Food Review: The Blue Fox Cafe

The Blue Fox Cafe

919 Fort St. Victoria BC

Three words describe the Blue Fox Cafe: wow, Wow, WOW! The atmosphere is cozy, bright, and fun. The artwork on the walls is interesting and local. The serving staff and the host were impossible to beat (I really really mean this). One of the people I was travelling with is anaphylactic to eggs and nuts and this was the only place (of the 6 places we ate) that didn’t serve him something with eggs or nuts in it – and they are a breakfast joint with a mostly eggy menu! On top of this, we waited in line for breakfast for 40 minutes in the rain and even that misery didn’t get my spirits down after we tried the food.

I ordered the Jalapeno veggie burger and the lulu lemon mimosa.

The veggie burger came with a salad that was the size of my plate when I spread it out and the white wine vinaigrette was stunning. The burger itself was huge and delicious and is probably the best veggie burger I have ever eaten. The lulu lemon mimosa blew my mind and I am going to have to try to make it at home sometime. I spent a lot of time ogling other people’s food and by the look of things the french toast, the omelettes, the colossal vegetable side, and  the fruit sides, as well as the quesadilla, were probably equally stunning.  

I would include Victoria in a road trip around Vancouver Island simply to eat here again.  

Until next time,

Food Review: The Sticky Wicket

The Sticky Wicket (The Strathcona Hotel)

919 Douglas Street, Victoria BC

I had the opportunity to spend four days in Victoria BC this week for a conference. As a result I found myself in downtown Victoria without a vehicle. This meant I had a reasonable amount of time on my hands to try the local cuisine but a limited area that I could get to. One of the first places I went was the sticky wicket, and I had trouble motivating myself to go anywhere else. The service was great and the atmosphere was even better. Winnipeg doesn’t really have the same dark wood pubs in historic buildings (with the exception of The Regal Beagle, perhaps). However, I would like to mention that it got quite loud later in the evening, so it isn't the place for quiet conversation.

 I ordered:

-          Yam Fries

-          Wild mushroom ravioli

-          Pacific cod fish & chips (I actually just sampled a bit of someone else’s)

-          Coleslaw (From someone else’s fish and chips)

All three dishes were exceptional and were perfectly priced for the portion size. The yam fries ranked among the best I've ever eaten. The coleslaw was well dressed and had baby lettuce in it, which helped prevent the slaw from being a chewing workout routine. The beer menu was also impressive, stocking a large proportion of the local brews.

If you are in the area you should go!

Until next time,

Food Review: Shawarma Time

Shawarma Time

616 Ellice Ave

This is my mom's favourite restaurant (although India Palace is probably a close second). When we have lunch together it is always here. When we order in food, it is always here. The food is reliably tasty and it comes in good time. For a while I was worried that it had closed, but I guess those rumours were wrong because it looks just like it always has: the same posters, the same staff, and the same wall of photos that replace a menu.

I usually order meal #29 – the Falafel Plate, but I have also ordered:

-Meal #26: Taboli Salad

-Meal#27: Fatoush Salad

-Meal#36: Falafel Sandwich
-Meal#42: Tomato Pie
-Combo#19: Grape Leaf Rolls, Taboli Salad, Hummos, and Pita Bread
-Combo#20: Falafel, Taboli Salad, Hummos, and Pita Bread

French fries

They are all very good. I don’t know if the earthy flavours are standard with Lebanese food, but they are a pleasant addition to the meal as a whole. The main contributors to this flavour are sesame seeds and turnip pickles. I can’t say turnip pickles are my favourite, but it is nice that they haven’t totally conformed to western tastes. Flavours you aren't familiar with can be one of the great things about eating food from a different culture.

The taboli and fatoush salads are very good. There is a lot of lemon and a lot of parsley, which is everything that I want from those dishes.  The falafels are also very well made: they are slightly crumbly but they stay together, they are cooked so that they don’t have a lot of hard bits, and they aren’t tough.  The French fries are tasty but there is way way way too much seasoning salt on them for my salt-phobic taste buds. Other winners on this menu include the tomato pie, which is basically as good as any pizza I have ever ordered! The grape leaf rolls are also fabulous. 

I really like eating here. It is a great place to go before a show at the West End Cultural Centre, especially now that the Ellice Cafe is closed. I would eat here with friends before a show at the WEC, meet friends and family here for lunch or dinner.

Until next time,

Food Review: Buffalo Stone Café

Buffalo Stone Café

1961 McCreary Rd - FortWhyte

My love of the outdoors is a part of me that doesn’t come through in these food reviews, but I assure you, it is there.  I was very fortunate to be able to combine the love of eating and the love of the outdoors on a recent outing to FortWhyte. The buffalo stone cafe specialized in all things bison, and it puts an emphasis on sustainability.

The restaurant is located in the Alloway Reception Centre (the main building). It overlooks Lake Devonian and has a good view of many bird feeders. If the weather is nice they have a patio which adds to the rural feel of the place. The opportunity to scan the lake for birds and the shore for mammals makes it an activity in and of itself. The place is cafeteria style so you will have to collect your own cutlery, ketchup, and whatever else you might want.

We ordered:

-          French onion soup

-          Grilled cheese and asparagus

-          French fries

-          Veggie Wrap

The food was made promptly, and it was tasty, but not exceptional. The French fries were crispy and they weren’t soaked in grease (my guess is they were baked). The soup was above average. The veggie wrap and the Grilled cheese and asparagus were tasty, but they were nothing special.  Maybe I am a traditionalist with grilled cheese, but I would have been happier if it were just melted cheese. My notes on the meal say that “the asparagus diluted the cheese flavor and ended up making the sandwich taste healthier but not better than the traditional grilled cheese.” You can argue with me on that one if you like.

Overall, it was a good experience and it is a pleasant addition to the FortWhyte centre. I’m not sure if it would be worth the trip in and of itself, but if you are planning to be at FortWhyte for breakfast or lunch it is certainly worth eating at.

Until next time,

Food Review: Kawaii Crepe

Kawaii Crepe

201-99 Osborne St

UPDATED: February 9th, 2014

This hip little place nestled in the best part of Osborne village was a really great surprise for my wife and I. We have eaten at a lot of restaurants in the last year and we sort of agree that the places we like all have a similar ‘taste’ to them. Maybe it has to do with the limited options as a vegetarian, but there is something about restaurant food regardless of whether it is Indian, Thai, fast food, or Italian. They all have a similar ‘feel’ (for lack of a better term). As a result we haven’t been eating out as much as we did in winter. Part of this is also because we have had time to cook for ourselves. In any case, chance, hunger, and maybe the winds of fate blew us to this place. Like Gulliver in Lilliput, we had found a different world.

This is a small, clean, and definitely hip creperie with a great store front for people watching. One of the best parts of eating here is that there are so many options. There were enough vegetarian options that I think we made the people behind the counter worried we would never make a choice. The range of flavours was extraordinary.

On top of this we had a really pleasant conversation with the people making the food about how tofu is underrated by meat eaters. It was a really interesting conversation and made me realize that the staff who we talked to care a lot about the food they are making. That's a lot to say for a fast(ish) food restaurant.

In the end we ordered:

•           Uptown
•           Pump up the Yam

      The second time we ate here we ordered:

•       The Czar (with tofu)
•       Chickplease
•       Uptown

They were all extraordinary and very different from each other. The Uptown was good enough to order again but I accidentally ordered it with chicken once and it was not nearly as good - order it with tofu. The Czar is really tasty too. The chickplease is heavier than some of the others but that doesn't mean it was any less tasty. Pump up the yam is also a favourite. Some people I know don't like this place because they use the same batter for their sweet and savoury crepes. I don't mind because I have a sweet tooth. 

So, would I invite friends here? Yes, with the following caveat: it isn’t a place hang out for hours; it is primarily a fast food restaurant. 

Until next time,

Food Review: The Nook

The Nook

43 Sherbrook St

UPDATED: OCTOBER 2014

Call me crazy, call me old, call me whatever you like, but I feel like cheap diners are getting more expensive. Maybe my memory serves me wrong but I feel that the food at greasy spoons is now only a dollar or two cheaper than the food at much fancier places.  In any case, breakfast at The Nook at 6:30 am makes me feel nostalgic about eating at roadside diners somewhere in the middle of Saskatchewan (even though I’ve only done that a few times in my life). 

The nook has copies of the Sun sitting around to read over breakfast. I read one while I waited for my friend to arrive and have a pre-work breakfast with me. In the meantime I had a cup of earl grey tea and some time to sit and survey the place. It is a well-preserved example of the diners which can be found throughout the city. The seats are bench-style and the entire range of people who live in West Broadway and Wolseley might stop in at any time. I once walked by the patio and observed a man sitting opposite to a giant teddy bear. They both had a beer sitting in front of them.

Today it was mostly quiet, the patrons were retirees, 20 something’s, construction workers, and one of my high school teachers who I hadn’t seen in years. Winnipeg is a small city.

I ordered:

• Spanish Omelet, which comes with toast and hash browns.
• Veggie Burger

The omelet was well prepared, the toast was buttery, the hash browns were made with real potatoes. Overall it was a good place to eat, but not an exceptional one. The veggie burger is pretty good, a little bit dry, but with a bit of ketchup it was a 7/10 veggie burger.

What makes it a winner is the atmosphere, the feeling that there is a strong community built around it, and very friendly staff.  I would like to come back for lunch and dinner sometime and see what the rest of their menu is like. But based on breakfast alone I felt that it was worth the money I paid for it.

Until next time,

Food Review: Boon Burger Café

Boon Burger Café

79 Sherbrook Street

          This place is dedicated to the art of vegan burger making, and they also have good ‘milk’ shakes. Boon burger has been around for a few years and it is well situated both in the developing Sherbrook street strip and on Bannatyne, which is also developing a pretty interesting food scene. I have been to all the locations, and I have also ordered their food as take-out from mobile maitre’d. The Sherbrook location is pretty but small: there are two long tables and two private ones. This pretty much means you will be sitting beside a stranger while you eat. I imagine you could make new friends this way, but I decided not to try. Interestingly, it is also the only place I have eaten that is painted black and still feels well lit. The windows make it a nice place to be on a sunny day.

                One of the most magical things about the burgers at boon is the cheese the cheese they put on them. I wouldn't be surprised if the owner pulled a Robert Johnson and sold his soul in exchange for vegan cheese that actually acts like real cheese. The stuff is crazy! 

                Here is a sample of the food I have ordered:

-          Boon shake

-          Boon tangy lemonade

-          Wolseley burger

-          Vegan cowboy burger

-          Boon oven-baked fries

-          Boon burger

The thing about Boon Burgers’ burgers is that they all follow a similar theme:  Lots of veggies, very soft patties, soft bread, and tonnes of sauce. If you really like this than you will like every burger they make. But, it is a bit like eating an ice cream on a 30 degree day: you spend your whole time managing drips and preventing it from falling on the side-walk.  The result is that I have eaten the whole burger in about 10 minutes to prevent it from exploding all over my plate. I should really just eat them with a fork and knife. A second curious attribute of the burger is that the bun doesn't really have any power to resist my munching. It is like biting into something that should be solid and finding that it gives away perfectly. It sounds unappetizing but I actually like that about the burger. It means I can try to stop my toppings from making a run for the border without negotiating with the bun.

Overall I really like their burgers. They are really tasty and the sauces are always flavourful. They switch in new burgers from time-to-time so you get variety. There is a daily burger special and a soup of the day, which are great additions to the menu. They are in the running for the best veggie/vegan burger in the city, but I think The Grove still takes the 1^st prize.

So: should you bring a party of friends or guests from out of town there? If they are vegan you absolutely must bring them there. They will probably consider moving to Winnipeg because of the availability of vegan options. If you are bringing a group of people, you should go to the Bannatyne location because it is a lot larger. On the other hand, their food is so summery that a better idea would be to enjoy a boon burger in a park or the comfort of your own back deck.

Until next time,