A gourmet guide on how to experience the best of this charming city.

Dust off your passport, pack your elastic waist pants and hop on the Clipper to Victoria, B.C. Enjoy this quaint capital city and indulge in fresh local foods and restaurants. Here’s your March foodie travel guide to breakfast, lunch and dinner… and more dinner in a city worth a stay.

Setting the Scene: Community, Craftsmanship, and Local Food

Victoria embodies a sense of community that provides a refreshing contrast to the bustling Seattle scene. The vibrant street performers set the melody while you walk around enjoying the art, gardens, restaurants, pubs, and shops. Exploring gives you the sense you are a world away although the ferry ride is less than 3 hours.

Talk to some of the restaurant owners and artisan food makers in Victoria and you quickly get a sense of how community oriented the food scene is. Businesses work together to support the local industry, providing the best possible ingredients and dishes to customers. Choux Choux Charcuterie (“Cabbage Cabbage” in French), for example, hand makes their charcuterie using fresh free-range, unmedicated pork from Sloping Hill Farm on the island. The variety of pâté, smoked and cured meats, and sausages will be found in many of your Victoria meals, including on top of pizzas at Pizzeria Prima Strada, keeping the local and community spirit alive from farm to table… Happy pigs make happy meat.

Breakfast: The Village

Lines down the sidewalk mid-morning 7 days a week indicate that breakfast is served right in Victoria. While there are plenty of spots in the downtown core, it’s worth exploring other parts of the city. The Village is one of Victoria’s most beloved all day breakfast spots (served 8 – 3:30 daily). Located next to the scenic Willows Beach in the East Village, The Village offers up a choice selection of bennies (local speak for eggs Benedict), latkes, and blintzes made with seasonal and locally sourced ingredients.

         Other Equally Yummy Breakfast Spots:

• Blue Fox Café: Long lines but some things are worth waiting for.
• Shine Café: Order a Benny and see why it’s the talk of the town.
• Floyd’s Diner: Happy people work at Floyd’s and happy people leave after eating at Floyd’s.

Lunch #1: The Pink Bicycle

The Pink Bicycle  in downtown Victoria has been voted Best Burger in the city in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Needless to say, it’s a must eat kind of place. Standing at 5 inches tall, the black bean burger is a spicy hand made patty served on a freshly baked crunchy bun, covered in smoked cheddar cheese, and dripping in roasted jalapeno mayo and fruit salsa. If you are in a meatier mood cross your fingers that the poutine burger is on special. Fusing the American burger with the Canadian delicacy poutine, this beef patty is stacked with French fries, cheese curds, and coated in gravy. All burgers at The Pink Bicycle have to be eaten with a fork and knife as there is too much good stuff to be to pick it all up.

Lunch #2: Pizzeria Prima Strada

Many locals can be found relaxing in the coffee shops and browsing fresh boutiques in the hip Cook Street Village (check out the Lark and Sparrow). While there, many people are grabbing lunch at Pizzeria Prima Strada,  Victoria’s only Napolitan style pizza joint (think wood fire oven, thin crust, fresh and simple ingredients). All of the pizzas are sure to win your heart and make you feel like you are eating out of an Italian grandmother’s kitchen in Italy but the best pizza they have is hands down the simple margarita pizza. Using fresh water buffalo mozzarella from Fairburn Farm this pizza is too good to share.

         Other Lunch Spots:

• Spinnakers: Enjoy lunch with a brew (and a view) at Canada’s oldest brewpub.
• Red Fish Blue Fish: An outdoor, waterfront fish eatery serving 100% Ocean Wise certified fish  out of an up-cycled cargo container in Victoria’s Harbor.

Dinner: Café Brio

Continuing along the local and community food tour of Victoria brings one to Café Brio, an award-winning restaurant dedicated to using high quality locally sourced ingredients. The menu, reprinted daily, features fresh and local seafood, top quality meats, and hand made pasta that can all be paired with the perfect wine (with a selection of over 150 to choose from) rounding out your dinning experience. Living up to its name, Café Brio is full of life and verve, where the owners Silvia and Greg treat their customers as if they were guests in their home, you will certainly feel invited in this high-spirited atmosphere.

        Other Dinner Spots for Foodies:

• The Mint: With a distinctly, dark and trendy atmosphere at The Mint, the food is innovative and flavorful with many dishes incorporating flavors from all over the world.
• Brasserie L’Ecole: A casual but elegant French restaurant that does not take reservations and has a menu and atmosphere that only brings delight.
• Rebar Modern Food: Popular with locals and tourists offering creative vegetarian and vegan dishes.

Post Dinner Cocktails:

• Bengal Lounge at the Empress: Must have the Empress 1908, a tea infused vodka martini, lightly sweetened with frothy egg whites… complete with a mini-scone for late night “tea” time.
• Clive’s Classic Lounge: The multi-page cocktail menu and the inventive mixologist make Clive’s one of the best spots for a night cap.
• Veneto Tapa Lounge: “Spin the wheel” while you are here. Tell the bar tender what spirit you like and sweet or savory, they will have you covered.

Getting There and Staying There:

Taking the Clipper from Seattle offers the most direct path to Victoria. Boarding the passenger only (no vehicles) ferry from Pier 69 in Seattle and landing in the down town core of Victoria in 3 hours make it an easy weekend get away.  There are several trip times to chose from but book ahead during peak months as they do sell out. Once you are in Victoria you do not need a car. The most walkable city in Canada, Victoria is very pedestrian friendly and can mostly be explored on foot. In addition to walking there are buses, cabs, and bike rentals available.

Seattleites have many lodging options in Victoria from the elegant and world famous Fairmount Empress and other hotels, to local bed and breakfasts, and hostels full of character. Staying along the harbor provides the most scenic views and a nice central location for getting to most tourist destinations and restaurants.

The architecture, gardens, and tradition of afternoon tea at the Fairmont Empress serving over 500,000 cups of tea annually, give Victoria a British feel, while the creative scene, street performers, and emphasis on local food and community make it very Pacific Northwestern. There’s plenty to do and see on your foodie tour to Victoria, check in with Tourism Victoria for suggestions and reservations to many of the best attractions.