Ho Tong Restaurant
3388 Douglas Street
Victoria, B.C.
(250) 475-1398
An impromptu clan gathering had most of my family visiting Ho Tong instead of Jade Fountain Restaurant. Both were within a block of each other and I had to chuckle, wondering how competitive the two diners are. Also, depending on the inflection of how the “o” is pronounced, I thought, “Doesn’t that mean, ‘it really hurts?'”
Shiki Sushi
1113 Blanshard Street
Victoria, B.C.
(250) 381-8622
If people think a restaurant can survive on all you can eat service everyday, Shiki Sushi has a secret. Diners have only two hours to order what they like, and the time it takes to bring out what people ordered will vary on the complexity of the meal.
Note: This business is no longer at this location.
Chef’s Quest Cafe
760a Yates Street
Millie’s Lane
Victoria, B.C.
Sadly, the Jackalope has gone the way of the dodo. Both are extinct and they remain products of myth. In the alley near the Odeon Theatre that is seeing massive renovation, I have to assume that any business surviving there must be struggling through tough times, much like the stores of Daigon Alley when Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters were roaming free. Well, this analogy must ring true to some degree. To one side of Odeon Alley (or Millie’s Lane as it should be known) is a fenced off pit of despair, and the other: a few remaining businesses stay in operation.
The Sweetest Things
4649 West Saanich Road
Saanich, B.C.
(250) 590-6619
Store Hours:
Mon – Sat: 10am – 5pm
Sun: 10am – 4pm
Sweet Delights
#113 – 2187 Oak Bay Avenue
Oak Bay, B.C.
(778) 430-4906
Store hours:
Mon – Sat: 10am – 5:30pm
Sun 11am – 4pm
To be fair, The Sweetest Things and Sweet Delights are two other candy shops in Victoria, and they are distinguishable. The former is located in the district of Saanich and the latter Oak Bay. Although Delights have been around longer and Things are somewhat new, the areas they are located in are not really convenient for me to reach by car. Busing into either store is far easier than finding parking—especially when I consider a good part of residential Oak Bay to be riddled with maze-like streets.
Mexican House of Spice
2022 Douglas Street
Victoria, B.C.
(250) 388-6602
Open 10am to 6pm Monday to Saturday.
I may have found where most of the Mexican, South American and Caribbean restaurants in town gets their spices. Upon entering the Mexican House of Spice, I was treated to a delight of scents, an array of packaged spices, a towering amount of canned goods and plenty of sodas to make my eyes go wide. I was very impressed with the fact that no shelf looked half bare or empty. Had there been a deli, I’d be salivating.
Anyone looking to stock up or experiment with the flavours from Mexico, Latin America, Africa and Jamaica may already know about this store. But in an area of town that I rarely tread, to enter this store made me wonder what it’d be like walking through a street market in Mexico. What I experienced here was a teaser, and I’m providing as many high quality pictures in this entry so readers can see what I saw. Their flyer states that they carry a variety of tortillas but the list does not end there. There is no way I can mention them all, but here’s a sampling: queso fresco, dry chillies, Ibarra and abuelita (chocolate), mazapan, plantain flour, cock soup mix and even banana leaves. I think the stores in Chinatown should be jealous.
Oh Sugar
561 Johnson Street
Victoria, B.C.
778-440-9192
To answer the question of what the difference is between the new Stay Puft marshmallow box and the old one, that’s in two key ingredients: the amount of caffeine and salt used. The cheaper product is being sold to build interest for the third movie. And for the die-hard, the pricier variant is what “real” Ghostbusters may require while searching for spirits during a long night. Or just maybe, like in the second movie, might build up in interest for a holiday celebration.
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