Fox & Hounds - classic UK pub in...Ladysmith!

A British pub....in Ladysmith....in the old hardware store.
Yep.
Really.
The Fox & Hounds in Ladysmith has all the makings of a real British pub - dark tudor decor, ordering at the bar, bangers & mash on the menu....

It's quite unassuming  from the front - so keep an eye out for the pub sign on the building or the sandwich board on the sidewalk.

But once you're inside...

Mosi - Breakfast, with a side of Italy

Another revolving restaurant door is about to stop with the opening of Mosi on West Saanich Rd and Prospect Lake Rd/Sparton Rd.

If you long for the fabulous'ness of the original La Collina (remember pizza and pasta nights at the original Cedar Hill location?) - then you'll want to head out for breakfast or lunch at Mosi. It's run by the same family.

Their Italian roots are authentic - there's a photo on the wall of the owner's grandmother....

MOMO Sushi To Go - Give me MO!

Sometimes it seems like sushi places are like coffee shops - new ones are popping up constantly (usually replacing ones that have just closed) - such a crazy cycle. I can't keep up - but I'm trying to!
I drive by this Quadra location (across from the police station at Caledonia) constantly - and have watched it morph from coffee to curry to sushi. I think this latter one will stay.

Opened in early December - you can't miss the building - painted hot pink/fushia...

tetote - d'best delivery du jour

I love going out to lunch - but sometimes you can't get away from work and must avail yourself to places willing to bring food to you.

And in the case of tetote lunch-box/bento-box delivery - you may be inclined to order "in" more often.

What is tetote?
- one of the freshest, fun & delicious food trucks in Victoria owned and operated by Chef Naotatsu Ito (who previously owned Daidoco in Nootka Court).

In the summers you can find them Saturdays at the Moss St. Market and Wednesday evenings at the Oaklands Sunset Market. They focus on Japanese food - including bento boxes and rice burgers - utilizing many organic, Japanese veggies from Umi Nami farms in Metchosin.

tetote food truck - Moss St. & Oaklands Sunset Markets

But in the late fall, winter & early spring - they'll bring their delicious lunches right to you ...

R 'n' R Diner - Classic Peninsula Diner

The R 'n' R Diner in Central Saanich may have a modern setting on the outside - but it's all classic in the inside. From the food to the decor to the old-fashioned service (the latter being: on-the-ball, whip-smart & fast).

The outside is actually a little unassuming....

But the diner part comes thru loud and clear as soon as you step in the door. Maybe it's the stools at the counter...

Wheelies Motorcycle Cafe - high-gear it over

Located in unassuming Rock Bay 'hood (between the garages, office furniture warehouses and fastner outlets) sits Wheelies Motorcycle Cafe.  Previously an actual garage (home to an honest mechanic who worked on my car), it's been, well, transformed into a cafe-come-custom-garage-come-general-cool-moto-hangout.

Cafe on the right, custom-garage on the left.

At the cafe you can saddle up to the barstools, tuck into the booth or, if the weather is stellar, get sun-baked on their patio. Inside the space the walls are covered in rough cut wood and decorated with vintage posters, magazines and helmets. And on one wall: a small screen, with classic motorcycle movies projected onto it (think Easy Rider and the like).

PiCNiC - tasty Fort St. bookends

PiCNiC is a (capital G!) great little coffee/lunch spot...well, two spots actually (as in PiCNiC and PiCNiC Too). The original is located at the bottom of Fort Street, near Wharf St, North side; the second is about seven blocks up Fort St, South side.

Picnic (first location, lower Fort)

Picnic Too (Fort btw Cook & Vancovuer)

They serve local coffee (2% Jazz), create unique lunches daily (2 sandwiches, 1-2 salads and a soup) and mix up refreshing beverages (lavender lemonade, sodas, cold-brew coffee & more).

Empress Hotel Bengal Room - Curry buffet & all the trimmings

The Empress Hotel is really a stunning setting for meals - whether you're in the tapestry laden tea lobby for afternoon tea, the dark wood-paneled formal Empress room for dinner or in the British Indian decorated Bengal Room for a fancy cocktail and a light (or more substantial) bite to eat.

Bengal Lounge entrance

The interior is has a library or reading room feel to it, with a touch of safari....

TUC Craft Kitchen - make friends with the new(er) kid in town.

Another Vancouver trip....another great restaurant to eat at. It's a tough hobby, but someone's gotta…well eat and talk about it.

TUC is a new'ish restaurant near Gastown on West Cordova St. (they've just marked a year in business). Sandwiched in between the Army & Navy and the Woodward's condos.

The space is very "loft" feeling - with high ceilings, exposed pipes, reclaimed wood and neon sign art (think cool, partial cafe sign, not eye-rolling MillerTime).

Red Wagon Diner - circle this wagon and attack

The Red Wagon Restaurant in Vancouver has been popular since, well, pretty much the day it opened. No surprise then that Guy Fieri and his TV show Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives (Triple D's to the fans) made a stop at the restaurant to film an episode.  But if you don't have Guy's credentials, you may have to time your visit based on how long you want to wait for a table (we hit it on a Friday, so we expected a line; a Tuesday? Maybe not so much...). But, as they say, it's worth the wait.

We arrived at the Red Wagon and, after putting our name on the wait-list, strolled a bit of East Hastings to bide some time - and it's an interesting area - great stores and food shops abound. On our return (and hearing our name called), we saddled up to two stools at the counter (and a front row seat to the bustling kitchen)…

La Taquisa - homemade corn tortilla goodness

La Taquisa is a great "taco stand" that's graduated from the "stand" part.

Their early beginnings were in Cook St. Village, anchoring the not-quite-a-food court/commons. Even in the off season, people would huddle around the cart or the heater, slurping tortilla soup and downing fresh made tacos in the cold. With their popularity growing, they opened up their first brick & mortar location in the Westside Village (Save-On Foods, Spinnakers Liquor Store…) and their latest location: Blanshard Street, between Broughton St. and Fort St.

The inside is bright and open with a can't-miss counter where you place your orders…

Tre Fantastico - fantastic cubed.

This is not a coffee review - I will leave that to the professionals out there.

I'm all about the food.

And this is all about the breakfast.

A short and sweet review for a small & sweet place.

Most people that I mention Tre Fantastico to, have either a) been and loved it or  b) don't believe there's a coffee-house there and fire-up Google street view. But don't be frightened - it's easy to find, just surprising to some that it's there.

Tre Fantastico is located in the Parkside Resort on Humboldt Street - where their cosy patio is shaded by huge trees and their view is across to the gardens and buildings of St. Ann's. You'll easily forget you're half a block from Blanshard St.

Yes, that's it…..Tre Fantastico!

Building on the strong base of Caffe Fantastico coffee and their coffee-houses around town - this location is licensed and has a small kitchen that cranks out great food. You can stop in for coffee & a muffin, a local brew & grilled sausage, a glass of peninsula wine & a charcuterie plate or….well, the list goes on (and there's gourmet popcorn too!)

Catalano - and let there be brunch

Catalano Restaurant and Cicchetti Bar is located in/beside the Magnolia Hotel at Courtney St. and Gordon St., just a block up from the Empress Hotel.  Many restaurants have graced this space ($teak, steak, pub, etc) so it was exciting to hear that two veteran restaurants (Ferris' Oyster Bar & The Tapa Bar) would be partnering to open up something new and different. Touches from each restaurant can be found here at Catalano.

The interior has been spruced up - the entrance is more open and the bold coloured paintings & wood finishes give a warm feeling throughout.

North 48 - modern diner, no hat required

North 48 Restaurant is the recently opened reinvention of The Black Hat Bistro. Tucked away at the corner of Langley and Broughton - just a block off Government - it's open six days a week for dinner and four days for lunches.

North 48 at Langley & Broughton

The space is still decorated in dark warm tones and the leather chairs and thick wooden tables have been joined by a few banquettes in the middle of the room that break up the space nicely. There's a well stocked bar at the back…

Dinesty - steamy goodness in YVR

On (another) recent trip to the big-city of Vancouver, we happened upon the Robson Street location of Dinesty Restaurant (we had izakaya'd already the night before, so soup-dumplings sounded like a good plan for day two).

Dinesty has a dark, modern interior with a long line of shiny wooden tables along the entrance wall and a larger space near the back of the restaurant....

de'lish - Tweed Curtain Treats

Years ago it was a bakery, now (for the past few years) this tiny St. Patrick street storefront holds a fresh new array of baked goods. Gone are the brown-paper wrapped loaves of bread with your family's name on them (hands up those who remember THAT!); replaced by a shiny red espresso machine, caramelized onion tarts, homemade soups, rhubarb compote topped porridge and seating inside & out.

You'll find de'lish on St Patrick Street, near the corner of Central Avenue - just a short stroll up from Beach Drive.

de'lish on St. Patrick Street in Oak Bay

Once you step through the door, de'ish's tasty looking creations are laid out in front of you.

Over Easy Breakfast (YYC) - boxed happiness

I was recently in Calgary, the home of the Stampede and, as I soon found out, amazing breakfast joints (those Calgarians take their brunches as seriously as we do here on the coast). By some accommodation fairy luck, my friends and I found ourselves within three short blocks of 3 of Calgary's great breakfast places.

Our timing wasn't the greatest on our first morning out - but after carefully strategizing the second morning, we found ourselves tucked into Over Easy Breakfast (OEB) in the NE.

OEB on Edmonton Trail NE + light dusting of snow.

The retro-inspired interior is bright, fun & comfortable. There's a communal table that runs down the middle and individual tables around the perimeter. Look up and check out.....

Jam - they're worth the wait

Jam Cafe in Victoria is a great little breakfast spot on Herald Street.

It's no secret though....

When you arrive, it may look like the picture on the left....or, if it's the weekend and you're arriving at peak brunch time - you may take part in the photo on the right.

All quiet on the Western front (aka 8am)

An eager crowd awaits, 8:05.....kidding (more like 9:05)

Once you're inside - great things await you...

Zambri's - classy Italian at the Atrium

Zambri's has been a fixture of Victoria's restaurant scene for over fourteen years.

The restaurant is located in the beautiful Atrium building, adjacent to the main entrance on Yates Street. Prior to opening up shop in their glass walled setting, they were tucked into a non-descript spot between London Drugs and the Market on Yates. Back then, weekdays lunches were ordered & paid for at the counter and brought out to your table. Dinners were usually a wait for one of the unreservable few tables (or you might luck-out and grab a stool at the tiny bar). Scene-change: Atrium - now Zambri's is open for lunch six days a week (with table service) and reservable for dinner seven nights a week. They're also open for a fabulous brunch on Sundays.

Zambri's Atrium location

Everything about the restaurant setting has changed. Nothing about the quality of the food has.

Jubilee Pharmacy...there's food too!

Pharmacy?
A food blog with a Pharmacy entry?
Yes, it sounds like a miss-post, but you need to know about this store.

Jubilee Pharmacy has two locations - one kitty-corner from the Jubilee Hospital (that one you could see coming, I'm sure) and the brand-new, second location on Johnson Street at Quadra. If you're now performing a mental Google Map - this location used to house a rotating array of carpet vendors (and Fabricland, way back when). The rugs are gone, the reno's are done and the food is here.

Yes, it's THAT old carpet building

Jubilee Pharmacy AND MARKET!

The original location is always an interesting place to shop for groceries. Two jam-packed aisles are loaded with an incredible selection of sauces, spices, pasta, gluten-free items, dried fruits, exotic chocolates, pop, jams and so much more. Shoppers brave tight aisles, barely allowing two people with hefted baskets to pass, to access the unique selection and amazing prices.

The second location?...