Camille's, the best of 38 coffee places and restaurants in Victoria in on Month
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 <period>.
- 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