serve water in thick plastic beakers, and for some reason, cold water never tastes right to me in plastic beakers.  But I have to stay hydrated. My neighbour told me so as I left the building this morning.

The Sour Pickle is small, maybe 20 seats, and simply adorned. Shoved in between Swans and a Hairdressers, they use floor area well, and it's close enough to main areas of the town to be convenient.  They are very welcoming to children, with books and crayons for them to be entertained with.

It'll probably never win an award, or make any top hipsters lists. It will get my business again.

 

Vista 18, Downtown Victoria

It's the Time Colonist 10km race weekend, and I've just worked out this is my fifth year of taking part.  Unlike last year,  was gunning for a time, just running for the joy of it.  If I go back five years, "running for the joy" of it was not a phrase I ever used. More like 'run or die', if we paraphrase the words of Dr Duvenage at Harris Green. He had a much nicer manner than that, but it was a wake up a call, and I put myself down to walk around the course as a goal.  I ended up running parts of it, amazed that I could actually run for 1000m, all at once.

Now I run because it means I can get the endorphins to flow. And keep eating out with good food.  My reward after a race is breakfast, and my favoured meal at these times is steak and eggs.  I believe this would be more suited for someone who'd just done an intense weights session, to restock on protein.  But whatever. I run. I eat.

The race was very enjoyable. I enjoyed the view over the Juan De Fuca on Dallas Road. I loved the cheering crowds and the percussive groups playing along the streets. I got a buzz from the smiling faces around me.  I also apologise to the lady who tried to engage in conversation around the nine-kilometre mark.  I was a zone, but my grunt was hardly the proper reply to your encouragement.  I ran in the sort of time I expected, with no tweaks or aches.  I got my photo taken by the talented Kirsten James. Talented, as she made me look good.

In short, I had a good time, and the run really does show off Victoria's good points, in the people and in the course.

I had booked up a sixteen seater table at Vista 18 in Chateau Victoria. I have to give them respect for accommodating not only a last minute change to get that big a group, but also the way we kind of filtered in over time. I was hanging with friends, some of who had run the race, and some of whom are part of my breakfast crew. A bunch of people I hang out with on a basis that sometimes never quite often enough.

Vista 18 is on the 18th floor and has great views across the city, overlooking the harbour, the Empress, along Dallas Road and then back out towards Mount Tolmie.  I feel like I must have written about the location before, but I haven't.  It's probably the best view in Victoria, both during the day, and at night.  I've had good drinks up there before on more than one birthday.  The dinner menu isn't the greatest, for value or portion sizes, but as a lounge venue it works well.

The breakfast is solid.  The steak was cooked medium-rare to perfection.  That browned savoury flavour on the outside from the Maillard reactions. And the pinkish, rare flesh in the centre.  I love it when I can see the different stages in how meat cooks through... the graduations of protein denaturing, the reaction of the myosin breaking down on the outside, but keeping it firm in the middle. The strands of the muscle fibres being clearly seen on the surface, but turning into a purplish, slightly shiny mass in the middle.  The science of cooking can make food even tastier.

I got my eggs soft-poached, so the yolks could break and I had a rich, yellow sauce on my steak.  It mingled into the thin sliced sauteed potatoes too. The eggs, I think, are cooked in cellophane, as they had an odd folded shape in the whites, which I am told is a sign that they've been done this way, rather than individually cracked into a bubbling pan.  I am pretty sure I couldn't tell the difference in the flavour between the two methods though.

The meal was completed with two thick slices of crusty sourdough and a puck-sized mushroom cap.  This had been grilled to the point it was weeping its juice, making it an excellent counter-point to the eggs.  There was as much coffee as I could drink (four cups, before I cried uncle), poured generously by Sherry, our busy server.  The only misstep in the meal, for me at least, was getting our bills and getting out of there. This took a bit longer than I expected, but they were doing a fine trade, and it's not like the surroundings were a hardship to stare at.

I heard good reports on the pancakes too, and the Mount Baker breakfast got served with a slice of ham so thick, it that must have been one fat porker it came from.  The breakfast crosswich featured a half case of eggs barely contained in a super-sized croissant.  No human could possibly get their mouth around the two sides, or keep all the contents lodged inside.

I would go back again for breakfast, or for evening drinks.

James Bay Inn, James Bay

Back during Tourist in your Hometown, I spent the night at the James Bay Inn.  I had an enjoyable enough evening with good friends in the JBI Pub, located underneath the hotel, drinking many fine beers.  It's always nice to take the stairs home.

The pub itself is a maze of tables and booths and spaces, with a dart board perilously close to the two main entrances. There is a big round bar stuck in the middle, that makes it not quite fit in with the seating around it.  This is the replacement for any charm in the surroundings.  There is no massive chalkboard of  rare Oregon beers, or the pinewood polished fixings, or deep plush couches, or 10 mile organic grass fed menus.  The JBI has none of these things.

It doesn't need them.

The point of the JBI is drinking a decent beer with folks you enjoy the company with.  There was music, I couldn't tell you what it was, but probably wasn't country music, as no-one in our group walked out screaming.  The beer menu had a good selection of local brews.  Or you can get a pale American lager in one of the mainstream flavours.

The menu is bar food.  There are burgers, wraps and sandwiches.  I got an open faced new york steak sandwich.  It was cooked nice and rare, just like I wanted it.  Piled up on a wedge of french bread, the juices flowed into the dough.  It was good.   One of my friends had the liver and onions.  The liver was a big, thin slab of protein, cooked, he said, just right, possibly the best he had in town for a while.

We sat a while and had a good time catching up, talking about all the things good friends do that are of little interest to anyone outside.  I believe we plotted about three major crimes, two spirited high jinks, and the eulogy at my funeral. I think. I remember laughing and smiling, so maybe the eulogy is a faulty memory after the second pint of Phillips Kaleidoscope IPA.

That's a good night out if it's very slightly hazy and my jaw muscles hurt from smiling.



The hotel room I got was a comfortable, clean and well appointed.  Except finding a makeshift desk space to type a journal entry was not easy. A chair couldn't fit between the bed and the chest of drawers. The bathroom was as big as the room itself.  I moved the bed into the bathroom to check my measurements, and it fitted between the sink, bath and toilet.  So I slept there.  I figured it would be an interesting change to sleep in a bathroom, but actually on a real mattress. Instead of using the bath mat as a cover (Mum, this only happened once, at University).

I woke up refreshed, reassembled the bedroom, and headed down to the breakfast room.

I went for the big fat breakfast, which had two of everything.  If you have the chance to stay at the James Bay Inn, and get a $10 voucher for breakfast, I recommend passing on this part of the stay. Over-cooked eggs, charred toast and coffee that was partly ground.  Good, old fashioned Vancouver Island dirt. Bleh.

The dinner was great, breakfast was not.  The room was fine. For the rate I paid, I'll not find a better deal within a walk of downtown in Victoria.

Ruby, near Mayfair Mall

Saturday was the Esquimalt 5km.  The Brunette, her daughter, Andrea and I entered for a casual fun run.  I managed to keep a reasonable pace up, better than I expected, with many thanks to the Andrea for keeping me going. Mavymag and the Brunette took a walk and stopped to smell the roses along the route, which has some good views along the seafront at Macauley point.

The run is very friendly and laid back, for kids and families mainly than the ultra-serious runners. Everyone under 13 who did the full run got a certificate and a water bottle and a family pass to the leisure centre.  There was a tonne of give-aways for shoes and gift baskets and massage therapy sessions.  A good morning, and one which worked up some hunger.

So off to the Ruby on Victoria's Chicken Belt (the 3100 block of Douglas Street).  The restaurant specialises in rotisserie chicken.  And I love good roasted or fried chicken.  Next door, there's KFC.  Which does terrible fried chicken, and coleslaw that looks like green marsh clippings mixed with half pasteurised mayonnaise that's been left in the sun too long... and it tastes much the same.

The Ruby is in the forecourt of Hotel Zed, where Accent Inns have refurbished a tired old Motel into a bright 70's throwback affair, replete with Camper Van as a shuttle bus and big bold blocks of colour.  The restaurant spills over into the hotel reception, so confusing us where to get seating, but a friendly concierge directed us along to the maitre d' who got us seated right away, onto a corner table.

The restaurant echoes the rest of the location.  There's a big tiled wall with a Chicken on it.  The Chicken has been divided into four parts: Leg, wing, breast and thigh.  I was not aware that chicken thighs came from the egg-laying part of a hen, though.  There's a small retro table with a record player on it, pumping out music.  Very kitsch, but as it was Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues, I will not only give it a pass, but a thumbs up.

We got the simple menu, which offers an array of breakfast choices, chicken rotisserie main courses and other entrées. But I knew what I wanted. Chicken and Waffles.

Hmm.  Problem. There are no Chicken and Waffles.

There are duck confit and waffles.  There are waffles and banana and toasted pecans.  There are waffles and  mixed berries.  There's shredded chicken eggs benedict and Mexican eggs topped with chicken.  But no chicken and waffles.

However, a quick request with the server, and he tells us the kitchen can prep up three plates of roasted chicken with waffles.  My day is complete and I have a new favourite person for the next thirty minutes, as I sit in anticipation.  Everyone bar the Brunette follows me with this choice.  Her loveliness goes for the skinny eggs breakfast.

The plates arrive, fresh from the kitchen, with a pile of chicken arranged on four large, fresh waffles, topped with an over-easy egg and a crack up rasher of bacon, crumbled and mixed in with the works.  I slice the egg open, letting a cascade of the runny yolk flow over the crisp chicken skins.  I daub on the house hot sauce, and then carve off a section of the waffles.

Oh boy.  These are light, fluffy clouds.  Sweet, yes, but not cloying.  There's some vanilla in there, I think, but just a hint.  I slice off more, with a bit of bacon and a morsel of chicken.  This combination works so well in my mouth, it has a little grin on it for the next 10 minutes as I work from one end of the plate to the other.  Stopping only occasionally to pause and let things sink in further.

The chicken is great.  It's tender and juicy throughout.  Cooked throughout, to a fall off the bones goodness. The skin is crispy, the insides aren't. The chicken grease covers my fingers as I gnaw on the bones, as I sully up a pile of serviettes to wipe my fingers and mouth.  I love it when you get chicken this good, that it leaves its mark.

The hot sauce they bring out is also wonder.  It has some heat, but also a spicy tang and sharpness from the vinegar too.  They told us it was a house recipe, but they did intend to start bottling it to sell.  I will be ordering some. I know my hot sauces.  No egg can be eaten at Vic In-Person towers without a splash of something spicy. This sauce, with chicken and some simple carbs, would knock Nandos into a cocked hat.

I commented to the server these were the best waffles I'd had in years. He relayed this vocally across to the kitchen.  I think they were glad to know.

Andrea and Mavymag both agreed this was a great meal.  The Brunette had no envy though. Her sauteed kale was perfect, she tells me, and the bed of hashed browned potatoes was crisp on the outside and mashed soft inside, made even tastier with the addition of carrots into the combination.  I would have tried some, but I was filled to the gunnels with the meal I had.  Any more, and I'd have recreated Mr Creosote, and after the staff were so nice to us, I felt this was not a good way to repay them.

In short, my only complaint is that they should make this special Chicken and Waffles order a mainstay on the menu. I may take one for the team and check out the duck confit version next time.
 But I just can't see how it can be as good.



(I have had the Kaiser Chef's Ruby in my head throughout this review. The words aren't appropriate, but the tune is a great one.)

The Blue Fox, Downtown Victoria

Spoiler alert:  The Blue Fox does the best traditional breakfast in town.

A few weeks back, I became a Canadian, and to celebrate my first meal as a citizen, I went to the Blue Fox.  Because it's a city favourite, and because there'd be no lineup.  The line ups at the Fox are legendary in Victoria.  So any chance to eat there with little or no wait should be taken.

The Brunette and I headed over after the citizenship ceremony.  The ceremony was the end of a nine-year long process.  I got to shake hands with a Mountie and a Judge and sing the anthem NOT at a hockey game, I think that made it official.

Right at the end of the ceremony, the usher announces that we were all going to get a special gift to commemorate the day.  I half-expected the long arm of advertising to have reached this formal ceremony and end up with a $25 Timmies Card, or a fistful of Canadian Tire money. It wasn't.  A cultural access pass, which gets me free entry to a bunch of places across Canada... a half-priced rail ticket.  If anyone wants to sponsor a book....

So breaking fast at the Blue Fox I ordered up the HUGE 'Fox's Grill' and a mug of steaming hot coffee.  The Brunette went for the less huge Huevos Rancheros.  We chatted while we waited, sipping coffee that was as fresh as the water reserves in Canada... which holds one-fifth of the world's non-salinated H2O.

My plate arrived, piled as high as Mount William Logan.  We had bacon, as crisp as a plastic twenty dollar bill.  It was smoked with the scent of maple wood, reminiscent of a warm summers day in the New Brunswick forests.  The eggs were fresh with yolks that bring back memories of ten gold medals won by Team Canada at the Sochi Winter Olympics.  The toast was fresh and crisp, with oats and wheat that a Saskatchewan farmer would be proud of growing. The butter sat in its pores, melted and slightly salty.  Salty like the sea breeze on a fresh day on the tip of Vancouver Island.  The bread came with a homemade jam, tart but fruity.  Not too sweet, which Sir Frederick Banting would approve of, I am sure.

The potatoes were pan-fried, but still retained the hale earthiness that Matthew Cuthbert would have been proud to grow. The sausage links had porky goodness throughout.  Two links, reminding me of the two links across Canada forged by the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways. To round things out, there was some hot, sauteed mushrooms.  Brown and black, like the thick tar sands of Northern Alberta.

Okay, that's one metaphor too far.

I also tried parts of the Huevos.  The salsa was one of the best tasting ones I have ever tried.

It's a great meal. Fresh local produce, cooked well with the minimum of messing around with it, the minimum of ceremony.  There's a reason the lines for this place at the weekend stretch longer than Wayne Gretzky's point scoring streak.

La Collina Fine European Bakery, Saanich

It was a wind and rain storm, which meant of course I had agreed to go running with Andrea.  She decided that I would make a good wind break, and she had just run 10km to meet me, so I guess I could step up.  We managed to avoid the worst of the rain, returning home after a couple of laps Cedar Hill Golf course just before the heavens opened.  I really like the golf course for a good solid urban trail run... lots of hard hills to build up strength and some nice level stretches to just bumble along and thing about the world before the next hard part.

Anyway's, though I had avoided the rain, I hadn't avoided the wrath of Andrea. There was no carbs in the house, so we went on a food hunt.  First, De Dutch (for some reason).  There was a big queue.  Next, The Monkey Tree. Not yet open.  Finally, as the heavens threatened to wash away Mount Douglas, and Andrea's carb deprived mind was beginning to lose it, La Collina Bakery.

This is a small cafe next to the Root Cellar, serving a small breakfast menu and an array of pastries and bread. I grabbed an apple muffin along with a two egg and bacon breakfast plate and a coffee. The muffin filled up my glucose stores (honest) and the coffee did something to calm down Andrea's rage, which by now was threatening the western world with annihilation via tweets.  I am not sure how that would have worked, but as it's two weeks later and we are all still here, we didn't have to find out.

The breakfast plate arrived, and had some of the finest hash browns I've had in town. Not a grated patty, which I love and would rave about for hours to my bored friends. But small strips fried and bashed together into a mashed up mess.  Crispy, browned and smashed up as well.

The eggs were done fine on my plate, over easy with a runny yolk, puddling into the mashed up tatters.  Andrea ordered before me, so her eggs were on the burner just a little longer, and they had solidified a little in the centre, more Over Medium, I suppose.  The bacon was all crispy and crackling and piggy goodness.  The toast was pre buttered, but dry and a bit tasteless for wholemeal.  It all worked out and got our energy back for the 10 yard dash back through the rain to the car.

A pretty good spot for emergency fast breakfast.

Sunnyside Cafe, Esquimalt

Saturday was my third running of the Salvation Army Santa Shuffle.  Which went very well, Andrea paced me to push me hard, and I finished in a personal best for the course.  And it was a -fun- run, not a race.  I had fun, the people dressed as elves had fun, the Sally Army raised some money.  So who cares what my time actually was, just that it was more good exercise (I was happy I ran a fast time, so I guess I cared after all)

And afterwards, we headed to the Sunnyside Cafe in Esquimalt. I'd seen it at the top of many brunch lists, and as we were near-ish by, invited the normal brunch crew along to join in, and they came out for food and a catch up.  It is situated almost at the Navy Base, underneath Action Motorbikes.  The space is small, a long narrow frontage with a couple of tables outside and about seating for 20 inside.  It's counter service for the orders, but there was a server double fisting coffee and cream once we got seated.

The menu is pretty extensive, with about eight different Benny's, half a dozen lunch items and the standards of eggs, bacon, sausage and bread. The huevos have been mentioned as being really good. There's a also a build your own sandwich option, where you can get scrambled egg in a bun or wrap with two extras, like bacon, mushrooms or cheese.

I ordered the scrambled egg wrap with bacon and sausage.  There was an option of turkey, normal pork and sage or chorizo.  I went for the spicy sausage, with a side of potatoes and a big coffee.  The Brunette joined us a bit later and order a half portion of the vegetable Eggs Benedict.

The wrap was good.  The sausage was cooked well, spiced well and tasty, the juices flowing into the eggs and bacon.  The potatoes were sliced and quarter pieces of vegetable, partly fried I think and mostly boiled. And covered in a red powder that might have had some cayenne in.  The filled me up, but not so that I'd get excited about them.  Like I can get excited about good hash browns.

The Lovely Brunette of My Acquaintance has just raved about the Benny.  The half portion was a perfect size for her, and the hollandaise had some basil or herbs in it to make it really flavourful.  It was served with a couple of big slices of tomato, which had been warmed, not fried in the pan. This completed the meal, rather than carbing it up with potatoes.

The coffee was a good solid brew, setting the energy levels off again, but not so dark and potent that I would be vibrating for the next two hours.  I appreciated the constant top ups, and the service all around was fast and happy.  The whole experience was a good one, partly helped I am sure by the venue being just busy enough that we didn't have to wait, but there was people and liveliness about the place.  It's a good local place, and I'll be back next time I'm in the area for brunch... which given normal service will be for next year's Santa Shuffle.

Four Mile House, View Royal

Pubs that do a good brunch.... trying to think of a top five on Vancouver Island list.  There's lots of places open early for the sports fans, or for lazy Sunday mornings before the real trade starts around noon, but I'm drawing a blank right now on great ones.

The Four Mile House does a Sunday brunch.  A small menu, that covers the breakfast basics to get things under way, especially for the poor unfortunates working Sunday.  Or the hungry runners coming in from the cold, damp November morning.

Our party of four contained both workers and runners. We convinced the server to get the fire lit, so that warmth flowed out into the open main bar room.  The idea of sitting under out door heat lamps was given to us, but that seems like a waste of energy, and also not a good way to keep the elements out.  It was a day for indoors, feeling cocooned up in our own bubbles.

It is also a day for brevity in reviews.

I ordered a hash skillet, which was plenty of potato, meat and eggs covered Hollandaise sauce.  Parts of the skillet were only luke-warm, possibly as it was served in a china dish, not a big metal skillet.  The hollandaise was just hollandaise, and nothing special,  The eggs were cooked about right.  The coffee was warm and plentiful.

Two others ordered the Four Mile stack: A ham slice topped with a waffle, topped with bacon, topped with a waffle, topped with sausage, topped with a waffle, topped with eggs.  With fruit, syrup and whipped cream on the side.  This was 'a lot of meat' (quothed Andrea). It took some deconstruction to be edible, unless you have an unhinge-able jaw you need to split this down. Good waffles, while the meat was typical breakfast protein... I snagged a sausage, and it was an average sage-spiced pork tube.

Good value for a monster breakfast, but not exceptional such that I urge you to drive out to View Royal.

I feel much the same about the Four Mile as the beer they brew.... I love the design of the labels on their beer, but the contents is just average.  I love the feel of the pub and the way it is laid out, but the food and service is just average.  You can do better in other places around town, so unless living near by, why bother going here?

EDIT : Two of the people I was with seemed to think this review was harsh and unfair.  They noted the staff were really friendly, getting the fire turned on.  And how often our coffee mugs were refilled.  They also reported the bacon was -almost- as good as the bacon at 'Relish'.  Which is very high praise.

I didn't want to come across as harsh, just trying to communicate it was an average experience... some good points, a couple of negative ones, but over all... it was there, we ate there, it'll still be there and no reason for it not to be there, or for anyone to avoid it.  Just no reason to drive across three municipalities to get there.  But if nearby, why not?

Hernande'z, Downtown Victoria

I used to love Hernande'z when I worked down town or I had cause to be downtown for a fast and fresh lunch.  The mixture of a lightly spiced burritos and fresh local food was a delight.  As I've moved out to the sticks to work, I'm not there as often, and have tended to eat at the Interactivity Board Game Cafe before or during my weekly evening gaming sessions.

But I had noticed a regular weekend brunch with my very favourite meal : 'Huevos Rancheros' taking centre place in the menu.  I prepared with a  fifteen km run with Andrea, then met with the lovely Brunette of my Acquaintance and two of my best-est friends.

We got seated in the walk through mall that Hernande'z lives in, on a little table opposite the closed coffee shop. We ordered in shop water and my friends got in a small basket of nachos to warm up with.  The server was young and had the slight confusion of a teenager in her first job, but with plenty of enthusiasm, so no real problem there. One of the chefs did mention they wished there was coffee available when they opened on a Sunday, and it is one miss on the menu for brunch.  I wonder if there is a quick and easy, but authentic coffee substitute they could offer?

I ordered the standard Huevos, served on thin corn flour tortillas, while the Brunette went for the Huaraches Rancheros.  These are much the same but with one big, thicker corn tortilla that looks a bit like a sandal (and where the name comes from), made from a maize dough and lightly fried.  Both dishes were served with fresh eggs, fresh made beans, fresh salsa and a small heap of a potatoes.

There has been talk that the quality at Hernande'z has gone down hill in the last few years.  This is not apparent in the brunch.  The eggs and beans were as fresh as promised, and tasted wonderful.  The beans had that mushy, grainy feel with a savoury and, well, beany flavour. The salsa was  lively and tangy but not hot, just a bite from the tomatoes.  And those breakfast potatoes were parboiled, fried up a bit and served hot, and kept the new potato taste in there - slightly waxy, slightly earthy.

The tortilla was fresh, soft and you could taste the corn flour, the gritty, savoury dough warm and just a bit of a resistance to the bite. The huarache as more of the same but thicker with a slight crumble to the texture.  Both meals were plenty for one hungry person, and my friends shared a plate between them and were well satisfied.

A great brunch pick up for fresh and fast food.

EDIT : Quote from the Brunette 'Probably the best Huevos I have ever had'.