Spinnakers Brew Pub
308 Catherine St.
Victoria, BC
(250) 384-0332

Ed
With no James in sight (he’s being frugal lately), I went to Spinnakers with Yvonne and to my sadness, there was no rose petal ice cream. That’s okay, because I wanted to try out this brew-pub’s other delights. The last time I visited, the meals were great, the baked oysters were delicious and I had a great time with my friends.

Today was no different, and even over time nothing has changed. The place has always remained a social environment for people to drink a few pints and mellow out. The food has always been secondary.

When considering the prices, you’re paying more for quality over quantity. I had the fish n’ chips ($15) and I would’ve loved to have two pieces of BC halibut than one. And I didn’t notice an option to add more. At least I did appreciate the fact that the fish was piping hot. All throughout my meal I could see it lightly smoking. That’s a sign of a good fillet.

With very little salad, I barely got a fill of roughage to keep my stomach from growling. The fish was light and tender, the kennebec fries were fresh, but overall, the meal just lacked poundage to keep the glutton in me happy.

Instead, I had to wrestle with it when saw raw oysters in the menu. Let’s just say this speciality brand of oysters from Whaletown Bay is the best thing next to having sex. Forget about buying from Fanny Bay. At $3 per medium sized oyster, that’s a lot to shell out. It’s worth it though for the soft, sweet, creamy taste. I just have to budget next time, or visit the source on Cortes Island, BC myself.

I’ve had oysters from other suppliers before, but this one was like slurping down honey silk and really enjoying it. The juices had a fresh tang to it, and I’m just salivating at the thought of nibbling on more.

So find me a shovel n’ several buckets, and I’ll see you next time at Cortes!

Yvonne

Ed’s first choice for dinner date couldn’t make it, so I was invited as back-up! (Or understudy?) At any rate, it had been a few years since I’d been to Spinnakers and was happy to go along.

My first visit to Spinnakers was 20+ years ago. And at that time, it was “just a pub.” Several years back it morphed into restaurant-pub hybrid, wanting to please the foodies as well as the beer drinkers.

Ever since the hybridization, I had only ever visited the upstairs taproom. The food had always been okay but the service was atrocious. I’m happy to say that this is not the case for the downstairs restaurant! Even though it was the start of a busy Saturday night, we got a table right away and our waiter was always more ready than we were!

The menu had changed considerably since my last visit and I was more than surprised to see that Spinnakers now offered “amuse-bouche!” I find that term pretentious yet hilarious—even more hilarious at a pub!

But I digress. Dinner was a tough choice, but I decided on the falafel burger with 1/2 fries, 1/2 house salad. The burger and bun were both fresh and tasty, though on the bland side. A slice of red onion and more tzatziki sauce would’ve made it perfect.

The house dressing on my green salad was quite bland, but the fries were delicious—perfectly cooked and crispy. I’m happy to say that even watching Ed eating a raw oyster didn’t ruin my appetite!

I would’ve loved to have tried the feature salad, heirloom tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella, but there would’ve been no room for dessert!

I couldn’t decide between the honey-rhubarb cheesecake and the blueberry crumble with lavender ice cream and informed the waiter of my dilemma. He highly recommended the blueberry crumble. It arrived warm, and with strawberry ice cream instead of lavender. I found the crumble topping a bit sweet, but the blueberries had a nice tartness that balanced it out.

(And I’m still curious about the cheesecake!)

The prices vary widely but it’s possible to leave with a reasonable bill. My burger was $10 and dessert (which I don’t normally order) was $6. I look forward to a return visit!

3½ Blokes out of 5