It’s just a jump to the left or was it a step to the right. I’m definitely sure you have to put your hands on your hips and turn your knees in tight. But if a drag act is what one wants from this article one may have to watch the Rocky Horror film or a stage show with Danny La Rue (posthumously). This article is just a recollection of food I ate and weight I gained over the past year. If you don’t see a business listed here, it is most likely I was not able to dine there in 2010. And Here for the reader’s pleasure (or disgust) are my 2010 favourites.

Favourite Food
Little Piggy – Owners Christabel and Patrick love food as much as they love each other. They can ring their dinner bell at anytime and I’ll squeal like a pig in response.

Favourite Pub
Penny Farthing Pub – Average pub food but good service and a great cozy UK decor. It’s also in one of my favourite municipalities, Oak Bay.

Favourite Beer
Canoe Club’s Beaver Brown Ale – This drink reminds me of colonial Canada where men were men and moose were nervous. But as good as this is it should bear a warning label. It should state “caution – consuming too much of this product may cause the uncontrollable speaking of mad trapper French. It may also stir feelings of seperation.”

Favourite Wine
Starling Lane Winery’s Port Victoria Wild Blackberry – A beautiful dessert wine and one that was on my Christmas list for 2010. Unfortunately I didn’t get it. But I didn’t get Azusa Yamamoto under my tree either.

Favourite Pizza Joint (Eat-In)
Pizzeria Prima Strada – Many Ingrediants straight from the farm. Going green never tasted so good.

Favourite Pizza Joint (Take-Out)
Cosmos Pizza (3450 Tillicum Rd.) – A family run business where the pizza I devoured was served with just the right amount of garlic. The garlic must’ve had a age reversing effect because I took my pizza and coke and killed time in Tillicum Centre.

Chris’ Pizza – Eleven years, 2 owners and I’m still a customer.

Favourite Diner
Dutch Bakery & Coffee Shop – Where can you go wrong with a diner that makes it’s own in-house pastries. It’s my new haunt.

Favourite Soft Ice Cream/Favourite Drive-In
Beacon Drive-In (126 Douglas St.) – There’s no question about this one. in my opinion Beacon has the best soft ice cream, dipped or plain. And the nostalgia factor is through the roof. Three generations of my family have dined here.

Pizza Zone – Chocolate and vanilla swirl soft ice cream! And I am sure the pizza is good too.

Favourite Hard Ice Cream
Mr. Tubb’s Ice Cream Parlour (3454 Tillicum Rd.) – I was turned on to this little parlour sometime in the mid-90’s by the infamous ‘Howler’ Jones (and you know who you are). I was slow on the uptake and it was 10 years before I would step through their door. I can say I was glad I did. It’s a great location for a geek like me. It’s across from Silver City and near enough to Skyhaven Games I could spit (not in Skyhaven anyways).

Favourite Soda Shop
The Soda Shoppe (801 Government St.) – I swear I was born in the wrong timeline. I missed all those great teenage hangouts when my parents and their parents were young (young? Did that really happen?). Soda Shops were once as extinct as dodos but unlike them the soda shops may make a comeback. Until then, since I have yet to visit Marv’s, consider this Victoria’s only existing one in captivity and my favourite.

Favourite Fish & Chips
Redfish Bluefish – Fish & chips in the outdoors on a warm day. And settled near the picteresque Victoria Harbour. I must remind myself to revisit Barb’s Fish & Chips in 2011.

Favourite Bakery
Dutch Bakery & Coffee Shop

Lighthouse Cake Company – I am sure there may be better but this is my favourite. It’s pricey for me. But spending roughly $10 will give my family and I some enjoyable treats for tea.

Favourite Japanese Restaurant
Kaz Japanese Restaurant – Great food, service and oh those attractive waitresses.

Favourite Bang-For-The-Buck
Sushi Plus (766 Yates St.) – My friend Sherri and I come here often. I keep a loyalty card in my wallet just in case. It was also the place where I introduced my mom to a western version of Japanese cuisine.

Fu Wah Express Cafe (Langford Centre, 746 Goldstream Ave.) – Buffet style Chinese cuisine at cheap prices.

Favourite Tea Room
James Bay Tea Room & Restaurant – I loved the beef burger with bacon and egg but I won’t be ordering it anytime soon. I’m hoping to try the rest of their menu first. As for decor, It’s cozy. There are enough photos of the royal family adorning the walls that one is bound to have immoral thoughts of the Queen at some point.

Favourite Grocery Store Take-Out
Culis Market (#153 – 2745 Veterans Memorial Parkway) – Culis Market’s spring rolls and their chow mein with teriyaki chicken is one of Langford’s best kept secrets (next to our Goldstream free fountain car wash on windy days). Newly opened in the last two years, I have come to depend upon Anne’s daily prepared meals after a rough day at work. Thanks Anne.

Favourite Local Foods
Bilston Creek Organics – I was never one for radishes until I bought from Bilston. Those Japanese radishes were so delicious.

Glanford Greenhouses – I gave their beefsteak tomatos as gifts to family members. They are so juicy.

Highland Jams – When I’m not consuming jam from Last Mountain and I feel like a treat, I buy from Highland. I tend to find her at the Goldstream Station Market.

Little Qualicum Cheeseworks – I had a taste of their great cheeses over the summer from a modest cart in the Goldstream Market.

Sea Bluff Farm – My grandmother and I found their fireweed honey most beneficial on toast.

Vancouver Island Salt Company – Everyone needs some good salt wether it is for cooking or flavouring.

Favourite Places To Shop
Costco (799 McCallum Drive) – Excellent meat and produce. Sweet kiwis from New Zealand and Italy. And oranges from Australia. I pay to shop there but they also stuff me on samples while I walk around. It’s cheaper than buying lunch.

Fairway Market (West Shore Town Centre, 2945 Jacklin Rd.) – Fairway provides me with my groceries from Europe. My Daddies Favourite brown sauce, Scott’s Porage Oats, Albert Heijn Sweet & Sour Pickles and many other treats. I stop in from time to time and sample their deli.

Market on Millstream – They carry some groceries other stores usually don’t (pop from the Pop Shoppe). There are not many other places that carry bison and snake meat. I love the cleanliness, helpful staff and the decor. Sure it’s more pricey but I get what I pay for.

Save-On-Foods (3510 Blanshard St.) – A nice little supermarket, not as big as I remember in the 80’s. But I go there because of the number of interesting choices and they carry rabbit meat. I now carry a members card.

Western Foods (Langford Centre, 772 Goldstream Ave.) – This is my community food market. They carry a number of local items like Babe’s Honey from Saanich, Udder Guys Ice Cream from Cowichan Valley and Jenny’s Pies from Sooke. I’m a sucker for their deli and bakery.