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Off to Victoria BC

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  • Nov 4th, 2019 10:32 am
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Oct 30th, 2019 8:20 am
king_george [OP]
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Oakville, ON

Oct 30th, 2019 8:20 am

Off to Victoria BC

Anyone have some good restaurant suggestions?

My daughter is having her convocation after getting her Masters and we need a place to have a good celebratory dinner. :)

Price is no object here. We leave Nov. 9 for the ceremony on the 10th.
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Oct 30th, 2019 8:50 am
Pete_Coach
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Oct 30th, 2019 8:50 am

We were there this Summer and a friend took us to Olo, very very good food and service.
We have often been to Q at the Empress for special occasions. It is a Fairmont Hotel elegant restaurant with service and food you come to expect from a high end establishment.
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Oct 30th, 2019 10:51 am
choclover
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Oct 30th, 2019 10:51 am

I was going to recommend the Empress as well. Otherwise, I have heard that the Laurel Point Inn has an amazing Sunday brunch if that works.
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Oct 30th, 2019 12:28 pm
Pardon
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Oct 30th, 2019 12:28 pm

Lure Restaurant & Bar - Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe

Although not the greatest time of year for weather, the restaurant has ocean views.
Oct 30th, 2019 1:01 pm
thriftshopper
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Oct 30th, 2019 1:01 pm

Afternoon tea. High tea (cheap supper) is for the hoi polloi. That said, no one in Victoria that I know has gone to the Empress for afternoon tea in years due to the exorbitant cost (we must be all hoi polloi-ish). FWIW, the Vancouver airport sister hotel has a much cheaper version if you buy it on one of the group buy sites.

I've hear good things abut Agrius but we hardly ever eat out in the city (can see Victoria from our house but it's a long, long way by road).

You can look at the Eat magazine site for reviews.

Victoria-area restaurants are suffering from staffing shortage so a lot of them can't even open every day anymore.
I smile when I see container ships sailing past my house laden with stuff made in China
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Oct 30th, 2019 2:26 pm
dealguy2
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Oct 30th, 2019 2:26 pm

Il Terrazo is really nice. Blue Crab is also quite nice and Lure as well.
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Oct 30th, 2019 4:26 pm
Cough
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Oct 30th, 2019 4:26 pm

+1 for Il Terrazo
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Oct 30th, 2019 8:42 pm
basalt
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Oct 30th, 2019 8:42 pm

Oak Bay Beach Hotel has a really nice restaurant. Brasserie L'Ecole is awesome too. If you like seafood I don't think you could go wrong with Ferris'.
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Oct 31st, 2019 2:36 pm
death_hawk
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Oct 31st, 2019 2:36 pm

40Niner wrote: ↑ Try out Pagliacci's.

https://www.pagliaccis.ca/
100% Pagliacci's.

It's literally a closet though.
Plus when they manage to have a band in there they have no idea what volume is.
Ended up wearing ear plugs and my date and I ended up texting just so we could have dinner conversation.
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Nov 1st, 2019 12:40 pm
Pete_Coach
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Nov 1st, 2019 12:40 pm

death_hawk wrote: ↑ 100% Pagliacci's.

It's literally a closet though.
Plus when they manage to have a band in there they have no idea what volume is.
Ended up wearing ear plugs and my date and I ended up texting just so we could have dinner conversation.
Well, that does not make it 100% to me then :) No matter how good the food is. Ambience is a very big part of the dining experience.
Nov 1st, 2019 2:01 pm
40Niner
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Nov 1st, 2019 2:01 pm

I found the ambience to be good. The tight seating in Pagliacci's reminds me of a Parisian restaurant we had once visited. The table had to be moved forward so that a person can be seated.
Nov 1st, 2019 2:04 pm
thriftshopper
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Nov 1st, 2019 2:04 pm

The other possibility (so far away that I didn't even think of it as it is well over an hour's drive from Victoria) is the restaurant at Sooke Harbour House. My wife and I had the fixed menu there 5 years ago and it was the 2nd-most exquisite meal I've had in Canada (No.1 was the 1st visit to Toqué).

Only caveat is that we were there when the original owners had financial difficulties (showed in the somewhat worn and dated condition of the room, though the restaurant quality was still magnificent). A group of investors acquired the property and I have not been back since my first an only visit.

https://sookeharbourhouse.com/restaurant/
I smile when I see container ships sailing past my house laden with stuff made in China
Nov 1st, 2019 4:31 pm
Pete_Coach
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Nov 1st, 2019 4:31 pm

thriftshopper wrote: ↑ The other possibility (so far away that I didn't even think of it as it is well over an hour's drive from Victoria) is the restaurant at Sooke Harbour House. My wife and I had the fixed menu there 5 years ago and it was the 2nd-most exquisite meal I've had in Canada (No.1 was the 1st visit to Toqué).

Only caveat is that we were there when the original owners had financial difficulties (showed in the somewhat worn and dated condition of the room, though the restaurant quality was still magnificent). A group of investors acquired the property and I have not been back since my first an only visit.

https://sookeharbourhouse.com/restaurant/
I agree that Sooke Habour House was one of the best restaurants in Victoria arae and even in Canada. It won best restaurant in Canada award a number of years ago.
Thing is, it was sold in a bankruptcy sale a few years ago so, i don' know who owns and operates it anymore so, I cannot recommend it.
Nov 1st, 2019 4:47 pm
death_hawk
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Nov 1st, 2019 4:47 pm

Pete_Coach wrote: ↑ Well, that does not make it 100% to me then :) No matter how good the food is. Ambience is a very big part of the dining experience.
The funny thing is I think they were trying to make the ambiance better by having music.
To me anyways it made it much worse.

I don't think they have music every night so if you go on a weekday you might be safe.
Better on a weekday anyways because like I said it's a closet so seating is an issue unless you want a 3 hour wait time.
Do you not have anything else to do rather than argue with strangers on the internet
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Nov 2nd, 2019 8:34 am
Pete_Coach
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Nov 2nd, 2019 8:34 am

death_hawk wrote: ↑ The funny thing is I think they were trying to make the ambiance better by having music.
To me anyways it made it much worse.

I don't think they have music every night so if you go on a weekday you might be safe.
Better on a weekday anyways because like I said it's a closet so seating is an issue unless you want a 3 hour wait time.
I agree that music can certainly enhance the ambience.
Thing was though, the poster said they "ended up wearing ear plugs and my date and I ended up texting just so we could have dinner conversation. " and that it was "literally a closet".
Those things do not, in my opinion, help the ambiance at all :)
Nov 2nd, 2019 1:17 pm
death_hawk
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Nov 2nd, 2019 1:17 pm

Pete_Coach wrote: ↑ I agree that music can certainly enhance the ambience.
Thing was though, the poster said they "ended up wearing ear plugs and my date and I ended up texting just so we could have dinner conversation. " and that it was "literally a closet".
Those things do not, in my opinion, help the ambiance at all :)
It usually does. But not at this volume so I actually agree.
Also that poster was me.

And no, it certainly didn't help the ambiance which is why I recommend going on a weekday.
The food is marvelous but I can overlook ambiance.
Do you not have anything else to do rather than argue with strangers on the internet
Nope. That's why I'm on the internet arguing with strangers. If I had anything better to do I'd probably be doing it.
Nov 2nd, 2019 3:00 pm
king_george [OP]
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Oakville, ON

Nov 2nd, 2019 3:00 pm

Thanks for all the good suggestion so far. We are staying at the Chateau Victoria so high tea is a short walk away. :)

Still not decided on a Monday dinner after the ceremony but Sunday we are going to the Tibetan Kitchen and Tuesday at Fish Hook. Red fish Blue fish is closed for the season.

Lunch will be decided when we walk around or get a bus somewhere. Breakfast is included with the room.

We are not renting a car this time. Can't wait to visit there again.:)
Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only be wasted.
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Nov 2nd, 2019 3:32 pm
Kiraly
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Nov 2nd, 2019 3:32 pm

thriftshopper wrote: ↑ Afternoon tea. High tea (cheap supper) is for the hoi polloi. That said, no one in Victoria that I know has gone to the Empress for afternoon tea in years due to the exorbitant cost (we must be all hoi polloi-ish).
Holy crap I just looked and it's now $82/person? That's crazy. Not long ago my wife and I went, and it was $100 for both of us including taxes and a generous tip.

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