Once in a while I feel a bit tired of the places where I eat lunch, then I have the urge to try new ones (and the ones I haven’t visited for sometime).

I think we, as humans, tend to be build habits and become repetitive and boring over time. After few years back, when I decided to try every restaurant in Victoria (and got close to my goal), I have gotten used to the same restaurants.

So I decided for one month to try new ones. Keep in mind. These are places where I had lunch or coffee. There rankings do not reflect their dinner service. I believe we evaluate lunch time in a very different way that we evaluate dinner time. Lunch is more utilitarian, while dinner is more about the event.

The big winner: Camille’s

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 just 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.

The best new restaurant: Effes

Ok, not so new. It has been there for few months now. Simple kebabs, but delicious. It is a great place to stop for a snack any time of the day (although they run out of meats in the afternoon). It is located to the right of the Odeon cineplex on Yates.

The disappointments

• I will never be back at the Bard and the Banker .

• Ça Va was the biggest disappointment. In my opinion, it is not worth it at lunch time.

Other surprises:

• Regardless of how bad the coffee is, the Oak Bay Maria Coffee Shop is a great destination. Sadly, location beats quality when it comes to a coffee.

• My thai place was much better than I remembered it.

• I really, really enjoy eating at Aura. The view is great.

The overal ratings

How to read them.

Rank	meaning
♥♥♥♥	Will comeback: to be part of my rotation
♥♥♥	Would come back: once in a while
♥♥	Can be convinced to come back: only if needed
♥	Will take a lot of convincing to be back: have to be forced
	Will NOT come back: never

And the results (by the way, you can tell the places I regularly visit by omission

Date	Restaurant	Ordered	Cost	Notes	Score
May 10, 2013	Effes	Beef Kabab	~10	Excellent kabab	♥♥♥♥
May 11, 2013	Bard and the Banker		~16+tip	Horrible food, bad service. I will never eat here again.
May 12, 2013	Sizzling Tandoor (Uptown)	Buffet	~15+tip	Great tandoori and butter chicken, Few options. Excellent value.	♥♥♥♥
May 13, 2013	Tibetan Kitchen	Beef Curry	12.20 + tip	Good value, lacks flavour, though	♥♥♥
May 14, 2013	The Black Hat	—————–	——	No longer opens for lunch	NA
May 14, 2013	Koto	Lunch B	13.65 + tip	Decent bento box. Tempura felt greasy, salad was a mess. It is an izakaya, what can I expect!	♥♥
May 15, 2013	Ca Va	Salmon	18.90 + tip	Not impressed at lunch time (salad type menu), average but overpriced food, but willing to try it at dinner time.	♥
May 16, 2013	Cafe Ceylon	Burger	15.70 + tip	Very flavourful burger (the special of the day)	♥♥♥
May 17, 2013	Skinnytato	Goulash Potato pancake	15.70 + tip	Nice, simple food. The menu is limited, but good experience.	♥♥♥
May 18, 2013	Curry Lounge Restaurant	Lamb spinach curry, chicken biryani	–	Good food, but a cavernous location	♥♥♥
May 18, 2013	Special Teas	A fancy darjeeling	~2.50	Excellent tea, cozy atmosphere	♥♥♥♥
May 19, 2013	Dolce Vita Coffee	Drip coffee, medium roast	<2.00	They open until 10:30 PM!!!	♥♥♥♥
May 19, 2013	Bin 4 Burger Lounge	Very good burger, disappointing fries	11.09 + tip	Great deal after 9:00 PM, will definitely come back at that time (at normal prices I would come back)	♥♥♥♥
May 21, 2013	Saigon Harbour	Special #1	9.98 + tip	Good value for the food. Rest. had a make over; looks nicer and more inviting.	♥♥♥
May 22, 2013	Ill Terrazzo	Spaguettini con capesante		Good food and good value, but WAY too much food (split in 1/2, eat 1/2 take home the rest for a nice dinner)	♥♥♥
May 22, 2013	Discovery coffee (discovery st)	Expresso	2.25? + tip	Excellent coffee	♥♥♥♥
May 23, 2013	UVic food services	Sandwiches	—	No comment	–
May 24, 2013	Saigon Night	Grilled pork and shrimp on noodles	14.35 +tip	A lot of food. The grilling smells great, but pork slightly overcooked. I think Saigon Harbour is better	♥♥
May 25, 2013	Forum	Braised duck and noodles	9.40 +tip	Great value. The noodles lacked seasoning. Great service (albeit, the place was almost empty). I liked the duck.	♥♥♥
May 25, 2013	Willi’s Cafe at the Royal Museum	Coffee	2.10	Note to myself: the coffee is not the greatest but the patio rocks on a warm day. Come more often	♥♥♥♥
May 27, 2013	Pink Bicycle	Portabello Burger	11.55 + tip	Good burger and good vale.	♥♥♥
May 28, 2013	King Sejung	jejuk bugolgi lunch special	8.35 + tip	It is hard to complain at this price. Quality is inverse proportional to it.	♥♥
May 29, 2013	Oak Bay Marina	Pan fried cod-fish special	16.80 + tip	I feel their food feels a bit outdated, but my fish today was delicious. Well worth it.	♥♥♥♥
May 29, 2013	The Marina Coffee Shop	Coffee	1.75	The coffee is not very good, but the view is great.	♥♥♥♥
May 30, 2013	Pagliaccci’s	Chicken chikadee	~15.00 + tip	Feels like production line food; my entree arrived before I finished my soap; entree a mess. i don’t get its popularity	♥
May 31, 2013	My thai place	potato curry	~10.00 + tip	Much better than I remember it the last time I was there.	♥♥♥♥
May 31, 2013	Sally Bun	chicken curry bun	3.25 (I think)	Great snack	♥♥♥
May 31, 2013	Subway	Italian spicy sandwich	~5.00	As in any other subway.	♥♥
June 1, 2013	Sizzling Tandoor (downtown)	buffet	~14.00 + tip	I think the uptown is better, but it is not bad at all	♥♥♥
June 2, 2013	Pizza Strada	salshisha picante	~16.00 + tip	Excellent pizza (perhaps best in town)	♥♥♥
June 3, 2013	Baan-Thai (downtown)	Chicken curry special	10.24+tip	Good food, although I wish they would change their lunch menu one of these days	♥♥♥
June 3, 2013	Malea Coffee	American	2.50	Bad coffee
June 3, 2013	Pho Hoa	#15: pho with all meats	–	It is one of the few options open late any day of the week. That in itself is a reason I go there it. Food is not bad.	♥♥♥
June 4, 2013	Baan-thai (foul bay)	Special 4: tofu and red curry	10.24+tip
June 5, 2013	Camille’s	Fish stew	18.90+tip	Excellent food, some of the most sophisticated cooking at lunch time. They just started serving lunch	♥♥♥♥
June 7, 2013	Sockeye sushi	Bento B	16.85+tip	It was a good lunch. Plenty of tuna and salmon, but not memorable enough.	♥♥♥
June 8, 2013	Aura	Kimchi pork sandwich	15.75+tip	Great view, makes it one of my favourite destinations. The food is good, but sandwich oriented at lunch time	♥♥♥♥
June 9, 2013	Rebar	Enchiladas	16.10+top	Rebar was one of my favourite restaurants, but it stagnated. The food hasn’t change in 10 years! I want more variety.	♥♥♥

–dmg