Caribbean Village Cafe
2646 Quadra St.
Quadra Village
Victoria, BC
(250) 381-3363
Curiously, there’s only a handful of Caribbean restaurants, diners and dives in Victoria. After hitting this place, I think that between James and I, we’re close to visiting them all. He’s tailing behind by one, and he’s the one who told me about this hidden gem in Quadra Village.
The Noodle Box
Westshore Town Centre
2955 Phipps Road
Langford, BC
(250) 383-3322
I never liked the atmosphere at the Noodle Box’s Douglas St. location. The music was loud and it has the feel of a dungeon. Every time I walked in, I could never shake that feeling away. The strip of walkway where orders are picked up and where some people use to stand-and-wait was tight. That’s the only spot where one can hear that their order is ready.
This operation has closed.
Jackalope Bistro
760A Yates St.
Victoria, BC
(778) 430-5673
I originally wrote this piece for Nexus Newspaper to print, and instead of giving a director’s cut with extra details here, I thought I’d simply add a few extra notes about the evolution of Diagon, er Odeon Alley.
Actually this place is supposed to be known as Millie’s Lane, but for me, this location is always going to be the Odeon.
This past weekend, the Inner Harbour was abuzz with people checking out the last of the celebrations and the nice day had me lumbering around town. I had to see what the markets in the bustling city core had to offer.
Golden City Restaurant
721 Fisgard Street
Victoria, B.C.
(250) 386-8404
Going out for dim sum with my relatives have often made for a traditional Sunday brunch. That’s when it’s most popular. But to sate a sudden craving, it can be found served on other days of the week and sometimes not even brought out in a cart. That’ll depend on the restaurant.
When going out with friends, it was a plan concocted the night before. My friend, Qué Banh, had a craving and checked to see who was interested in an impromptu gathering. Also there was her father, Chan Hai, and her friend, Triana Avis.
When we arrived at Golden City, Qué was disappointed that the carts weren’t being wheeled around. She said it took away from the entire dim sum experience.
Rosie’s Diner
253 Cook St.
Victoria, B.C.
(250) 384-6090
I must’ve walked through a time warp when I entered what felt like a 50’s era diner in the middle of Cook Street Village. Upon entry, I was greeted with many images of Betty Boop. Complete with some pre-requisite furnishings and many more artwork of this vintage icon, my pal Shane Priestly and I sat down and reminisced.
As odd as it sounds, a year after our graduation from the Applied Communication Program at Camosun, I had to ask the question of where are they now. True to the nature of any scholastic life, most of us went off to go spread our wings and fly away, trying to make a name for ourselves. Whoever we really wanted to stay in touch with afterwards is best left for sociologists to explain.
