Skinnytato (Victoria, BC)

615 Johnson St
Victoria, BC
250.590.6550
website

The culinary highlight of my trip to Vancouver Island came during my last meal in Victoria. We decided to try Skinnytato, a small Polish restaurant, that has quickly become popular since its opening. Trapezista and I met some of her friends for dinner there. While a few tables were free, many of them were reserved, so the owners scrambled to find place for us and another large party.

Skinnytato.

We each ordered different dinner items that included a daily soup, which was borscht on the day we visited. I am not the biggest fan of beets but it's a food I want to learn to enjoy. I actually very much enjoyed the borscht.

Borscht.

Trapezista ordered an extra large potato pancake, stuffed with sauerkraut and Polish sausage ($15.95). She seemed to really enjoy her pancake and the accompanying four salads. Skinnytato's menu boasted about its four vegetarian and gluten free salads (two cabbage salads, a potato salad and a beet salad).

Large potato pancake.

I ordered the vegetarian platter ($14.95) that included 3 small potato pancakes, 4 perogies and 2 salads. You can select the perogie of your choice, depending on what is on hand. I got 2 cheese and potato perogies, and 2 sauerkraut and mushroom perogies. I absolutely loved the crispy pancakes that were well seasoned. While the cheese and potato perogies were good, I was blown away by the sauerkraut and mushroom ones. What an usual combination! The mushrooms' earthy flavour went well with the pickled sauerkraut. Finally, I also really liked the Nature's gift salad, a red cabbage salad but felt indifferent toward the potato salad.

Vegetarian platter.

Personally, a great meal for me involves well cooked food and discovering something new. Skinnytato introduced me to food I was unfamiliar with, and was a lovely way to end my BC trip. In addition, the Polish couple who owns the restaurant could not be sweeter, giving us coupons and encouraging us to check out their Facebook page. If you're in Victoria, Skinnytato is well worth a visit!

The Pointe Restaurant at the Wickaninnish Inn (Tofino, BC)

500 Osprey Lane
Tofino, BC
250.725.3100
website

For a nice treat, Trapezista and I headed to the Pointe Restaurant at the Wickaninnish Inn for breakfast. The restaurant offers a killer view of the ocean. We were able to enjoy breakfast while watching waves breaking and surfers braving the rain and cold.

The Pointe Restaurant Dining Room.

Instagramed view from the restaurant.

As we sat at our table, we were asked if we wanted juice. Why yes, please! Even for the steep price of $3.75, the juice was worth it. It was a mix of peach, lime and basil and tasted exquisite. With the peach preserves I'm planning to make, this is another recipe I want to try back home.

Peach juice.

If you've been reading this blog, you might notice that I order eggs and bacon 90% of the time for breakfast, and this time was no different. Both Trapezista and I ordered the Pointe Breakfast ($19), which included two eggs, housemade Cumberland sausages, a potato rosti and tomato jam. The potato rosti was an original touch, but I'm not sure if I like my potatoes whole for breakfast better. The sausages were very good, and not too fatty.

The Pointe Breakfast.

Prices are on the expensive side at The Pointe Restaurant, but you can't beat the view, the food was great and the service impeccable. I think it should be considered a special treat, and we all deserve special treats sometime!

Cyn at Night (Ucluelet, BC)

1536 Peninsula Rd
Ucluelet, BC
250.726.2449
website

After hiking the Wild Pacific Trail, Trapezista and I had dinner at Cyn at Night. We read about the restaurant on the FEAST! Tofino festival site. We were slightly surprised to find a coffee shop that turns into a makeshift restaurant at night. It took a while for someone to greet us and one of the patrons gave us a menu. No one came to see us for another while which was surprising since there weren't that many patrons. When the server finally got our order, she was very knowledgeable and answered our questions very well. It was a bit disappointing though to see patrons come in after us, and be told of specials that no one shared with us.

Cyn at Night.

The menu on the FEAST! Tofino site, which was to highlight spot prawns, was not offered, and no one seemed to really know about it. So we ordered from the regular menu, which changes depending on what food is available locally. Trapezista and I decided to share the scallop and shrimp ($13), served with rosemary bread. I had been very curious about spot prawns and the server informed us the shrimps were not spot prawns but were smaller shrimps, fished nearby. The shrimps were very tasty and sweet and I very much liked the herb seasoning. It was disappointing to only get one scallop for $13. It would have been nice to at least get two.

Shrimp and Scallop.

For her main, Trapezista ordered the ribs ($16) which were chosen as the best ribs in BC and Saskatchewan in 2010. She really liked her ribs but the ribs were more on the dry side than a saucy one. I tried her dish and my absolutely favourite item was the homemade pickles. They were just pickled enough to have bite but they weren't over-pickled and so still crunchy.

Ribs.

I debated between the BBQ pulled pork and the pulled pork & polenta dishes. The server shared that the two dishes were very different and I decided to go with the Bolognese style pulled pork with seared polenta ($14). I tried the pork first and thought it was under-seasoned. I then tried the polenta, which was generously salted. So I figured if I ate both together it would balance out. The pulled pork was well cooked and fell apart. I really appreciated the originality of the dish.

Pulled pork & polenta.

While we felt a bit neglected when we came in, the chef did come out a few times close to the end of our meal to check on us, so that was very nice. Cyn at Night is relatively new, so I think they still have to work out a few kinks. I do love all these BC restaurants  who focus on offering a local menu.

Old Town Bakery (Ladysmith, BC)

510 1st Ave
Ladysmith, BC
(250) 245-2531
website

Trapezista and I headed up the coast to check out Ucluelet and Tofino. On our way there, we stopped at Old Town Bakery in Ladysmith. Trapezista had heard that their cinnamon buns were a must try.

Old Town Bakery.

Trapezista got the renown cinnamon bun with sliced almonds and cream cheese icing. I don't remember how much it was, but definitely under $3, which makes the giant bun a steal. She really enjoyed her bun. There were other flavours, such as a berry one and a peanut butter cream cheese one.

 

Cinnamon Bun.

I was a wimp and was overwhelmed by the ginormous cinnamon bun so I ordered the blueberry and white chocolate scone ($1.85) instead. It was quite good and still big. I did eye her bun and wondered if I should have stuck to the bakery's specialty.

Blueberry scone.

Old Town Bakery seemed to be busy on a weekday morning. Their other baked goods include large square shaped muffins, cookies and freshly baked breads. There was also a small lunch counter with salads.

Salt Spring Island Cheese (Salt Spring Island, BC)

285 Reynolds Road
Salt Spring Island, BC
250.653.2300
website

Before taking the ferry back to Vancouver Island, we had to stop at Salt Spring Island Cheese Company. The company specializes in non-dairy cheese, i.e. goat cheese and some sheep cheese.



Inside was a large spread of different cheeses to try out. They offer a variety of soft goat cheese (or chèvre), which is topped with different ingredients to serve with crackers. The chèvre that stole my heart was the white truffle one (and I have one in the fridge right now!). There were other flavours like the spicy chili oil chèvre and the lemon chèvre that combined very well with a sweet preserve.

Salt Spring Island chèvre.

They also had some hard cheeses like the Montana, an aged sheep cheese, reminiscent of Manchego, and Chevaro, the goat version. Surprisingly, the sheep cheese was milder than the goat cheese. Another one that I brought home was the Juliette, which tastes like Camembert.

Hard and surface ripened cheeses.

If you ever do visit Salt Spring Island, a stop by the Salt Spring Island Cheese Company is definitely worth it. There's nothing better than to try a product that is made right on the spot. I can't wait to try the cheese, with some BC wine that I've brought back.

Auntie Pesto's Cafe (Salt Spring Island, BC)

2104-115 Fulford Ganges RdSalt Spring Island, BC
250.537.4181
website

Trapezista, her friend C and I took the ferry to Salt Spring Island to go camping. In the morning, we went searching for breakfast in the town of Ganges and found Auntie Pesto's Cafe.

We picked Auntie Pesto's for their early bird special (from 8 to 9 am) of 2 eggs, bacon, potato, toast & coffee for $8.99. An old hippie patron (it seems there are a lot of hippies in Ganges) also came out while we were looking at the menu outside, encouraging us to come in. Had it been warmer, we would have happily sat outside and had breakfast by the water.



A nice warm cup of coffee was served. I was impressed by the quality of the foamy coffee that was included in the early bird special.

The early bird special was quite good. The 3 slices of bacon were crispy. The potatoes were well seasoned and cooked with slices of onion. I seemed to not have photographed my favourite part of the meal. The accompanying fresh peach preserves. It was quite delicious, with large chunks of peaches, and made me want to try my hand at preserves this year!

While waiting for breakfast, I got tempted by the scones sitting on the counter. We decided to share the walnut and chocolate chip one to end our meal on a sweet note. The scone was nicely warmed up and buttered for us.

Auntie Pesto's was a perfect stop for breakfast. They seem to offer a very ambitious dinner menu, not something one would necessarily expect in a small town.

Sooke Harbour House (Sooke, BC)

1528 Whiffen Spit Road
Sooke , British Columbia
250.642.3421
website

While researching restaurants near Victoria, I read up on Sooke Harbour House, which offers a 3-course local seasonal menu for $49 on Friday and Sunday evenings. So I made reservations a few days after I booked my flight to Victoria for myself and Trapezista. Like Red Fish Blue Fish (our earlier meal in the day), Sooke Harbour House has a Top Chef Canada connection. This season's winner, Carl Heinrich, is from Sooke and worked at this restaurant! (A propos, just because Trapezista and I loved TCC.)

View of the back where the dining room is.

Sooke is a little town by the water in the south of Vancouver Island. It has its own garden and uses a lot of its own produce for its menu. Unfortunately, when we arrived it was raining so we did not get to spend a lot of time outside. Sooke Harbour House also offers a great view of the water, that would make a perfect romantic night out.

View from the dining room.

The menu changes daily. To start, Trapezista picked the smoked beet, leek & potato soup. I had a taste of the soup. The smokiness of the beets added another layer to the soup while not overpowering it, which is always a risk with smoke. I ordered the stellar bay Kusshi oysters, a small size West Coast oyster. I enjoyed the small oysters and the toasted dill seed mignonette. Trapezista tried her first oyster and was not too impressed by the texture.

Starter: Beet soup and oysters.

For the main course, Trapezista ordered the grilled Berkshire pork tenderloin, that looked perfectly cooked. Trapezista thoroughly enjoyed the locally sourced pork, on a bed of spaetzle and accompanied by cauliflower. She also ordered a glass of the 2009 Meritage, Lake Breeze that was the recommended wine to the pork dish.

Grilled Berkshire pork tenderloin.

I ordered the panfried silver grey rockfish, which our server informed us was quite ugly but delicious. The server also recommended the 2010 Noble Blend, Joie, for a fruity white wine that I thoroughly enjoyed – I even bought a couple of bottles to bring back home. He described it as a perfect summer wine, that tasted similarly to Gewrustamminer. While I did enjoy the fish, my favourite part of the dish was the smoked tuna, potato and quinoa fritters. The smoked tuna really added a nice smokey touch to the fritters and quinoa makes for an interesting filler for fritters. I also really liked the asparagus and bok choy as accompanying vegetables.

Panfried silver grey rockfish.

For dessert, Trapezista ordered the crème brulée that was infused with mable grey geranium with a strawberry square. When I tasted the crème brulée, I thought it tasted like lemongrass and we remembered the geranium infusion; I didn't realize geranium had such flavour. (On a side note, I think lemongrass could be an interesting touch to crème brulée, just like the pandan flavoured one at Nonya).

 

 Crème brulée and strawberry square.

I debated between the dark chocolate butter sponge cake and the cheese plate since the desserts didn’t interest me much. The dark chocolate cake and bittersweet chocolate ice cream was good but didn’t wow me. Complimentary sweets were a nice end note.

 

 Dessert.

I really liked that Sooke Harbour House focuses on serving local food and sources from their own garden. All the dishes looked very nice and were well executed. The restaurant is quaint and the views cannot be beat and is a great place for a special dinner. The four course menu is offered daily I believe for $74.