Dine-around Victoria, 2024

Like it is traditional this time of the year, local restaurants are offering "Dine Around" menus. The promotion goes from Jan 26 to Feb 11, 2024.

The Web Site of Tourism Victoria requires a lot of clicking to be able to see and compare the different options. Thus, I created the following list.

The name of the restaurant links to its website, the price links to the description of the menu (most are hosted by Tourism Victoria, but a few are only in the Website of the restaurant).

Note that some restaurants offer more than one option, and in some cases, the option depends on the time of the day (bruch/lunch/dinner).

For details see Tourism Victoria

Most menus are in PDF format.

 

Click on the title of the column to sort by that column.

Restaurant	Area	Price
10 Acres Bistro	Downtown/Courney 600s	$45
10 Acres Commons	Downtown/Humboldt 600s	$45
10 Acres at the Pier	Sidney	$45
Aura (not officially part of Dine Around)	James Bay	$65
Bard & Banker	Downtown/Government 1000s	$45
Bard & Banker	Downtown/Government 1000s	$25
Block Kitchen + Bar	Downtown//Yates 500	$45
Blue Crab Seafood House	James Bay	$65
Boom + Batten	Vic West	$55
Browns Vic West/Langford	Langford	$35
Browns Socialhouse	Downtown/Douglas 800s	$35
Cactus Club Cafe	Downtown/Dougles 1100s	$45
Callisto	way, way out of town	$55
Earls Kitchen + Bar	downtown/Government 1100s	$35
Earls Kitchen + Bar	downtown/Government 1100s	$45
FARO Handcrafted Pizza and Tasting Room	Oak bay	$45
Ferris' Downstairs Grill & Garden Patio	Downtown/yates 500s	$35
Ferris’ Upstairs Seafood & Oyster Bar/ Perro Negro	Downtown/yates 500s	$45
Ferris’ Upstairs Seafood & Oyster Bar/ Perro Negro	Downtown/yates 500s	$35
Fiamo Italian Kitchen	Downtown/yates 500s	$55
Fiamo Italian Kitchen	Downtown/yates 500s	$45
Finns Seafood Chops & Cocktails	Downtown/Wharf 1200s	$55
Fire + Water Restaurant	Downtown/Humboldt 700s	$65
Glo Restaurant + Lounge	Gorge	$45
Good Ovening	Downtown/Fort 700s	$35
Hermans Jazz Club	Downtown/View 700s	$35
Irish Times Pub	Downtown/Government 1200s	$25
Irish Times Pub	Downtown/Government 1200s	$35
L'Apero Wine & Cheese Bistro	Downtown/Blanshard 1000s	$55
LURE Restaurant & Bar	Vic West	$55
Little Jumbo Restaurant & Bar	Downtown/Fort 500s	$55
Lot 1 Pasta Bar	Cloverdale	$45
Marilena Cafe + Raw Bar	Downtown/Douglas 1500s	$65
Milestones Millstream	way out of town/cosco area	$45
Milestones	Downtown/Inner Harbour	$45
The Pendray Inn and Tea House	James Bay	$25
The Pendray Inn and Tea House	James Bay	$55
Penny Farthing Pub	Oak Bay	$35
Q at The Empress	Downtown/Empress	$55
Six Mile Pub & Eatery	Island Highway	$35
Six Mile Pub & Eatery	Island Highway	$45
Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub	Vic West	$35
Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub	Vic West	$45
Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub	Vic West	$55
Steamship Grill & Bar	Downtown/Steamboat terminal	$45
Sticky Wicket Pub & Restaurant	Downtown/Douglas 900s	$35
The Arbutus Room	Brentwood Bay	$65
The Courtney Room	Downtown/Courney 600s	$35 Lunch
The Courtney Room	Downtown/Courney 600s	$35 Brunch
The Courtney Room	Downtown/Courney 600s	$65
The Keg Steakhouse Saanich	Saanich	$65
The Keg Steakhouse Harbour	Downtown/Fort 500s	$65
Ugly Duckling Restaurant	Downtown/Chinatown	$65
Virtuous Pie	Downtown/Pandora 500s	$25
Virtuous Pie	Downtown/Pandora 500s	$35
Virtuous Pie	Downtown/Pandora 500s	$45
Virtuous Pie	Downtown/Pandora 500s	$45 (GF)
Vis-à-Vis	Oak Bay	$55
Wind Cries Mary	Downtown/Bastion Sq	$65
Zambri's	Downtown/Yates 800s	$45
Zambri's	Downtown/Yates 800s	$55

Camille's: the best lunch in Victoria

I know, I know. I haven't written in a long time.

Most of the best restaurants do not open at lunch time (e.g. The Brasserie, Ulla, and many others). It was welcoming news to see Camille’s open for lunch. I have never eaten there. It was there the second day it was open. I really, really hope they stay open at lunch time. It is some of the most sophisticated lunch time food I had in a long time in Victoria.

Since then I have become a regular, and I consider it the best lunch in Victoria

If you enjoy food, do yourself a favour and stop by for lunch. The food is delicious and the service impeccable. You can't go wrong. And if you are worried about prices, most entrees are in the 15 dollars range. Try their burger: it is the best in town (in my opinion, of course).

Pho Hoa

<2010-10-25 Mon>

No. 131

Located in the most competitive area in Victoria (Fort St, between Douglas and Blanshard), Pho Hoa is a chain Vietnamese restaurant. It is exactly across from Pho Vy, a local favorite when it comes to Pho.

It is a medium sized place, and has a look and feel very different from Pho Vy (its tables are nicely spaced and its the menu screams chain restaurant).

I ordered a #44: Pho Chin, Nam, Gau, Gan, Sach: Brisket, Flank, Tendon, Tripe & fatty flank. What a mouthful. I was slightly disappointed. The meat was dried out, and overall, felt average.

The natural comparison for this restaurant are its two Vietnamese neighbours: Pho Vy, or around the corner, Saigon Harbour. In my opinion, both places offer a better product. In terms of price, there is not much variance between the three.

There is, however, one saving point for Pho Hoa. It is a place that stays open later than the others. They close at 10:00 PM, if I remember correctly, which is why I sometimes end eating there.

Verdict: there are better places around.

Paid: 8.95

For more information, including address, please visit:

Teaopia

No. 130

<2010-10-21 Thu>

On the South side of the Bay building, this is a tea shop that sells both the tea leaves, and by the cup.

It is hard to describe the process or ordering a cup of tea. You come to the counter and you are confronted with what they call "the Tea Wall", that features literally more than 100 bins filled with different varieties of tea.




They will try to gauge your understanding of tea and try to show you teas that you might like, giving you some background about each, opening the bins, inviting you to smell them. It is an educational experience, albeit overwhelming. Of course, I had no way to know how accurate their information was; after all, they are a biased source of information.

I am keen on lightly or non-roasted tea and became curious about their white teas, and ended ordering simply white tea, and ordered a cup. The cost was steep --4.20, tax included, but, if the tea is as rare as they promise, I think it is not a bad one (regular teas are priced a 2.75).

You are invited to seat---they will bring the tea to your table--- something I appreciate it. The table next to mine was like a Tupperware party. They were having a tea tasting, discussing flavour and aromas like sommelier (apparently they were planning a tea party).

I got my tea. The cup is probably 350-400 ml. Large. The tea had, as I expected, a subtle flavour. As I expected, it was slightly sweet, but didn't have much smell (something I missed). Definitely a good cup of tea.

The place is small. it sits approximately 16 people in a combination of tables and comfy chairs.

One think that bothered me is that I didn't get to see the tea leaves. I understand the process of making tea, but I would have wanted to see what the leaves turned to after they are used. Otherwise, what guarantees me that the tea I got was the one I ordered?

I enjoyed my visit. It turns tea drinking into an experience of discovery. If you are willing to take the time to listen to their descriptions (and sales pitch), and to learn about teas, Teaopia is worth the visit. The downside is that, if you are looking for a cup of tea only, it will be an expensive one.

The obvious comparison is against Murchies. As a tea speciality shop, I feel Teaopia is better. At Murchies (the restaurant) you can order almost any tea, but there is no ability to ask about each, or get to smell them. They will not educate you (that is what the store is supposed to do, but they can't make the tea for you, you have to go back to the restaurant). On the other hand, Murchies has coffee, pastries and food (much better than Teopia). Murchies has more sitting space, and is cheaper.

Verdict: Expensive. Visit only if you are tea aficionado.

Paid: 4.20


For more information, including price, visit:

Cafe Bliss

No. 129

<2010-10-14 Thu>

Cafe Bliss is located in Pandora, just west of Government.

Open for breakfast and lunch, Cafe Bliss specialices in salads and soups.

This is vegetarians paradise. Cafe Bliss claims to use local and in-season produce, and to prepare everything organic and raw. Yes, no cooking allowed.

Prices range from 8 to 14 dollars, depending on the salad, or whether you want soup or not.

I am not a "salad" as lunch person, and I was feeling it was unfair to rate this restaurant based on a pizza and a soup, but I didn't feel like having a salad today. I was, however, curious on what a "raw" pizza looked like.

The space is narrow, and long. It has few tables and a long bar, where I sat. It feels inviting, and it is filled with a smell of tea brewing.

To call this dish a pizza is a misnomer. This was more like a huge cracker with a salad on top: spinach, pear, cream, cucumber, onion, nuts, what felt like an avocado-based sauce. The soup is not traditional either. It was a corn "chowder", and the corn was not cooked. The rest of the ingredients read: winter squash and cashew cream. It was very interesting.

I am torn in how to evaluate it. I think in terms of inventiveness and presentation, this place gets top marks. The flavours were there, but they are not the expected ones, because the food has not been cooked at high temperature. You might like them or you might not. My last concern is that, I felt it was expensive for the amount of food that I received, and there are very few options to choose from. If you like salads for lunch, this is definitely a place to come to.

If you are vegetarian, you probably know about Bliss already. If you are not, and you can enjoy a full meal made of vegetables, give it a try.

Verdict: Recommend for vegetarians, or salad "nuts", otherwise your might or might-not.

Paid: $15.68

For more information, including location, please visit: