This taco joint has been on the Vagrant Foodies “Must Try” list for some time now. We have been hearing good things for a couple years now.   We waited 45 minutes for tacos at a beach-side parking lot, on a hot day with no shade to be found.   To be fair, the wait is always long, and they have a sign posted right near the window stating the wait is usually 30 minutes to an hour. It’s a popular place.     It’s truly a shack. A tiny shed like structure with a dozen or so picnic tables out front of it. We stepped to the window and browsed the menu which consists or six or so tacos, all of which can be made into burritos or salads as well.   We decided on four tacos between the two of us: one prawn, one fish, and two beef.   When we got there all the tables were occupied, so we sipped Mexican soft drinks and sat on the rocks and watched the ocean surf. It’s quite a beautiful location.   Although it it a busy place, I was struck by...

    Day drunk and starving. This is how we approached the door to Fishhook at Mermaid Wharf in Victoria. D and I had started another day in Victoria looking for a way to shake the day-before’s combination of sleep deprivation and hangover (both food and alcohol) So naturally after touring Value Village looking for treasures for our future Van, we went to the brewery for a couple hours. Without breakfast. This Brought us to noon and Fishhook where I personally planned to devour anything I could find.   Fishhook is an Indian/seafood restaurant. Really. In all the fusion type places we have eaten and all the shows that we have watched I had not seen anyone proclaim themselves that. I was very very interested in what Fishhook had to offer. The view was beautiful looking out at the water and the restaurant itself did a very good job of feeling “nautical”. Sea and stormy blue colours and local art. A split level dining room with just a slight ramp separa...

 Chef D and I are believers in  the golden rule of food. The locals know where to eat better than the internet does. In the case of NUBO , the locals and the internet agreed. I was personally a little nervous about the idea of Japanese tapas, wondering about the description we had read which was vague. Japanese style tapas. That was really all we could find. There seemed to be a huge menu online to look at and most of it sounded excellent. So, we made a reservation for a late dinner and walked the 10 blocks or so from our hotel to try and find this place. The neighbourhood looked very residential, there was construction and apartment buildings, and seemingly out of place there were two Japanese restaurants side by side. We will talk about the other one another day. My first impression of NUBO was that it reminded me of MOMOFUKU noodle bar in New York. Very long skinny dining area and a seated bar surrounding the chefs who were working in the open. I liked the vibe b...

Chicken 649 Stark white walls, Simple black lettering on the outside of the building. Looks and feels like a fried chicken joint. So what is all the fuss about? When D and I walked up to Chicken 649 which was a bit out of the way from our usual haunting pattern in Victoria, my first thought was… really? I have learned though never to judge, some of the best things I have eaten have come from very dingy little places. We took a table in the corner and I ordered the classic recipe 8 piece chicken with a corn salad, pickles, and a dipping sauce. First of all the chicken came in a pizza box presentation which I thought was really neat, pieces lined up in a row and below them the sauces and the salads, the pickles were Daikon!  This thrilled me as I have an unhealthy addiction to the stuff. It is hard to say much about fried chicken other than it is either good or its not, This was great. The batter was crunchy, had been fried for just the right amount of time as to be dark ...

  We had to use Google maps to find this place, and we were almost on top of the location when we noticed it. Hanks is a small (allegedly eighteen seats, but even that’s pretty tight) restaurant with a small sign and darkened windows. Hanks is hidden in plain sight right downtown Victoria on Douglas street.   When we walked in I was instantly delighted, I felt like I had discovered a private back room of an obscure watering hole. The thick aroma of deeply browned meat hit my nostrils immediately. The place looked completely full; that is to say there were a dozen or so patrons, mostly sitting on stools around the bar.  We inquired if it possible get seated, but I was thinking we would be turned away. Whiskey and I may have fit slotted in somewhere, but we were expecting a guest to join us as well.  The bubbly hostess/server told us they had one table near the back of the dining room, so she led us eleven steps towards the back where we were delighted see the large...

  You know when fate steps in? Well this is what happened the morning that D and I ended up at the Blue Fox Café . The plan had been to got to Floyd's for an astounding breakfast that I had only heard rumours about.   We were disappointed to find that Floyds had been permanently closed and we were sadly not going to be able to flip double or nothing for our breakfast.     Cold and still wanting breakfast we had to make a call, and I remembered The Blue Fox, a kitschy breakfast nook I had been ages ago with a friend, so we went searching.   The Blue Fox is unassuming from the outside, with small sign out front with the name of the restaurant and the simple statement of specials. We wandered in.     The dining room felt a lot like you were cramming into Gramma’s kitchen, red brick walls and tables were stuffed cheek by jowl. It was packed. We were given menus in the small waiting area, and we got the impression quickly that the ide...

Hello foodie fans,  It’s been a little while since you have heard anything from us, life gets busy and we have been no exception.  With the imminent return  of the sun , myself and Chef D are planning our return to society from our long winter sleep as well and we are looking forward to a few new places around home to eat and check out.  Spoiler alert Victoria BC is on our list in the next few weeks for our annual VF foodie getaway. Hope you have been enjoying Chef D and his beer of the week reviews. Planning on adding Wine Wednesday to that mix along with a few other food related pages that we have in the works.  So with much love and growling stomachs we will be seeing you very soon. Stay tuned  Whiskey G.

  I generally like most beers produced by Phillips Brewing, and this one is no exception.  Slightly sweet, and not strong tasting in the least despite its beautiful dark colour, this ale measures a moderate 5.3% alc. and 20 IBU.   This dark ale has hints of coffee and what I would describe as toasted puffed wheat. It's very drinkable, although maybe not quite as memorable as some other beers in the Phillips' caboodle. All and all a perfectly solid beer and when measured against all other beers, it's near the top of the crop, but compared to the other amazing recipes Phillips makes, this beer falls a slight bit back. Cheers and bon appetit,  D 7.5/10

  This is no ordinary radler.  First of all, at 4% alc., it's a tad stronger than the usual 2.5-3.5% radlers that are essentially beer diluted by half with juice.   Secondly, this beer is blended with lemon, blood orange and apricot juices. This blend is complex and delightfully fresh tasting, with a tart, but not overly so ending.  A beautiful summer refresher or a great beverage with food,  Strathcona certainly did a nice job on this brew. Cheers and bon appetit,  D 8.5/10

  Well, the name is apt I suppose. This strong ale (10% alc!) smells a bit musky and has quite a bit of funk to the flavour. This brew is a Belgian style golden ale, which in general I'm not a huge fan of, but I know of a few (very few) people that really like this style.   Subtle flavours of coriander and moss underlay the big flavour of the German hops and Santa sweat. I drank the entire bottle, naturally, but I couldn't wait to move on to the next beer in the fridge. Cheers and bon appetit,  D 4/10

  This Irish dry stout is apparently inspired by the prose of James Joyce (Finnegan's Wake, Ulysses et al.) It's a rich dark brown stout, classic Irish styled with soft milky head.  Weighing in at 5.1% alc, it's among a few brews of this style that I could drink all evening without feeling heavy and full.   The flavour of Finnegan's is superb, roasty and malty, a bit sweet with notes of molasses. It reminds me slightly of really good homemade ginger snaps. I can hardly find a fault with this beer, Hoyne hits it out of the park once again. Cheers and bon appetit, D 9/10 

  Whenever possible, it's nice to visit a dining establishment at least twice before writing about it. Not only does it mitigate the risk that maybe the cook was having an off day or the server was new, but also highlights the consistency and/or progression of the experience. This was our second visit to Sult Pierogi Bar .   We arrived during happy hour. Three pierogis for three bucks with sour cream thrown in for good measure.  With a diverse selection of different pierogis on the menu we had a tough time deciding. As we studied the menu I ordered a beer (Electric Unicorn from Phillips brewing, one of my faves), which arrived cold, in a can. Sult has a well stocked bar and a fairly eclectic cocktail menu, and Whiskey (somewhat surprisingly to me) ordered up a Manhattan. As we sipped drinks we managed to settle on four varieties and and added a sausage for accompaniment.   Sult's atmosphere is modern, industrial, and a bit dark, with heavy wooden tables, ...

  Bin 4 is undoubtably a burger joint. If you are looking for something else, look elsewhere. That being said, they have a nice selection of burgers as well as a few salads and burger accompaniments. The atmosphere is that of a sports bar or a chain hotel restaurant, quite clean, but unnoteworthy is almost every way.   Browsing the drink menu, one thing (oddly not alcoholic!) caught my eye immediately: house made mint lemonade. I, being a lover of good sour lemonade, ordered this. It did not disappoint.  While not overly sour, it still had some bite and generous cooling from the fresh mint. This would be an ultimate thirst quencher on a warm summer day.   Being the first meal of my day, I opted to order "The breakfast club" burger. It was a pork and chorizo burger with guacamole and topped with bacon and a fried egg.  When it arrived, the presentation was simple and the actual burger looked pretty good, fresh, with the exception of the overripe hot house t...

It has been almost 11 months since I returned home from NYC which makes this post long overdue. 3 months before I set out for New York City I had made a dinner reservation at the restaurant of my favorite chef, Eric Ripert. Le Bernardin   at the time of my visit was ranked number 1 in New York and number 17 in the world for french inspired seafood.  I hit the reserve button and got the confirmation email and instantly had butterflies. It was all I could think about for days. Eric Ripert is a bit of a personal hero of mine, sharing the same philosophies. in life and intense love of good food, but aside from that I had never at that point been to a place quite so upscale, quite so polished or so fantastic. My best friend and I who were traveling together had the dinner reservation booked for the Thursday of our trip. I had purchased a dress , made sure I was hungry despite the food tour we had been on earlier that day , and with child like anticipation we approached ...