Number 6 on Brunch Places to visit in 2017 is "Hawk and Hen". Which is convenient, as it is fast become a favourite regular place for my friends and I to eat at. That's because there's no line up, decent coffee and buttery, waxy, golden potatoes.
I reviewed Hawk & Hen in 2015, not long after it opened. I haven't been back for anything but brunch, but feel it's probably time I did. The space does seem to have gathered more customers in the mean time, and the menu has changed up a little, but it's still looking at serving up classic, fresh west coast breakfasts with small, but good twists.
The restaurant is split over three levels, with the front side having two tiers next to tall windows. The windows deserve to get lots of warm light in. They instead face north, looking at the old brick heritage buildings of Yates Street. Buildings much improved and renovated in recent years, mind you. The time I went, the main feature of those buildings was two ladies shotgunning Lucky Lager to Black Sabbath's "War Pigs".
Good on them.
Inside, the tables on the lower levels are big and friendly and relaxing. But always feels cramped being underneath on the ground floor. Even now I have my head bent down, feeling like I've crawled underneath a tree house to have lunch. It's not that low at all in there, but has air of enclosure that i wish it didn't.
But the food. Last time I went I ordered the BC Salmon Skillet: a layer of buttery, golden Yukon potatoes, covered in smoked salmon, latkes and capers. Topped with two poached eggs and some fresh Hollandaise. In cast iron skillet.
I suspect my cholesterol is up several points. But it was worth it. Some how they make the potatoes both firm and waxy in consistency, and rich tasting as well. The earthy nice of the spuds comes through. It's clearly the butter that does the trick. I am sure it's not just covering everything melted butter and hoping. I do that at home sometimes, and it doesn't quite have this result.
The eggs were done to around medium/medium soft. Hard to get perfect, but they were pretty damn near, and oozed the yolks nicely over the salmon and capers. This made for a savory, fishy forkful.The slight smoke in the salmon cuts through the eggs just enough to make it a great combination. In fact, even though they serve thick hand-sliced rashers of bacon, and one of my friends had it sitting there in my eyeline, I didn't feel the least bit jealous. And I've had the bacon. It's good bacon. Just this is good salmon too.
(I'm just sending a message to suggest we go back soon for another brunch, as I do want the bacon next time).
They serve hipster friendly Bows and Arrow coffee. Hipster friendly, and well roasted, good coffee. All the while kept freshened up by a pair of attentive servers. The staff definitely seemed more relaxed and on the ball than my first visit,
One to visit for sure, and deserving in a top ten of Victoria brunch places. But hopefully this post won't get too much attention so there's a queue to get in.
January 22, 2017
January 08, 2017
Chuck's Burger Bar, Sidney, BC
Post 1 of the 2017 challenge, and it's a nomination by Rayna of Quench Wines. Chuck's Burger Bar in Sidney. It claims to have the best burgers on the island, using local, fresh ingredients. So well worth a try. Especially as I was at the airport to pick up Andrea from the airport. Now I look at the map, I know it's just around the corner from the airport terminal. But I didn't do that. I set off on a grand tour of Deep Cove, Lands End Road and Swartz Bay instead.
It was nice to see some of the countryside. We passed the church used in 'Graceppoint', the terrible remake of the British show 'Broadchurch'. I pointed this out to Andrea. She wasn't impressed. I think my 'turn right out of the airport' plan was not the right one.
We did get back to somewhere I recognized. The highway by the ferry terminal. We headed south and called up a map. This quickly found us Chuck's in the middle of the small industrial estate next to the airport. Nestled next to a Boyd's Auto Body, opposite Slegg's Lumber is Chuck's Burger Bar.
It was still a little early in the evening, so we were the only two people in there at first. Our server, David, was super warm and friendly, and got us settled in with the menu and fresh water. The inside of the place is what I call 'West coast wood'. This means lots of varnished lumber, big cuts of wood for the tables, stained dark brown chairs and exposed bricks. Clean, tidy but not feeling over-dressed. It also had a huge picture of a cow along one wall.
Showing pictures of the animals you are about to eat is a thing.
The menu is large... as long as you want burgers. There are nine different patties to choose from. These include ground bacon, Angus beef and lamb. To go with this is are around 50 different toppings, so you can build your own perfect burger. This goes along with a host of different cheeses; and the option to add a 1/4lb of lobster as well.
Or if you can't be thinking of your own recipe, there's twenty or so pre-made burger recipes. For example, the Hawaiian is a bacon burger with pineapple and a zesty tequila BBQ sauce.
The Pescetarian caught my eye. A veggie burger topped with jack cheese and lobster, with black pepper mayo. I checked in with our server on how the veggie burger was made. I was told it was made with fresh vegetables. Not the fake veggie mince or some weird quinoa and mushroom mix. So I decided to go for it. It was either this most unusual offering, or the standard cheese burger.
I fear I need to go back and try the cheese burger.
This was a disappointing mess of a burger. A breaded veggie burger that is super crispy on the outside, but with a muddy mess of vegetables inside. There's no real flavour to it, but a odd combination of textures. The lobster meat was tepid or even cold. That doesn't work for me on a burger, and as I expect it was from the fridge it was slight rubbery as well. That made for a unpleasant mouthful. None of the flavours or textures were working together. It was a sad choice, as it looked pleasant, and apart from the choice to have cold lobster, all put together well.
But it just didn't work for me.
The mound of fresh cut fries served with it were crisp, fluffy and great fries. The coleslaw was good, the pickle spear crunchy, the service great. Everything but the burger. Which makes me a little sad to write about it, as I wanted to say they're were all awesome.
I do have to report Andrea thought her poutine was good to great (needed the cheese to be a bit more melty). She ordered the Fire Grilled Chicken and Chorizo burger. The report I asked for said it had some great spicy kick to it, and was still warm and tasty when she finished it up later.
So, you should -probably- go to Chuck's and try it out. I know next time I'm doing an airport run and want food, I'll go there instead of White Spot. Now I know it exists.
And I will report back in.
It was nice to see some of the countryside. We passed the church used in 'Graceppoint', the terrible remake of the British show 'Broadchurch'. I pointed this out to Andrea. She wasn't impressed. I think my 'turn right out of the airport' plan was not the right one.
We did get back to somewhere I recognized. The highway by the ferry terminal. We headed south and called up a map. This quickly found us Chuck's in the middle of the small industrial estate next to the airport. Nestled next to a Boyd's Auto Body, opposite Slegg's Lumber is Chuck's Burger Bar.
It was still a little early in the evening, so we were the only two people in there at first. Our server, David, was super warm and friendly, and got us settled in with the menu and fresh water. The inside of the place is what I call 'West coast wood'. This means lots of varnished lumber, big cuts of wood for the tables, stained dark brown chairs and exposed bricks. Clean, tidy but not feeling over-dressed. It also had a huge picture of a cow along one wall.
Showing pictures of the animals you are about to eat is a thing.
 |
| A cow. Painted. |
Or if you can't be thinking of your own recipe, there's twenty or so pre-made burger recipes. For example, the Hawaiian is a bacon burger with pineapple and a zesty tequila BBQ sauce.
The Pescetarian caught my eye. A veggie burger topped with jack cheese and lobster, with black pepper mayo. I checked in with our server on how the veggie burger was made. I was told it was made with fresh vegetables. Not the fake veggie mince or some weird quinoa and mushroom mix. So I decided to go for it. It was either this most unusual offering, or the standard cheese burger.
I fear I need to go back and try the cheese burger.
This was a disappointing mess of a burger. A breaded veggie burger that is super crispy on the outside, but with a muddy mess of vegetables inside. There's no real flavour to it, but a odd combination of textures. The lobster meat was tepid or even cold. That doesn't work for me on a burger, and as I expect it was from the fridge it was slight rubbery as well. That made for a unpleasant mouthful. None of the flavours or textures were working together. It was a sad choice, as it looked pleasant, and apart from the choice to have cold lobster, all put together well.
But it just didn't work for me.
The mound of fresh cut fries served with it were crisp, fluffy and great fries. The coleslaw was good, the pickle spear crunchy, the service great. Everything but the burger. Which makes me a little sad to write about it, as I wanted to say they're were all awesome.
I do have to report Andrea thought her poutine was good to great (needed the cheese to be a bit more melty). She ordered the Fire Grilled Chicken and Chorizo burger. The report I asked for said it had some great spicy kick to it, and was still warm and tasty when she finished it up later.
So, you should -probably- go to Chuck's and try it out. I know next time I'm doing an airport run and want food, I'll go there instead of White Spot. Now I know it exists.
And I will report back in.
December 30, 2016
Where should I go in 2017?
The end of the year is here. Victoria In Person went on a long hiatus after I lost the blogging challenge to Andrea. With Fringe and a lot of work in the last quarter of the year, I had to let something slide a little. And this blog was the casualty.
In the end, I think it was good to take a break. There's still lots of places I want to visit but some of the joy of writing had slipped by. It's back now. I think. I've seen many blogs before going on a break, announce their return, post once more and then fade away for ever. So there's a chance that might happen.
But planning for success, myself and Andrea have a new challenge. She's going to try 25 new things this year. With five picked by her loyal readership, and a little filtering by her friends... so we can avoid her choosing easy things like picking up a copy of the Vancouver Sun.
I'm going to review twenty of the top rated places in Victoria (whether repeats or not), with five extra chosen by you, dear reader.
The Top Ten on tripadvisor are as follows:
Thank goodness Cora's is #12 on this list. Which also makes me question the validity of this list, as it's the most soulless, miserable place I have eaten in Victoria.
As my normal eating buddies are brunch specialist, I also took the top ten from Yelp for breakfast:
And I miss out on Cora's again, being #13 on Yelp. Seriously, apart from fruit platters and the longing for the original version back east, why is this place so loved when it serves industrial grade breakfast in surroundings that would not be out of place in a middle school cafeteria?.
Reply here, or twitter at me to pick one of the extra five that I really should visit. I will veto Cora's. Won't veto anywhere else. Will also visit bars and other interesting Victoria places that I don't have to stuff food into my face at.
In the end, I think it was good to take a break. There's still lots of places I want to visit but some of the joy of writing had slipped by. It's back now. I think. I've seen many blogs before going on a break, announce their return, post once more and then fade away for ever. So there's a chance that might happen.
But planning for success, myself and Andrea have a new challenge. She's going to try 25 new things this year. With five picked by her loyal readership, and a little filtering by her friends... so we can avoid her choosing easy things like picking up a copy of the Vancouver Sun.
I'm going to review twenty of the top rated places in Victoria (whether repeats or not), with five extra chosen by you, dear reader.
The Top Ten on tripadvisor are as follows:
- Saveur
- Fishhook
- Ithaka Greek Restaurant
- Il Terrazzo
- Cafe Brio
- The Blue Fox
- John's Place
- The Fish Store at Fisherman's Wharf
- Olo
- Restaurant Matisse
Thank goodness Cora's is #12 on this list. Which also makes me question the validity of this list, as it's the most soulless, miserable place I have eaten in Victoria.
As my normal eating buddies are brunch specialist, I also took the top ten from Yelp for breakfast:
- Jam
Blue FoxNourish in the HarbourJohn's PlaceThe Ruby- Frankie's Modern Diner
- Mo:Le
- Hawk and Hen
- Spoons
- Floyd's
- Frank's Honeybun Cafe
- ReBar Modern Food
And I miss out on Cora's again, being #13 on Yelp. Seriously, apart from fruit platters and the longing for the original version back east, why is this place so loved when it serves industrial grade breakfast in surroundings that would not be out of place in a middle school cafeteria?.
Reply here, or twitter at me to pick one of the extra five that I really should visit. I will veto Cora's. Won't veto anywhere else. Will also visit bars and other interesting Victoria places that I don't have to stuff food into my face at.
August 07, 2016
Bout Time, Paper Street Studio Sessions, Victoria
Paper Street Studios do a variety of things in improvisational acting space... lessons, shows, team building and studio sessions. The latter are smaller sessions in their studio space on Fort. I assume they are moving sometime as the Black/White development takes over on that corner of Fort and Cook. They are also a great way to see very talented performers, up close, for not much money.
Bout Time is compered by Brooke Cameron, based on a format she developed in Ontario, and has shipped it up into British Columbia for our enjoyment. It's a competitive format, with two teams of three duking it out to build scenes for the crowd's approval; but with a twist in the rules. if you've done theatre games or improv sessions, you'll recognize the rough concepts. But Brooke's imagination seems to take them to evil, twisted places to make it harder for the players. Watching the verbal and acting gymnastics as they struggle to keep up is all the fun.
Last night, I saw one team attempt to keep a scene about playing jazz in line while Brooke forced them to play the scene backwards and forwards at her whims. Watching them try to recall the order they had added and removed new elements was as much fun as watching the story line they tried to create unfold. The best piece was by the female team of '3 Cigs' that made a musical number about living in the South, and turned into a piece about feminism.... taking down the 'father' of the nuclear family for singing over the mother and daughter was an absolute brilliant move. The discovery of moments like this out of chaos is what makes improv both fun, but also thoughtful and interesting.
The best improv is all about the collaboration between the parts, with each person supporting and building with others to create something... often something that's only seen by the observers. With the offer of a word or a movement being taken and built on, there's no one person with control. But the whole team is in some sort of control, all steering and pushing forward to create.
So there was laughter, no-one taking anything too seriously. But it's not flippant. The energy of compere kept the audience engaged, while the music from Matt Cowlrick added to the atmosphere. 3 Cigs won the bout, and will be back again to defend their crown.
Well worth checking out the next one, with the fringe coming up next month it might be a little delayed.
Bout Time is compered by Brooke Cameron, based on a format she developed in Ontario, and has shipped it up into British Columbia for our enjoyment. It's a competitive format, with two teams of three duking it out to build scenes for the crowd's approval; but with a twist in the rules. if you've done theatre games or improv sessions, you'll recognize the rough concepts. But Brooke's imagination seems to take them to evil, twisted places to make it harder for the players. Watching the verbal and acting gymnastics as they struggle to keep up is all the fun.
Last night, I saw one team attempt to keep a scene about playing jazz in line while Brooke forced them to play the scene backwards and forwards at her whims. Watching them try to recall the order they had added and removed new elements was as much fun as watching the story line they tried to create unfold. The best piece was by the female team of '3 Cigs' that made a musical number about living in the South, and turned into a piece about feminism.... taking down the 'father' of the nuclear family for singing over the mother and daughter was an absolute brilliant move. The discovery of moments like this out of chaos is what makes improv both fun, but also thoughtful and interesting.
The best improv is all about the collaboration between the parts, with each person supporting and building with others to create something... often something that's only seen by the observers. With the offer of a word or a movement being taken and built on, there's no one person with control. But the whole team is in some sort of control, all steering and pushing forward to create.
So there was laughter, no-one taking anything too seriously. But it's not flippant. The energy of compere kept the audience engaged, while the music from Matt Cowlrick added to the atmosphere. 3 Cigs won the bout, and will be back again to defend their crown.
Well worth checking out the next one, with the fringe coming up next month it might be a little delayed.
July 24, 2016
Victoria Sushi, Victoria West
I'm currently using some space in Vic West to rehearse a show for the Victoria fringe (see: aQuietSeason.com). The scary part about doing my own show is that someone out there will be reviewing it with the same critical eyes I've done to other fringe shows. But I'm pretty happy with what's been built so far, so we'll see how it goes.
And as a bonus for me, it means I can check out a couple of places in Vic West for dinner beforehand. Last week, I walked into Victoria Sushi, in Westside Village Mall. This square is just over from the Dockside Green development but has been around far longer than that new build. The Sushi restaurant is on one corner, so has plenty of natural light to offset the black and dark brown tones inside. The lighting is kind of moody in there, with diffuse light, and there are lots of glass panels with bamboo strips stuck to them...
Service didn't blow me away. I was sat on my own at a large table (six-person table) in one corner. It then took a while to get an order taken, once I had green tea served. And then a while for the food to arrive. I went for my typical choice of Pork Katsu and BC rolls.
The Katsu was served on a small bed of lettuce, with about three tablespoons of rice and a ramekin of a thick, brown sauce. The Tonkatsu sauce was the best part of the meal. It had a tingly spice and a pleasant gingery flavour, as well as being unctuous and gloopy over the breaded pork. The pork had been pounded flat o make a very thin, crisp cutlet. It was a bit dry but otherwise was okay, but nothing superb. I've had better.
The BC Rolls were also fine, but again nothing wonderful. They also arrived so late into the meal, I thought they'd forgotten about me. I have kind of forgotten about the BC rolls now, so it's a mutual disinterest. But I did note that there wasn't much of the crisp, BBQ-smokiness to the salmon skins the role. Which is the combination of flavours I love to have in my food.
I'd not pass up on Victoria Sushi if I am over there again, and the ambience did start to grow on me. But there was nothing that made me want to travel to visit. And nothing that made me completely avoid ever again
And as a bonus for me, it means I can check out a couple of places in Vic West for dinner beforehand. Last week, I walked into Victoria Sushi, in Westside Village Mall. This square is just over from the Dockside Green development but has been around far longer than that new build. The Sushi restaurant is on one corner, so has plenty of natural light to offset the black and dark brown tones inside. The lighting is kind of moody in there, with diffuse light, and there are lots of glass panels with bamboo strips stuck to them...
Service didn't blow me away. I was sat on my own at a large table (six-person table) in one corner. It then took a while to get an order taken, once I had green tea served. And then a while for the food to arrive. I went for my typical choice of Pork Katsu and BC rolls.
The Katsu was served on a small bed of lettuce, with about three tablespoons of rice and a ramekin of a thick, brown sauce. The Tonkatsu sauce was the best part of the meal. It had a tingly spice and a pleasant gingery flavour, as well as being unctuous and gloopy over the breaded pork. The pork had been pounded flat o make a very thin, crisp cutlet. It was a bit dry but otherwise was okay, but nothing superb. I've had better.
The BC Rolls were also fine, but again nothing wonderful. They also arrived so late into the meal, I thought they'd forgotten about me. I have kind of forgotten about the BC rolls now, so it's a mutual disinterest. But I did note that there wasn't much of the crisp, BBQ-smokiness to the salmon skins the role. Which is the combination of flavours I love to have in my food.
I'd not pass up on Victoria Sushi if I am over there again, and the ambience did start to grow on me. But there was nothing that made me want to travel to visit. And nothing that made me completely avoid ever again
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)