Excellent eats and great service. Interesting specials, and a cozy vibe. No notes. Friendly and…read moreattentive staff.

Duncan's best-kept secret just set the gold standard. From the moment we walked into the Old…read moreFirehouse, it felt like we were stepping into a vibe that hits that rare, perfect note: elevated but unpretentious, energetic but intimate. Huge shoutout to Owner-turned-Mixology-Mastermind Jeff, who absolutely crushed it behind the bar -- every cocktail and mocktail was a handcrafted work of art that could hold court in any top-tier city. We're talking serious flavour fireworks here. And April -- what can we say? Her service made us feel like VIPs who owned the joint. She read the room, anticipated every move, and wrapped the whole evening in the kind of hospitality you can't teach: pure instinct, heart, and grace. The food? Next level. Every bite was a flex of flavor and presentation. The kitchen is clearly playing in its own league, balancing creativity with pure culinary muscle. Combine that with an ambience that feels like cozy meets cool, and you've got an absolute home run. If you haven't experienced Firehouse Grill yet, fix that immediately.

Despite not having a great experience with the fish offerings at this restaurants, I'd still go…read moreahead and say that Stage is amazing and has some potential to make changes to the menu! Love the European Wine Bar/French Bistro vibes they have going and it's located in the cute Fernwood neighbourhood. Love their approach on French-inspired foods and showcasing seasonal local fresh veggies and plating it differently. The food is fresh and light, which is always nice for a French restaurant. We got the local crudités served with the eggplant roasted dip and it was a delight. The tomatoes were fresh and I appreciated the various textures, depth and flavours. The dishes are great for sharing. Love the pomme frites. The BBQ shishitos were a treat! The bread and butter were phenomenal. I believe that it is freshly baked. The service was amazing! They have a great ever-changing wine list from Europe as well as different parts of Canada. In addition, they have amazing cocktails. Unfortunately, Stage fell a little short for us. We had sent an email in advance mentioning that we are pescatarians and do not eat meat. We were very excited to try their fish offerings (Halibut and Rockfish) off the menu that night but our waitress informed us that the kitchen wouldn't be able to make any changes to the dishes and that some meat products were used in both fish options. We were very disappointed, especially since the food is so good. I recommend and advise that if you have two fish offerings, at least leave one completely pescatarian and free of meat products. We also didn't want to opt for the warm potato salad with mackerel since we had already had the pomme frites. As a result, we did not have a suitable protein option that night. This was the only thing that ticked us off, considering the level of care and pride they take with the food in their restaurant.

Really nice wine bar. Great wine and atmosphere. A bit pricy but very nice wine selection.read more

Located in downtown, we made a reservation for a late dinner to celebrate birthday while we were in…read moretown. The restaurant has a cozy, dimly lit atmosphere perfect for a date night. There was an interesting smell at the entrance when we first walked in, but luckily we were seated in the back room. As recommended, we ordered family style to try a variety of dishes. Endive salad - can't really go wrong with the classic combination of apple walnut and goat cheese, however many larger pieces of endive were quite bitter. tater tots - nice presentation with the cubes. The tots were perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Paired well with the jalapeño ranch, and the lumpfish caviar was a fun addition. Beef tartare- the beef was fresh and flavor was good overall. However the toast was only cut in half, made it hard to eat or cut into. Middle of the toast also got a little too soft from the juice. Fried chicken - solid fried chicken, the meat is tender and well seasoned, crispy on the outside. The semolina cube didn't add much for me, but the 3 hot sauce added a nice balance of heat and acidity. Ling cod - The fish was tender and cooked well. Surprisingly, the cabbage really stood out. Service was a bit slow, we had to flag down our server for refills. Overall we enjoyed our meal, every dish was well prepared, but nothing truly stood out as memorable. We did appreciate it being farm-to-table, and the commitment to source ingredients locally.

We tried out Wind Cries Mary for a birthday dinner while in Victoria. They are located in downtown,…read morewe walked from our hotel but parking nearby would've been difficult. We made a reservation ahead of time and they were still quite busy until about 9:45pm. We ordered a variety of dishes family style, which is the right move. Service for our table was honestly a bit slow; we had to flag down someone for a refill multiple times. The interior smelled a bit funny near the entrance but luckily we got sat down into the back room. The interior was a very dark, date night vibe. Endive 3/5. Not the biggest fan of the salad; they also picked some larger leaves of endive which made it bitter. It was a very light dish with the goat cheese, walnut, and apple. Tater tots 4/5. Fried potato hash brown cubes paired with a ranch sauce with lumpfish caviar. Decent dish, we enjoyed it but it could've used some acidity. Beef tartare 3.5/5. Solid tartare but the bread needed to be cut into more bite sized pieces and this style of bread also ended up soaking up a lot of the raw meat juices. Ling cod 4.5/5. The fish was tender and cooked well. The best item on this dish was the cabbage, which was very well seasoned. Fried chicken 4/5. Solid fried chicken paired with semolina cubes. Overall we enjoyed the meal. Not every dish was a hit but the farm to table concept is much appreciated for being in Victoria BC and sourcing meats and produce from nearby or in Abbotsford.

We've walked by this restaurant a few times and admired the outdoor patio, so we decided to give it…read morea try for lunch. Our hostess/server was so sweet and welcoming, and we were seated at a table of our choice on the patio with a gorgeous view of the water. The white sangria was delicious and my husband enjoyed his beer. He had the chicken pannini and fries and was pleased with it, though not overly ecstatic. On the other hand, I had the fried oyster burger and a cup of seafood chowder, and I was over-the-moon happy. Best oyster burger ever! The oysters were meaty and not overly battered - absolute perfection! The chowder was really good, too, but the oyster burger and the service were the stars of the show.

Traveling with family and this was very close to our hotel. However, we can't recommend. The fish…read moreand chips had small portions for the price. My father had the habachi shrimp which came with 6 of them, and a mountains of rice and lots of onions. Everything was quite expensive for how "okay" it tasted. Service was decent, was served fast and politely. The fries and the view were great however. Won't be going back.

Cannot recommend enough, so absolutely delicious and the vibes of the restaurant are so perfect!read more

Excellent staff! The food was prompt and fresh (it didn't sit under lights). The waiter stopped by…read morejust often enough to see if we needed anything and otherwise left us to our dining experience. Save room for desert!

Holy crap this place is delicious…read more Wow! I guess I'll be back for more because I'm absolutely in love! The humans inside were so welcoming and I ordered the thing I craved which was a serious burger after getting tattooed all day by @annmarietattoo I was amazed from when I first laid eyes on "the biggest cheese skirt" on that cute plate and took a bite of a mouth watering sensational absolute work of art. Took half back to hotel to eat later when I wake up from a much needed nap Just had to share this WOW kind of place because I'll be wowing all the way back home. Super duper recommend stopping by to give your taste buds what they are missing!

The food here is amazing and affordably priced. The salmon was some of the best I've ever had. Will…read moredefinitely return next time we're in Victoria.

Top notch food prep. We tried the bowl of Leek soup at the Bistro last week and it is to DIE FOR!…read moreBest ever. Love the creamy seafood chowder and the Caesar salad with shaved Parmesan.

Highly recommend checking this one out. It seems to be the least populated of the 10 acre…read morerestaurants (I assume because the lack of patio) but the food was absolutely delicious and our service was exceptional. Micah was a wonderful server, he was very informative and had a great, playful attitude (which we appreciated). Definitely worth trying!

I have enjoyed this place The seafood appetizer was…read moreinteresting. I especially liked their duck. It was great

New owners have made great changes! Phenomenal service, the…read morecrab cakes were beyond yummy, fish cooked to perfection and the colada drink was delicious! With the sliding door open it was a perfect spot to people watch! I highly recommend this hidden gem!