favorite dining spots in victoria?
 

My husband and I will be celebrating an anniversary in victoria, my first trip. any advice for where to eat? I love seafood and about any ethnic. He loves going out for breadfast.
We will be staying at the Coast Harbourside, but we like to walk. any suggestions appreciated.

Nautica Nellis is a good choice for sea food. The restaurant is in the harbour area so you can walk from your hotel to the restaurant and enjoy the harbour and the view of the parlament and the Empress hotel.

I had dinner at the restaurant there at the Coast back in October--Blue something? Can't remember the name, sorry. It was quite good, but very expensive for what you get, IMO. Nice view though ;-). I also ate at Pescatore's on the same trip and thought it was a better value for seafood. But my favorite place we ate was Cafe Brio. Fantastic food, wonderful service. It's a bit of a hike from the Coast though out past the antique shops on Fort--we drove but you could walk--it's probably a 30 minute walk or so.

I didn't go on this visit but I've always enjoyed Spinnakers Pub across the harbor from the Coast (take the little harbor ferries).

And then there's Barb's out at Fisherman's Terminal for fish and chips just a little ways from your hotel. It's fun to walk out there and see the eclectic houseboats.

For ethnic--I've heard that the Bengal Grill at the Empress has good Indian food as well as a great atmosphere but I haven't tried it yet (next time!).

Thanks, you've given me some good ideas. Anyone else want to chime in?
By the way, I've seen that tea at the empress is overrated. How is Munchies in your opinion? Or is James Bay tea room better?

We chose not to do tea at the Empress but had the Indian buffet dinner in the Bengal Lounge and it was fabulous. The night we were there they had a jazz band, too.

The James Bay tea room was horrid the last two times we went there. Murchies should be good (although I have never had the actual tea there). So is the White Heather but it's in Oak Bay. The Empress? Well it depends on whether or not you want the Empress experience. It's probably more than $30 now and over $50 in the summertime. I believe they have a seniors special on at the moment. For an anniversary and if you've never been, I think it's worth considering.

i ate at the keg when i was in victoria last. now obviously it's a chain restaurant so nothing unique about it but it is always good food, especially if you are craving a steak, and we had a really nice table with a window overlooking the harbour.

We ate at Willies Bakery for breakfast and it was great. Short walk from the inner harbor. Willies has an outside dining area with a fireplace and they give you blankets to keep your legs warm if its coolish outside- which it frequently is in Victoria.
Have fun!

Tea at the Empress is now $55.00 per person. This was the price as of last week, and quite frankly it's not worth it. I would suggest tea at either Butchart Gardens or the White Heather on Oak Bay Avenue.

For afternoon tea Murchies can't be beat for quality of food. They are right on Government St - very handy. As I have said in other posts White Heather has excellent teas but it is on Oak Bay ave away from everything and it is very very crowded. No atmosphere at all.

I forgot to mention breakfast. The old traditional great breakfast spot that we locals go to is John's Place on Pandora. I believe they have a website which gives you the history of the restaurant as well as a menu sample. Their breakfasts are huge and delicious. The other spot is the deDutch Pannekoek house also excellent but bring a good appetite.

The tea in Murchies is excellent. There's a store also. Blend 10, the afternoon empress, and the golden jubilee are our favorite.

I've been to the Murchie's on Government Street, but is there a separate room for high tea? I seem to recall the store front and the tables around the ordering counter, but is this where high tea is served? I'm just curious as this came up in a discussion the other week with my family.

We were in Victoria last March for about a week. Had an awful experience (service and food) at Nautical Nellies. Loved Pagliacci's...but go early to get a table. Barb's was good too. Had tea at the Empress (DD and I) and very much enjoyed it. So much food that you cannot finish it all and do not need dinner. Stopped at Murchies a few times for coffee and enjoyed that. We had wonderful breakfasts at our hotel (Abigails).

Carmanah - The tea room at Murchies is upstairs at the back. The front area is just for customers having a cup of tea or coffee and pastry etc.

The Indian buffet at the Empress was only $28 and there was a 'death by chocolate' dessert buffet for an additional $12. Those were the prices in July.

I also enjoyed lunch at the Ogden Point
Restaurant- there is a breakwall for a nice walk before or after dining
Its not a fancy place but the food was good and liked the waterfront atmosphere
You can watch cruise ships leaving and docking
http://www.travel-victoria.com/sceni...rivetour21.htm

Wow! What a lot of great information. Thank you so much to all who posted. I greatly appreciate all the comments.

john's place for breakfast a must,pescatores for seafood, not nautacal nellies, a rip off, il terrazzo for italian, the best by far in victotia,the rathskeller for german, good bang for your dollar,the matisse for french.Have eaten at everyplace in vic,these are our favourites, have fun.Check out there web sites.

In Chinatown district we ate at the Forum. Simply told them how much we wanted to spend for the 4 of us and suggested they pick the menu. It was awesome food!

Forgot to add, we also had the best meal on the wharf which consisted of fresh steamed crabs which we shared with a couple of seals that kept bobbing their heads up to see what was smelling so good. no tables or any fancy silverware, but wow, were they delicious! It is located in a marina up from where the ferries dock. Sorry I can't remember the exact name but there was a very popular fish and chip place on the wharf next to it.

Does anyone know the place Tanya was talking about? Sounds great!!!

No, I don't, Wallace_and_Gromit.

Frankly, most restaurants in Victoria leave me cold, not only for the overpriced, poor quality food but also the low hygiene standards. A coworker got sick after eating at a seafood restaurant mentioned here and my sister said she'd never go back to a popular breakfast place after seeing into their kitchen. Even Murchies could clean their floors more often. The Blue Crab was okay for others in our party, but the French toast I had there once was the weirdest I've ever tasted.

It can be interesting to click on Food facility ratings at:
http://www.healthspace.ca/viha

For breakfast or lunch in an old world sort of atmosphere try the Parliamentary dining room. You'll need to leave ID at the front desk but don't let that put you off. The restaurant is very relaxed and friendly and some of the food is quite good. Reasonable prices too.

It is obvious that april is either very young or has not eaten out much.If you check the health board ratings for the restaurants listed andmost restaurants you will find low hazard for just about every restaurant in the world.That is a good rating.As to being expensive try eating in vancouver or any other large cities.Victoria is priced just about the same.There are expensive and reasonably priced ones.

One place that hasn't been mentioned yet is Rebar Modern Food, in Bastion Square. We love the place. They published a cookbook a few years ago and I'm working my way through it! They tend towards vegetarian/vegan but certainly not exclusively, and the food is wonderful.

Speaking of Bastion Square, we spent two wonderful evenings at the Irish Times, once just for drinks and then again for dinner. The food was pretty good and the music was fab!

Ha, sarh25, I wish I was very young. In general, I think the food quality and selection in Vancouver is much better.

I'm wondering if the place Tanya is referring to is the seafood booth on the wharf next to Barb's Fish and Chips. We ate at Barb's (excellent, although we also love the Fish Trap here in Sooke where we live) and went for a walk on the wharf past the seafood stall. It looked yummy.

For tea, check out Blethering Place in the Oak Bay area (long walk or a cab drive away from Coast Harbourside) . It was recommended as a good not expensive afternoon tea option in Victoria, we went and really liked it. More details below:
http://www.seetheglobe.com/modules/w...=16&lid=91

If you are willing to get away from downtown and Inner Harbour, there are some FAB restaurants. Keep in mind that if it is right on the harbour it is going to be fairly touristy... which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but locals likely won't eat there much. For hotel dining I think the Blue Crab at Coast Harbourside is good. Pescatores is good too. I agree about Cafe Brio (awesome) - chef owned. Also one place that has not been mentioned is Paprika in Oak Bay. Hands down the best meal I have ever had in Victoria. Chef owned. Barb's Fish and Chips in Fisherman's Wharf is a great experience and the food is good. I think it must be where Tanya is thinking of re: feeding the seals... E.A.T. Mag. provides good info about dining in Victoria.

MartiniB,

Tanya said it was NEXT TO "a very popular fish & chips place" so it couldn't be Barb's (Besides, I don't think they sell crabs). I'm glad to hear Barb's is still good though. (It has been given a "downhill alert" online) I want to go check it out. :-)