March 04, 2008 | Tips from Us >
Victoria, Dining
Find more information about Victoria - Dining
A group of us went for dinner on Friday night and treated ourselves to one of the best views in the city – Vista 18 Restaurant; the rooftop restaurant of the Chateau Victoria Hotel.
Arriving just before dusk, we sipped drinks and watched the sun slip behind the Sooke Hills as the 3,330 lights of the parliament buildings clicked on for the evening. This takes downtown dining in Victoria to a whole new level ;)
June 23, 2007 | Tips from Travellers >
Victoria, Dining
Find more information about Victoria - Dining
View a larger image on flickr.com
To read the first part of my post about whale watching, check the whale watching posts.
On June 15th in Victoria, while on the last day of my BC Book Tour promoting my new bestseller Whale Song, we went on a fun little cruise in search of killer whales.
Afterward, my reward was a delicious dinner at Vintage Wine Bar & Grill in Victoria. It's a gem of a restaurant that I think must often be overlooked since it's in the Super 8 Hotel on Douglas Street. And they don't serve your ordinary Super 8 fair.
Marc had the grilled 8 oz. AAA New York Steak with a wild mushroom demi-glace, shallot mashed potatoes and seasonal veggies--broccoli, paper-thin onion rings and what I am sure was panfried squash (perhaps spaghetti squash).
I had the Pacific Seafood Linguine, which was absolutely heavenly. The linguine was tossed with a delicate white wine sauce, spinach, grape tomatoes and red peppers, and then topped with a generous portion of mussells, clams, halibut and prawns, and sprinkled with shaved parmesan.
We also shared one of the best Caesar salads I've ever had. The Vintage Caesar is made with hearts of romaine, shaved fresh parmesan, double-smoked bacon, parmesan crisps and foccacia croutons. The homemade creamy Caesar dressing had an extra bite of anchovy, just the way I like it. In fact, I had it for supper again tonight! :)
While we were waiting, our attentive waiter Gordon treated us to some tapas--amuse-bouche, pan-seared tuna 'kissed' with wasabi aiolo on a flatbread croustini. Delicious! We finished our dinner with a dessert that was almost sinful--a coconut & pineapple creme caramel, light and fluffy, served with whip cream, pineapple crisps and presented with flair. I wish I had my camera! Maybe I'll have to go downstairs to the restaurant later and order it again...uh, just so I can get a picture of it, of course...
Chef Jamie Martineau has created an awesome taste-inspired menu that compares to some of the fine dining restaurants I've been to, although Vintage is casual dining.
Great service, relaxing ambiance, generous portions and concoctions by a talented chef--what more could you ask for? I give Vintage Wine Bar & Grill...5 ankhs! :)
My day in a nutshell: I saw more sea creatures at suppertime on my plate than on my whale watching trip. But all in all, it was a divine day!
~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, author of Whale Song, The River and Divine Intervention
http://www.cherylktardif.com/
http://www.whalesongbook.com/
March 02, 2007 | Tips from Travellers >
Victoria, Dining
Find more information about Victoria - Dining
View a larger image on flickr.com
My husband and I recently returned from a winter getaway in Victoria to escape the Alberta snow for a little while. We soon discovered that we couldn't have picked a better time for our little getaway. From February 5 - March 4th this year, Victoria had their annual Dine Around and Stay in Town promotion on.
http://www.tourismvictoria.com/dine/ This promotion offers 3 course meals from participating Victoria, BC restaurants for $15, $25, or $35 Canadian. Each menu suggest a great wine paring from a BC VQA winery. We tried several of these restaurants during our stay and found each one wonderful and a very good value. We had so much fun after each meal going through the menus and to decide where to try next. We only had a few "supper" times to take advantage of this promotion so we found that in order to go to all of the restaurants we wanted to try, we had to visit some of them at lunch time. I have read that "
Victoria boasts the second highest number of restaurants per capita in North America" and they aren't kidding. Every place we tried was great and I would go back to in a heartbeat! This Dine Around and Stay in Town Promotion that is offered in Victoria was our 'Great Find' for our winter getaway.
February 21, 2007 | Tips from Travellers >
Victoria, Dining
Find more information about Victoria - Dining
The Temple in Victoria is a great restaurant. Both the service and the food were exemplary.
July 12, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Victoria, Dining
Find more information about Victoria - Dining
That was the question Sunday morning after Canada Day. We chose to benny, and by this I mean indulge in heart-stopping eggs benedict for breakfast. I am a big fan of breakfast, and when I travel I like to eat in unique, greasy-spoon joints. You know the place I mean – long line-ups, stuff on the walls, old music and an endless flow of coffee being poured by a woman who calls you “honey.” In the case of our Canada Day weekend trip to
Victoria, we found two delightful diners.
The first day we stopped at
John’s Place. The lineup was 20 minutes long, the walls were filled with celebrity (and not-so-celebrity) pictures, posters of rock stars and sports memorabilia, and the music stuck with us for the rest of the day. The waitress kept filling our coffee cups even though we said we had enough… a few times. She addressed us as “daahh-lings.” My veggie benny was $8.95, came with a heaping mound of hash browns, and could have used a bit more hollandaise sauce, but really, isn't that a given?
Superman, Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe all grace the menu at our second-day stop, Floyd’s Place. The building is appropriately painted pink. My stomach couldn’t take another benny, so I ordered the $3.95 traditional – eggs, hash browns and toast – which also came with a heaping mound of seasoned oh-so-yummy carbs. Floyd’s has a sunny outdoor patio and the inside is comfortably decorated with deep couches, bright walls and a lively fish tank for the kids. I dare you to order the Mahoney – you get what the kitchen prepares and you can either pay the original price or flip them for it – double or nothing! No lineup that day and located at the corner of Pandora and Yates.
March 31, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Victoria, Dining
Find more information about Victoria - Dining
Funky and whimsical, those are the two words that come to mind as I sit and eat my yogurt, mango, banana parfait (served in an ice cream sundae glass) with raisin toast on the side. The walls are grass green to match the wheat grass growing in pots above the bar. Metallic cake pans adorn the walls adjacent to the front door and Godzilla perches above my table peering into my oh-so-freshly-squeezed orange juice. I am in
rebar, a restaurant that proclaims to serve Victoria’s healthiest and funkiest food. At this point, I would tend to agree.
The waitress talks loudly about her gourmet picnic the day before and a regular customer makes the rounds hugging the staff. The juice bar menu includes items with names like Capital Iron Basement, Haiku and Cathedral Groove. My vinyl tablecloth explodes with an over-the-top flower pattern in primary colours. Overall, healthy for my tummy, entertainment for my ears and eyes.
The kitschy corner restaurant is in Bastion Square, downtown
Victoria.
December 23, 2005 | Tips from Us >
Victoria, Dining
Find more information about Victoria - Dining
I have to admit, I haven't been in the Christmas spirit. The shopping mall parking lot tends not to bring out the best in me and work has been busy, and its so hard to find the right present, and, and, and. Today however, I got that lovely tingly feeling after a visit to the
Fairmont Empress Hotel. Heading out on my lunch hour to battle the crowds, I was on a mission to purchase a gift certificate at the incredible
Willow Stream Spa. From the moment I walked into the lobby of the Empress, my spirits started to lift. The bellman opened the door with fanfare and wished me a Merry Christmas and the staff at the spa were delightful, professional and my modest purchase was treated with the same dignity and respect as the lady beside me purchasing the "Pure Pampering Full Day Special". Once my beautifully packaged gift was purchased, I made my way back to the lobby where I stopped to admire the works of local business who have participated in the Festival of Trees. Trees are decorated in a wide range of themes from the traditional balls and garlands to themed trees featuring dumptrucks and flashing lights and proceeds from the event go to the BC Childrens Hospital. One of my personal favourites was the Wedding Tree complete with tin cans and a Barbie bride as a tree top. I wandered further and ended up in the Tea Lobby where guests dressed up in Christmas finery (the little girl in the red velvet dress stole my heart) were enjoying the world famous Afternoon Tea and entertained by a choir decked in period costume. Reluctantly, it was time to return to work, but as I passed back through the lobby, I watched excited guests arriving for their stay at the Empress, the anticipation in their eyes just knowing they were going to have a very special Christmas was evident. I walked out with a smile on my face and looked forward to getting home to my family and starting our Christmas f
October 06, 2005 | Tips from Us >
Victoria, Dining
Find more information about Victoria - Dining
When I was on
Vancouver Island last week, I couldn't help but indulge in my favourite chocolate treats. I know the Island is well known for grizzly bears, salmon fishing, spring golf, totem poles and whale watching - but I think chocolate
has to be added to that list. Whenever I visit
Victoria, I refuse to leave without my pink-and-white checkered hand-wrapped Victoria Creams from
Rogers Chocolate; Raspberry for my youngest son, Strawberry for my 11-year-old, Rum for me and just plain, which is anything but plain, Chocolate for my husband. I place them in the bottom of my travel bag (where they are hard to reach) and wait anxiously until I arrive home. Needless to say, I get swarmed by the family everytime. I grew up eating Nanaimo bars, which are named after the City of
Nanaimo, at Christmas time. When I was there last week I came face-to-face with an entire tray of these layered treats. Hold me back! Semi-sweet chocolate top, sugary yellow centre and graham crumb bottom. I walked by all the souvenir shops, with their spoons, pins, t-shirts and placemats, and snuck home with a tray full of Nanaimo bars.