Kim’s Vietnamese Restaurant
748 Johnson St.
Victoria, BC
(250) 385-0455

E: If ever you are in the mood for the food of Vietnam, then you should try your taste buds on Kim’s on Johnson. I know I’m starting off this article by sounding like a commercial but how else am I going to get you to try the atmosphere this place offers. It’s low lighting and warm comfortable decor is perfect for anyone having a romantic dinner or in some people’s cases a bromantic one.

J: I knew the owner’s sons at good ol’ George Jay Elementary. Okay, it was no Blanshard but they had one hell of a library. To get to my point, I wasn’t going to let any sort of association get in my way of a restaurant review.

E: Several attempts were made to try to hit Kim’s. Quite often, James and I were plagued with bad timing, and would show up between the lunch and dinner hours. And to hear him talk about his good old’ days makes me think just how much of a good ol’ boy he was back then. I had to wonder if he was born to be bad. And he was. In an Asian restaurant, he broke with tradition and did not use chopsticks. He took the easy way out and started using a fork because he could not be bothered. The treats we were offered were delicious, and I must say I loved the tom lan pot ($13.95) dish a lot more than the Goi Du Du. I wanted to see how different the prawn can be served up between the two dishes, and the fluffy tempura won hands down. With the nicely popped rice vermicelli to act as a garnish, I mixed some of that up with the papaya salad to get the best of both worlds.

J: Ed had tricked me and tricked me good. He pulled the kilt over my eyes by saying “Want to go halfers on the appetizers”. I was treating anyways but I agreed to anything that would cost me less money. But lo and behold when he meant “halfers” he meant “Let’s share and you pay.” Always ask for clarification, my friends. The beef on the second appetizer helped my mood. It was nice and tender with a little redness. I expected it to be fully cooked but this was better.

E: I really liked the texture of the rib eye cut. It had a good chewiness as I tried to discern the other flavours imbued into the meat. They were light, and if I had not known, the olive oil really gave this meat the love it deserved. I could hardly taste any garlic, or was that forgotten? It didn’t matter, as I happily grazed away, like a gentle lion protecting his habitat.

J: I’m just very glad he didn’t mark his territory. The pan-seared squid had arrived and I know now why they call it pan seared simply by the searing noise it makes as it’s delivered on a small cooking iron atop a board right at your table. Mixed with vegetables it made for a mouth-watering photo (let’s hope Ed snapped this one). The vegetables were quite good but the squid was A+ in my books. I would’ve ordered different sauces to dress the dish but I believe sweet and sour was the right choice.

E: I swiped a paw over James’ dish to give the cephalopod a tasting too and was just as satisfied. While I prefer mine straight, the sauces helped accentuate the meat. I couldn’t find anything wrong with any of the meals, and if we ordered less, we could have polished off everything presented to us. With a delicious sweet lime drink to end my meal with, dessert wasn’t required.

J: I had to agree with Ed. The service was exceptional too. Dining here is a little more pricey than one would expect but it is worth the food, the service, and the atmosphere. But next time I’m going to avoid a $70 bill (that was tip included) by leaving half of the cause of the bill at his home.

4½ Blokes out of 5