Eating Victoria- Food Blog and Eating Guide

I went to Il Greco[by Tillicum Mall] a few weeks ago with a co-worker. I had the fasolatha( white bean and tomato soup) and a house salad. The dressing for the salad was really nice, some kind of pesto vinaigrette. The soup tasted good, but near the end it started tasting really really salty. We shared a tiramisu for dessert. The serving was generous to share for two people and the flavours were good. You could definitely taste the liqueur( either brandy or marsala, couldn’t distinguish which one). The layers of mascarpone cheese were quite thick so it was very dense. I prefer tiramisu that has a whipped mascarpone layer just to give it a bit of lightness in the mouth. So definitely some room for improvement this visit, but the service was not up to par either. Our server in general didn’t have much enthusiasm, we haven’t had this server before so perhaps she is new? She was quite slow, so maybe she was busy, but it would have been nice to have seen her more.

Cheers

-Eating Victoria

Darband Tea House(in Fernwood)

This is the new Hookah bar in Fernwood Square. They serve tea and coffee and baklava, and sometime soon they will be serving more food offerings. I went with a friend, because I had a Groupon. The owner was welcoming and the space was quite dark. The tea was good, and the baklava was sweet and the texture was a bit different, but it was enjoyable. We had hookah, watermelon flavour, but I don’t think it was real tobacco( can anyone with the information about this please comment). Overall, it was fun to hang out late at night with a different kind of vibe. I’m curious to see how their business will do when they introduce more food. I personally think the price for the hookah for two people is kind of expensive ($9.50 pp), but there is no where else in Victoria to compare the price to.

Cheers

-Eating Victoria

Side Dish Restaurant
1008 Langley St.
250-477-9995

I feel bad raining on the Side Dish parade, but this storm is-a-coming. After reading reviews about Side Dish, and hearing people talk about it, as a lover of Middle Eastern cuisine I had to try it out! My company for the evening, SP, had not tried Persian food before so we were both excited.

Side Dish must have hired the same interior decorator that Al-Sultan did, vinyl tablecloths and a layout which isn’t conducive for an evening dining destination. BUT, I can easily look past tacky restaurants if their food is outstanding. I had high hopes for Side Dish and I was let down.

We ordered some hummus and pita for a starter with some tea. I like Turkish/Afghan/Persian restaurants for their high quality of tea. I could swear that this tea was Red Rose Orange Pekoe, tasted cheap. The bread for the hummus was almost as pathetic as Beirut Express, they must get  it from the same provider , dry and flavourless, really shouldn’t be served. I liked that it came with carrots and cucumbers. The hummus itself had a lot of lemon flavour, but I was hoping for a bit more garlic. We both ordered the special, I had mine with lamb kebab and mixed vegetables, rice and salad. The meat itself was really flavourful, the rice was cooked right, and the salad had a nice dressing on it. The vegetables on the other hand, were completely unacceptable. They were all cut into different sized pieces and therefore cooked at all different times. Some were overdone, some were still uncooked, and the mushrooms were a whole different story… My gag reflex is going off right now thinking about them. I like a nice grilled mushroom, but these mushrooms looked as though they were dried, rehydrated, heavily seasoned with something, then grilled, but in the grilling process got wrinkly and puckered, and so squishy. I tried to bite into one, but I spat it out. Definitely not pleasant. All in all, there were only two other tables dining in the restaurant(how do they make money, it was a Friday night!), but no one came to quality check how our food was. They were there to take our plates away and bill us, but they missed out on an opportunity for feedback.

At the end of it all, I had to part with 45 dollars that was hard to let go of. I won’t be returning.

Il Greco Pizzeria
2900 Tillicum
250-386-1116
www.ilgrecos.com

Il Greco is a warm and spacious standard Greek restaurant tucked away near Tillicum. A co-worker suggested we go there for lunch, she said the calamari was delicious. I noticed large quantities of imported Greek olive oil at the entrance when we first walked in, do they cook with it or just selling it?

It was very busy inside( last Friday), and it smelled of garlic and spices. The menu, like many Greek restaurants, is a feast for the eyes, with lots (arguably too much) to choose from. I went for the Spanakopita lunch, and my co-worker had the Calamari. The Calamari was served on a bed of rice and tzatziki. The rings were a perfect golden brown, and the batter looked nice. She really enjoyed it, and I enjoyed the little taste I had of it too. The spanakopita was tasty, but perhaps a little overdone on the bottom. The rice, potatoes, greek salad, and pita bread were good too. It was a lot of food, especially for lunch. I’m an eating machine, so I was able to finish it all, but our other co-worker had to get half of hers packed up.

Il Greco is a reliable run-of-the-mill  tavern, definitely check it out if you’re hungry and craving some bold and familiar flavours of Greece.

Beirut Express literally opened within the last week, and I don’t know how long it will stay open. I really shouldn’t have ate there tonight, especially after eating at Al-Sultan yesterday. A friend at work was saying he tried something at Beirut Express yesterday, so I thought I would give it a go. It was an unfortunate experience, and alas, 10 dollars I will never get back.

I’m not very experienced with falafel, but I know enough that this falafel from Beirut Express was borderline inedible. Anything with ‘Express’ usually translates to ‘ in rushing, we forget about quality and consistency’. The falafel wrap I tried was gross and left my stomach in knots. The three dark balls of chickpea flour and bits and pieces were dry and very salty. It had almost a powdery texture, and really put me off. The wrap was basically pita bread, and disintegrated within minutes, not exactly something you want to happen when trying to eat a wrap.The falafel tasted old and dried out, not a very pleasant experience. I’m struggling to find anything positive to say about Beirut Express. It’s clean and new inside?

It’s a shame, but I would avoid eating here, save your money and get better bread and ingredients at Al-Sultan down on Douglas St.

Al-Sultan
1813 Douglas St.
250-590-4044
www.alsultanrestaurant.ca

Al-Sultan is  a stones-throw away from the heart of downtown, but it’s a worthwhile refreshing few blocks walk. At first glance, the interior may seem lugubrious and defeated, but it grows on you as you enjoy your meal. I liked the Arabic pop music playing as I sipped on my tea, the no-frills cafe style decor is just that, it’s not trying hard. Sure some of the pictures are kitschy and gawdy, but it reminds me of many other ethnic restaurants.

There was a handful of people eating at Al-Sultan this afternoon( Monday), this restaurant still seems to be finding its foothold, and building clientele. The menu is simple and I recognized a few items, and stumbled upon a few that I had not heard of. I ordered a beef wrap which came with tea for $6.99. I ordered a lentil and onion soup on the side in case the wrap wasn’t filling enough. The food arrived shortly after( maybe 15 minutes or so), and it smelled great.

The bread used for the wrap was thin and crisp on the outside to combat the yoghurt dressing on the  beef kabob. The beef itself was seasoned well, and the lettuce, onions, and tomatoes were fresh. The soup, despite the baby-food-like consistency, had great flavours and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I saved room for some baklava, but unfortunately the family that makes it for Al-Sultan had not delivered it by lunchtime. I’ll definitely come back to try some of their desserts( baklava, basbousa, and konafah).

Overall, this was a good meal. Al-Sultan is  a family-run operation, which is nice to support. They could spruce up the interior a bit to make it more inviting. As I was leaving, the server gave me a business card in case I wanted to take advantage of their delivery service. I look forward to seeing how Al-Sultan develops over the next few years. Check it out for an affordable lunch, or some tasty meat from the grill for dinner.