Halibut House is not in the most convenient location, but I’m sure that people who live near Quadra and Cloverdale don’t want it moving anytime soon. The dining room is small but the woman(owner?) running the floor literally runs around and makes sure you are served quickly. The siu mai, beef flank and long beans are superb. The prices are reasonable for above-average food. I’ve been back multiple times for lunch. Great job!
Hong Kong West
1807 Fort St.
250-598-1352
I went to Hong Kong West almost four years ago, but there are new owners now. They should change the name, I feel it is a bit misleading. GS told me this place specialized in Sichuan-style food, so I was very excited to try it.
The interior is beyond no-frills. It was almost completely full when we walked in and only one lady, the owner, working. If I was basing this experience on service I would probably have walked out, but we waited patiently because we knew the food would be worth it. The lady was obviously overwhelmed with how people came in at the same time, and take-out orders building up. But she didn’t communicate with us or give us menus for well over 10 minutes. Everyone just waited in silence for her to come back out, it was kind of surreal.
We went with our Chinese friend from Beijing, so she spoke Mandarin to the owner. She was a bit bossy and basically told us what to eat. But I like that, I like eating what she thinks is good.
The food came relatively quickly. We had eggplant, rice, tofu, and green beans. This food is unlike any other Chinese food I’ve had before, and that’s a good thing. The flavours took me for a ride.
The eggplant was the Japanese style eggplant, the skinny ones with lighter purple skin. It was tossed in a sauce that had a bit of spice, sour, and sweet. It was so rich and fresh. The green beans blew me away too. The lady described these little dark things all over the beans as chinese pickle. They were a bit tangy and salty, and coupled with dried chili’s and szechuan peppercorns, this dish was quite the experience. I got a piece of peppercorn and the sensation was shocking. It numbed my tongue and made everything extremely sour for a minute or so. I can’t even describe how it felt, I was literally in shock. The tofu was soft, but I found it to be more one dimensional compared to the eggplant and bean dishes.
The service and decor are not the reason to come to HKW, it’s the food. I can honestly say it was one of the most memorable meals I had all year.
Young Young
1540 Cedar Hill X Road
250-388-9806
I was in the Shelbourne/Cedar Hill area of Victoria after lunch and we were all craving something cold and sweet. GS suggested we get some bubble tea and I was excited because I have never tried it before. We went to Young Youngs and it pleasantly surprised me. The space inside is very modern looking, and the crowd was quite mixed, young students and families. The food looked good and quite affordable, big bowls of noodle soup with tripe and other organ offerings. We sat down on one of the trendy couches and a sweet young server took our order. I had the passionfruit black tea with tapioca pearls, but no milk. I watched the lady make it behind the bar, definitely mesmerizing. The cup is massive, so for 5 bucks it’s not bad. I’ve also heard they have some sinful treats like a fried bun filled with condensed milk, sounds crazy but it would probably taste good.
As for the bubble tea, it’s hard for me to judge it because I have nothing to compare it to. I found it very flavourful, but also a bit too sweet for me. The tapioca pearls were fun to eat, I liked the texture. The pearls didn’t taste like anything but I don’t know if they are supposed to anyways.
Overall it was a fun experience and I will go back to try some of the food and maybe another bubble tea.
Cheers
-Eating Victoria
Marble Arch Fish and Chips
3468 Tillicum Road
250-386-7141
I thought I had tried all of the restaurants in the Tillicum area until a friend mentioned Marble Arch. She said it’s mostly a fish and chip shop, with burgers and other diner items, but the owners are Chinese. I was curious what kind of Chinese food they would have, so I went with a colleague for lunch.
The interior of the restaurant looks very dated, but I guess some would see that as its charm. The owners were friendly, and it seemed that there were a lot of regulars. Everything on the menu is very cheap(everything under 10 dollars), so I could see why a lot of people would come here for lunch.
I had the only vegetarian option on the menu, which was a vegetable chop suey, and my friend had some fried rice. The portions were huge and fast. Mine had lots of vegetables and rice, and they were cooked well. I wasn’t a huge fan of the sauce, I would have preferred the vegetables steamed on rice with the sauce on the side. I think the corn starch in the sauce gave me a stomach ache later on. The fried rice looked very plain, and she said it wasn’t very flavourful. It’s unfortunate because they serve Westernized “Chinese” food like so many other restaurants in town. Anyways, I’m glad I went for curiosity sake. The price is as low as you can get, and it was filling. The burgers and other diner stuff looks decent.
Szechuan City Restaurant
306 Burnside Rd. W.
250-382-2823
It’s official. I have almost tried out every restaurant surrounding Tillicum Mall( with the exception of Montana’s). A couple people at work had told me about Szechuan City, and since I pass it everyday on the bus, I had to give it a go. I have a rocky history with Chinese buffets, O.K., well any buffets really. I get excited, and I eat, and eat, and regret. The restaurant was nearly empty, with only a few patrons in for lunch service. This is usually a bad sign, foreshadowing a miserable meal. But alas, I enjoyed it. I had a big pot of green tea, some wonton soup, lots of vegetables(green beans with garlic, zucchini, and broccoli to name a few). The lady who served me was pleasant, and very quick. I preferred the veggie dishes over the meat,but they had a decent selection. I was surprised to see squid at a buffet. All this time eating, and the only thought on my mind was, “How do these people make money?” There was food overflowing on the buffet line and no one to eat it. They even had desserts( simple, but typical of a North American-style buffet, with Kleinburg bars, jello, and brownies). My stomach wasn’t writhing and whining later on, so that’s a testament to my meal. Usually buffets can be a lot of fried foods and fatty sauces, but this one was lighter because of all the vegetables. I think it came to 12 bucks after tax. Start the car!
P.S. If you don’t want the buffet, you can also have the daily specials which are a steal at under 6 bucks. They come with rice, why not eh?
Lotus Pond
617 Johnson St.
250-380-9293
It’s been some time since my last visit to Lotus Pond, and gee am I glad I went back! J and I both had the day off, and Lotus Pond popped into my head for a light lunch to fuel us for the rest of the day. The decor inside Lotus Pond is simple and a bit dated, but I enjoy it. I don’t care what a restaurant looks like when the food delivers. I’ve always had great service here, I felt compelled to give our server today a hug, straight-up genuine lady who loves what she does. It seems like a rarity these days to find someone serving who is proud of the food and has such positive energy. We sipped our lemon water and green tea as we perused the somewhat intimidating menu of 100+ items. We decided to have a little bit of everything. I started off with some wonton soup, J had hot and sour soup, and we crunched on spring rolls in between.
*disclaimer*
Oh! and before I continue, Lotus Pond is a Buddhist-style vegetarian/vegan friendly restaurant. They don’t use sugar, onions, garlic or refined salt. It sounds like you may be deprived of something, but the food doesn’t taste that way at all. It still has so much flavour without those ingredients!
The wonton soup was delicate and beautiful. The veggies were cooked perfectly, easy to bite into with a bit of texture still. The hot and sour soup has great texture and a surprising taste. The spring rolls were fresh, hot, and crispy just like they should be. For my main course, I had lemon mock chicken, with black bean tofu and veggies, and brown rice. J had the salty fried tofu, with bean curd and greens, with rice. I have no complaints about anything. It was very satisfying.
This is a good place to take someone who usually eats a lot of meat to try vegetarian/vegan food, it’s guaranteed to change your perspective.
Food: 4.5/5
Service: 5/5
Atmosphere: 3.75/5
J&J Wonton Noodle House
250-383-0680
1012 Fort St.
jjnoodlehouse.com
I’ll admit I had high expectations for this place. One of my foodie friends from Vancouver recommended J&J , as it is one of his favourite places in Victoria for Chinese eats( and he’s Chinese). So, after many years of seeing this restaurant I decided to stop in for a quick lunch.
First Impressions:
I felt like I was walking into a standard noodle house, nothing was special about the decor or seating. I was greeted quickly by a friendly server, and within seconds of sitting down another lady dropped off some tea. It was quarter to noon, and it was already shaping up to be a busy lunch service. People around me seemed to be enjoying themselves, with a lot of light coming in through the front windows. I noticed quite a build-up of accolades near the entrance, including Best Chinese of 2009 in Victoria (public vote). I went into this meal expecting only the best.
Food and drink:
The complimentary tea served had a beautiful colour and an even more beautiful taste. A tad smokey,with toasted rice and no bitter notes, it went down smooth. For my lunch, I asked the server which dishes she could recommend from a few I had selected, a Szechuan chicken dish or a spicy pork dish, and she said the chicken was good(picture above), for $10.50 over rice. I’ve had Szechuan( or Sichuan) food done right in Vancouver before, so I was expecting a similar experience to that of our city across the Strait. The dish wasn’t as punchy as I would have hoped, although it did have nice notes of ginger and chili. The sauce reminded me of sambal oelek, and at least a clove of crunchy thinly-sliced garlic was sprinkled throughout. Crunchy pea-pods, onions, scallions, and bell peppers accompanied the chicken. I was expecting to be changed after experiencing ” the best Chinese restaurant 2009″, but I was left wanting more. It was a simple lunch, tasted good but nothing that I haven’t tasted before.
Concerns: The chicken had an off aftertaste to it, and the texture of how the chicken was prepared left it rather slimey. Also, I noticed on the lunch specials for the day, they were featuring a noodle soup with Atlantic salmon(either farmed in BC, or imported) which I found a bit puzzling.
Highlights: Quick service, busy and convenient location, good tea, friendly servers.
Coming back?
Mhm… I feel like I should visit again for some wontons(solely for the namesake), and maybe try some noodles. What do you think?
Food rating: 3/5
Service rating: 4/5
Ambiance rating: 2.5/5
