The next series of articles will be about my dining adventures in Whistler, BC mid April. They could’ve been posted sooner, but I was up there on a working vacation with very little time to enjoy myself. I was a member of Parker Productions and we had 72 hours to make a short film to submit to the Telus World’s Ski and Snowboard Festival. And immediately after that weekend of fun, I had to prepare for final exams.
Monthly Archives: May 2011
Oak Bay’s Blethering Tea House’s New Face
Now known as Oak Bay Bistro, this new dining establishment has a new look and is open to the public. I came across this news when I picked up the May 2011 issue of Snap! Victoria, a photo newspaper spotlighting local culture.
Local designer J.C. Scott reworked the interior decor and according to this article, new booths were added, a new bar was built, and fancy lighting fixtures were created. A month was spent renovating this place. The new owners Bart Reed, partner in Moka House, Beagle Pub and Island Meat & Seafood in Cook Street Village, and Petr Prusa, the owner of Floyd’s Diner, couldn’t be any happier. The snapshots taken during their opening celebration showed some grandeouse smiles.
When our schedule permits, the Two Hungry Blokes crew will have to visit to see how well their meals fare. We can only hope this new establishment will continue some Blethering Place traditions. It’d make Robbie Burns proud.
Yokohama Blues
Yokohama Japanese Restaurant
980 Blanshard Street
Victoria, BC
(250) 384-5433
2016 Update: This operation has since closed and become Xiang Rui Chinese Restaurant.
The Yokohama Japanese Restaurant has been around since ‘79, but that doesn’t mean anything in terms of quality. Especially in regards to the quintessential ingredient that’s used in Asian cuisine—rice.
At dinnertime, their “Regular Sushi” was priced at $13.95, $2 more than what’s listed on their lunch menu. Let’s hope that wasn’t a misprint. Both came with a bowl of shabu soup. The soup arrived quickly, and I gulped the flavourful broth down in nearly no time. When I was examining the ingredients in this soup, I wondered about the other flavours. The carrot slivers tasted like they came from the outer skin than the core, and the mushrooms were nothing special. Normally, I’d expect to have shitake than white, so I was left with mixed feelings when the bowl sat empty.
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