I’ve heard great reviews about the Black Olive, from the quality of their olive oil to what some say is the best lamb served in Victoria!
Get this great deal today!
The Black Olive Groupon- $25 for $50 worth of food!
23 02 2011Comments : 1 Comment »
Categories : Notes
Avalon Cafe- Breakfast without a line-up
20 02 2011Avalon Cafe
1075 Fort St.
250-385-2129
I was hungry the other day for a nice breakfast, and my friend JH recommended that I try out Avalon on Fort. My first impression once I stepped inside was that it was quaint and cozy, a typical cafe set-up. I ordered some tea($1.75),and the skillet breakfast($9.95) which had peppers, mushrooms, onions, and meat over potatoes with scrambled eggs.
Positives: The two young ladies serving were very friendly, and they were efficient. The food came out quick, and everything was very fast, including the bill being brought to me. I liked the scrambled eggs, veggies, and potatoes. The oaten bread was nice, homemade which I appreciated.
Room for improvement: The quality of the sausage and ham was not up to snuff. The sausage was almost like a weissewurst style, but it had no texture, it was very uniform and soft, processed is the word that comes to mind. The ham had the same texture, mushy and not a lot of flavour. The bacon was fine, but the ham and sausage should be replaced with a higher grade product to compete with the other breakfast places in town. The rhubarb strawberry jam had a lot of flavour and I liked the taste, but the consistency was so runny, it wasn’t really a jam. Lastly, when I was looking around waiting for my food, I saw that all the artwork on the walls were for sale. That’s great, but the labels were kind of gawdy, perhaps printing out smaller labels with prices on them would look more professional.
Avalon is a cute little cafe when you don’t want to wait in line at the Blue Fox. The service staff are friendly, and everything is really quick.
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Categories : Breakfast/Diner, Reviews
La Belle Patate- La Belle Crise Cardiaque
20 02 2011La Belle Patate
1215 Esquimalt Rd.
250-220-8427
A few nights ago, JB and I were in need for some quick, greasy shameful take-out. I had read a few reviews about La Belle Patate, and in that moment it seemed like a great idea to get some poutine. We walked into the small little restaurant and placed our order for two burgers(5 bucks a piece) and a medium size of classic poutine($7.50).There are lots of variations on the poutine, with some featuring jalapenos or Montreal smoked meat. Everything was made to order in front of us, and it was probably less than 10 minutes. We admired some of the Quebecois paraphernalia and our food came up piping hot. The poutine was huge, filled to the brim with a dark gravy and heaps of cheese curds. The burgers were pretty pedestrian, but the patties were definitely homemade, just straight-up beef. It was good for the craving we were having, but I don’t think I could have this often. The poutine is crazy salty, so make sure you share it with someone. But next time I’m in Esquimalt and I have the pangs for a salty fry, I know where to go.
Cheers
Eating Victoria
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Categories : Deli/Lunch on the Go/Street Food, Fast Food/Chain, Reviews
Wannawafel- I wanna-nother one
19 02 2011Wannawafel
560 Johnson St.
Market Square( In Between Johnson and Pandora)
250-590-5300
Another beautiful day in Victoria( Friday Feb. 18th)! JB and I were walking through Market Square, and we were tempted by the waffle smells wafting in the air. I watched the guy who started Wannawafel on Dragon’s Den, so I was quasi-familiar with their business. We both had the Liege waffles( $3.58 each), I had mine with the berry compote($2.00 extra), and JB had his with a scoop of vanilla ice cream($1.50 extra). For two waffles with toppings it came to around 11 something. The young man working was very charming, and he dropped off our fresh waffles outside. It was a windy day, but it was nice to have a warm waffle. The waffles had a nice crunch on the outside, almost a caramelized sugar taste. The waffle texture was nice, with a bit of chew. I agree with the other reviews about Wannawafel, definitely one of the best waffles I’ve had in Victoria. I wish them the best of luck with their business!
Cheers
Eating Victoria
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Categories : Bistro/Cafe, Coffee/Tea, Deli/Lunch on the Go/Street Food, Reviews
Qoola Frozen Yoghurt- Take a trip to the Qoola
19 02 2011Qoola Frozen Yoghurt
Uptown Shopping Centre
I was really looking forward to having some frozen yoghurt at Qoola, and I left very satisfied. The whole experience is self-serve, starting with pouring your own yoghurt. There were quite a few flavours, pomegranate, chocolate, vanilla to name a few. I had a mixture of dulce de leche and country vanilla. JB had the chocolate. The next stage is the toppings bar, which has everything under the sun. I put on some oreos, crispy crunch bits, gummy bears, ginger snaps, and strawberries. At the end of the line you will find the till, and you put your creations on the scale. For two big servings of yoghurt with toppings, the bill came to around 11 dollars. I had a Groupon to use, and the staff were very quick and friendly. If I ever find myself at Uptown Centre again, I’ll definitely be picking up some frozen yoghurt, so tasty. It’s like the Marble Slab Creamery, without all the calories!
Comments : 1 Comment »
Categories : Canadian/American chain, Fast Food/Chain, Reviews
Dine Around Victoria
18 02 2011Allo everyone,
So I’m on a bit of a budget for many reasons at the moment, but I really want to partake in Dine Around Victoria.
Are there any participating restaurants that you would like me to cover the most? Which restaurants should I not miss?
I appreciate your suggestions,
Cheers
-Eating Victoria
Comments : 5 Comments »
Categories : Notes
La Fogata Latina- The Latin Bonfire
15 02 2011La Fogata Latina Restaurant
749 View St.
250-381-2233
La Fogata is a welcome addition to the little space previously home to PIG BBQ and Pig Dog. La Fogata Latina has been open for three weeks, and it offers an eclectic take on street food, with some latin flavour flare. The owners are from Colombia, and very friendly indeed. Fogata means bonfire, but everything that encompasses a bonfire, like the great food and the social experience. She shared that an arepa is a very common breakfast in Colombia, so I opted for a chicken and onion arepa(around 4 dollars). The arepas are made with masa(white corn flour) and feta cheese. It’s very similar to a pupusa. I sipped away on a Manzano, an apple-flavoured soda. The arepa itself was very fluffy and not oily at all. Street food is comfort food in my books, and it really hit the spot. Keeping with the street food style, the offerings at La Fogata are very affordable, ranging from a couple of dollars to around 7 dollars. I want to come back and try some of their latin hotdogs, with a lot of fun toppings like potato chips, guacamole,or homemade pineapple sauce( which I tasted, and it was delicious!). She also insisted that the Mazorca( grilled corn) is her favourite, which has some butter, green onions, and your choice of sauce and toppings. The space is small, but warm, and they mentioned they are open late on weekends(Fri and Sat night until 3-4 a.m.) At this time they only accept cash, so make sure you bring some cash. Check out La Fogata Latina for a quick and affordable lunch during the week, or if you’re going out on a Friday or Saturday night, a piping hot arepa would make the perfect snack! Support a family-run operation!
Cheers
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Categories : Deli/Lunch on the Go/Street Food, Reviews
Frozen Yoghurt from Qoola- Groupon for the Uptown location, 5% of proceeds go to Steve Nash Foundation
14 02 2011
Hello Everybody!
Today’s Groupon is for Qoola, a frozen yoghurt treat located in the new Uptown shopping centre. It’s similar to Marble Slab, in that you can choose toppings and flavours, but yoghurt is much healthier, less calories and with probiotic cultures! For $5 you get $10 to use at Qoola,and you can buy up to three Groupon’s, which expire by May 16,2011. Also 5% of the Groupon proceeds go towards the Steve Nash Foundation, it’s a win-win situation.
Grab a healthy and yummy Groupon today!
Click here to get started—>
http://www.groupon.com/r/uu9392370
Cheers,
Eating Victoria
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Categories : Notes
Sizzling Tandoor- Special Spice
14 02 2011Sizzling Tandoor Restaurant
637 Johnson St.
250-388-5450
It’s rare for a new restaurant in Victoria to have no negative reviews on Urbanspoon, so I had to check Sizzling Tandoor out to see if the legends were true. Turns out they were.
It always makes me nervous when I walk into a restaurant and there is no one inside. SP, TM, and I went to Sizzling Tandoor tonight(Sunday),around 6 o’clock and no one was inside the restaurant, but eventually a few more tables joined us. The young lady serving tonight was very friendly, and she had a good sense of humour. She was the only one in the front of the house, but she seemed comfortable as there were only a few tables. I started with some chai, and we ordered our food after much debate about the menu. Comparatively, Sizzling Tandoor has better prices than most Indian restaurants I’ve been to in Victoria, I liked a lot of their options, and their prices ranged from $3-$20.
I ordered the pomegranate curry with lamb, which came with basmati rice, and I topped that off with mint parantha bread. SP got the cashew curry with chicken, and TM got the tikka masala with lamb. I tried all three, and I was impressed. The portions were large and good value for the price, and the flavours were nice, not your run of the mill curry joint, they were all very different in taste. For dessert I had the gulab jamun, and it was one of the best I’ve tried.
Pomegranate lamb curry with mint parantha
Gulab Jamun
Overall, the experience was very positive. I liked the service, the water and chai was always kept full, the flavours were sound, and the interior and menus are crisp and new! Check this restaurant out, I prefer it over a lot of the other Indian restaurants in Victoria.
Cheers
-Eating Victoria
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Categories : Indian/Nepalese and Tibetan, Reviews
Posh- Decent food, but Posh?
14 02 2011Posh Sukiyaki Restaurant
1063 Fort St.
250-382-7674
I’ll say it. Posh is a horrible name for this restaurant, I don’t get it. The main reason I went to Posh was because I had a Groupon for it, 12 dollars for 25 if I recall correctly. I remember dining here when it was the Med Grill, and it didn’t strike me as a big change to the interior. The host( a young guy) was friendly, dropped us off at the table and didn’t say much else. Our server, was delightful. She was a young lady, very helpful, patient and knowledgeable. She recommended the prawns with passionfruit mayo and apples/pineapples(~9 dollars I think). We ordered the set-amount hotpot sukiyaki for our main($18.98). The prawns were a good size, I think 8 or 9 prawns, without tails attached and no heads. The prawns, apples and pineapples all had a tempura-like coating on them, I don’t think the fruit really needed it, I would have preferred them without being fried. The prawns were a nice texture, well-cooked, and not fishy at all surprisingly. We really enjoyed them.
Shortly after our sukiyaki pot arrive, and she placed it onto the hotplate in the centre of the table. The broth is 50% sukiyaki sauce and 50% water, which you periodically top-up as it boils away throughout your meal. She gave us 2 trays of thinly sliced beef, and 2 trays of thinly sliced pork, a big bowl of vegetables, udon noodles, ramen noodles and some white rice. We were also given two passerine-safe eggs to whisk up for a dipping sauce, and she assured us they are certified safe to be eaten raw. The interaction factor with this meal was a lot of fun, and it’s healthy. We ate for over an hour, and it would be great with a group of 4 people. The amount of food for one portion of the sukiyaki is really good value. The veggie bowl had zucchini, shitake mushrooms, button mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, tofu, yuba bean curd, taro root, cabbage, sui choy and a few other things. Our server truly enhanced our experience and she was very sweet.
Veggies and meat
Noodles, eggs, and hotpot
It was a fun novelty experience, but I don’t know how often I will “crave” sukiyaki. The meat tasted like it was decent quality, some of the other additions(particularly the tofu and the mushrooms) were a bit off-tasting. But, you can’t beat the price, and the service we had was really good. I would give it another chance. My only other suggestions would be to repair some of the bench seating, the one I sat on was cracking leather/upholstery, and because it wasn’t a very busy night, the young staff all gathered behind the bar and were chatting for most of the night. Their conversation overpowered the conversation I was trying to have with my friend, so that was an issue. That’s great the staff gets along, but it’s not very professional. Is there no management?
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Categories : Asian, Reviews
