Veneto Tapa Lounge
1450 Douglas Street
Hotel Rialto
Victoria, B.C.
(250) 383-7310
Tapas seem to be the hottest trend these days, and these lounges that offer small sized portions of food is not a place I’d often go to. After this dine-in experience, I have found a new place to induldge in one particular guilty pleasure: enjoying fusion cuisine.
At Veneto, plenty of dishes tempted me, but the one that caught my eye was the duck poutine. Purists will balk at the idea, but flavour seekers will want to flock here. Very rarely will I say that I cannot find anything wrong with this dish. The duck meat was well braised, and the flavours really accented the well done twice fried french fry. The cheese curds made me want to squack while is squeeked, and what more is there to say?
Well, I could criticize the high prices for a few of the dishes. At $15, I hoped for some more. But this uber-trendy spot does have other plates to sate the tastebuds with. I’m already salivating at the grilled lobster and blue crab dip. ($18) This dish offers flat bread and tortillas on the side to complement the dip.
Their mains look reasonably priced, but again, it’s the portion size I’m wondering about. I can easily see myself visiting this place once in a while, just to try their other dishes. By sight and sound, this lounge certainly has a lot of good ambiance going for it. And I’m glad Don Kennedy (Victoria Burger Blog) suggested coming here.
We wanted to duck out of Soprano’s, an old ACP hang out spot, once when the live music got started. Because when that starts, no one can hear you scream … or talk, even if patrons wanted to try.
4 Blokes out of 5