Fishing for lunch... Barb's place · Monday June 25, 2007 by colin newell
I am a big fan of Fish and Chips. Everywhere I go, I have to try and find the best Fish and Chips that the city has to offer.
Barb’s Place in Fisherman’s Wharf, Victoria B.C. Canada is a stop I make a few times a year.
Let me just say that I have been coming to Barb’s for years… since Barb actually ran it. She does not anymore – Barb’s was sold to some dude a few years ago.
My overall experience, once I got past the sticker shock ($17.50 for a 2 piece Halibut and Fries meal!) was, well, blah.
It is not that exciting and certainly not worth the gold they demand for a floating kiosk style joint. The fish is OK for a product that is delivered to their door. The batter is bland and a tad soggy. The fries are mushy and instantly forgotten.
The upside of the Barb’s experience is sharing a table with tourists. There is always talk-story and you will always make new friends here. And if that isn’t enough, the buskers are entertaining and original and sea lions feed a few feet away.
In the end analysis, Barb’s Place could well be the most expensive order of Fish and Chips in North America – I do not know.
All I know is… It is OK. Nothing to write home about. They do have a captive audience here – I mean, tourists wander off of cruise ships within a few blocks so I think the pricing here comes down to the “what the market will bear” economic theory.
For some reason on this particular Saturday, I was inclined to order some Onion Rings ($4.50) — possibly the most expensive order of Onion Rings anywhere.
Good thing this is enough food for my wife and I. Yes, we share a double order of Halibut and Fries.
With Onion Rings and a single refillable “pop” – that comes to $27 or so.
On a scale of 1 to 10, this Fish and Chip meal comes in at about a 6. I have had way better for less.
In a continuing series on food and drink on Vancouver Island, Colin explores the good, the bad, and the downright tastless.
Hanging with Brad and Paris · Monday June 18, 2007 by colin newell
If you are visiting Victoria B.C. Canada for the 1st time and want to get some breakfast (lunch or dinner for that matter too…) without leaving with that empty feeling – then maybe, just maybe Lady Marmalade is for you.
Tucked in at 608 Johnson Street near Government Street, Lady Marmalade appears to be little more than a hole in the wall – but do not be deceived. There is space aplenty within – and once past the front door and the seat yourself sign, you will find 30+ tables. No, I didn’t count them all — but this particular Saturday morning, all of them were filled except one.
I have always thought that the secret to a successful cafe (or diner, bistro, restaurant, etc) is taking the tried and true and putting a quirky spin on it.
You know – flirt with the outrageous without going that catastrophic one step too far that leave diners bewildered.
Lady Marmalade is also that place.
Take the Eggs Benedict – perhaps the best in town.
Take the old recipe you know and trust… and throw it out the window.
Add wild salmon… and sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and arugula… well, you get the idea. It was good. Very good.
Lady Marmalade is popular with the Grunge meets Oceans-11 crowd. Slacker dude Vince Vaughn, Brad Pitt wannabees show up in muscle Tee’s and homemade costume jewelry… big sunglasses… the works.
Girls outnumber the boys in Paris Hilton form; pizza sized sunglasses, mini-skirts/shorts and lululemon is de riguer…
Young people with lots of apetite for carbs after a nasty night out.
Our first visit to Lady Marmalade was during a full house kitchen slam – everything was flying.
The only downside to my experience was cold food.
Ok. So the Benny was room temperature. I can excuse this totally because the place was busier than a train station.
The hollandaise on the Benny was perfect – I have never had better.
My other bone to pick was the bread with breakfast – it was a kind of rye bread from a local bakery “Wild-Fire” that was sliced too thin – as a result it came across more biscotti or melba-toast than real toast.
Oh yea – and who serves a teeny bowl of salad with a breakfast plate?
All in all, I would rate Lady Marmalade on Johnson Street a solid 8 out of 10.
Colin Newell lives and eats in Victoria – He wanders the streets of many Canadian cities looking for genuinely good eats. In this continuing series on food and drink in Western Canada, Colin stresses the point that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
The Soprano's explained · Monday June 18, 2007 by colin newell
My buddy Bob in Los Angeles wrote an article on the final episode of the Soprano’s…
and the entire internet showed up to look.
Click here
to become the 13,234,456th person to view this funny article.
Now I have never watched an episode of the Soprano’s but I can certainly appreciate the energy that Bob put into this.
Bob and I co-wrote an episode of CSI-Las Vegas, Season-3, Episode title: “The Last Laugh” — all good fun… now on DVD.
Now go join the hordes over on BobHarris.Com!
Missile defense - No thanks · Thursday June 7, 2007 by colin newell
It is a well know fact that the U.S. Missile defense system simply does not work. It has never worked.
It is too easy to spoof the system with decoy missiles.
We live in a post-cold war era where missile systems used multiple warheads in multiple break-away modules on multi-missile launches.
The basis for the American missile defense system (which doesn’t work by the way) works on a one missile, one take down concept. Multiple incoming missiles with decoy warheads is more than enough to completely spoof George Bushes coveted defense system.
Simply does not work. Never did.
In an odd turn of events, our fearless leader Canadian PM Stephen Harper is cosying up to Bush and his missile defense plan.
Why, you ask… when the system does not work.
Well – Bush is short buddies lately… British P.M. Tony Blair’s no longer on Dubya’s friendly Five anymore.
And, I mean… what to heck. The Canadian conservatives are so in bed with George W’s GOP that it is hard to tell who actually cleans the sheets these days.
Anyho – the World is on the brink of another Cold War that now has none other than Vlad Putin (President of Russia) pissed off with the U.S.
I am old enough to remember the last major Cold War. It was`nt pretty then and likely as not will not be pretty now.
Comment [1]
