Summer Fun Food and Drink 2009 - Sooke and Jordan River weekend · Sunday July 26, 2009 by colin newell
When you live on the heaven that is Vancouver Island, you often take for granted the sheer awesomeness of it all.
Except this weekend. I made the mental effort to dig every facet of this wicked place – because it is just not right to neglect a gem like this.
And this weekend we split the urban misery to drive out to our top secret romantic get-away – Point no Point – It is far away from everything – and yet only about an hour and a half from civilization.
Point no Point is a small series of cabins – all with private hot tubs (generally under the stars…) most of them a hundred feet from the ocean at most.
So you are lulled to sleep by the sound of moderately gentle Pacific surf buffered by the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
And if you work as hard as I think I do, Point no Point is ideal for an early get-away on a Friday – escape work at 3:30 or so… and you are in the hot tub by 6 PM!
All the units have full kitchens – but if you want some culinary pampering, check out the victuals (photo above) – and in this meal, I had grilled halibut with a cheese tart and melon sorbet. Andrea has a nice fillet of triple-A beef, on caramelized onions, deep friend carrot strings and a mussel stuffing.
1/2 liter of French wine and we are good to go. For dessert, the chocolate mousse at the Point no Point lookout restaurant is knock-out good!
A discovery in Sooke B.C. on Saturday mid-day was The EdGe restaurant. EdGe is a fusion of foodie personalities Edward and Gemma – and their edible vision of the World. Edward was the executive chef at the Sooke Harbor House for 12 years and his long time sweetie, Gemma handles much of the client flow logistics; hostess, menu interpretation and general inspiration and warmth.
I had the kitchen sink bowl (shown at right) which contained a scrum of homemade chicken sausage, white fish, salmon, shellfish, two kinds of peppers in a hot and sour broth. The price tag a staggering $8.95! Andrea had a linguine in a cream sauce with home made salami and mushrooms. We shared a glass of red wine, a Syrah I believe. Utterly delightful!
Finishing up in Sooke including several Americano and espresso from The Stick in the Mud cafe on Eustace off of Sooke Road. This is an absolute must stop when passing through the village.
We mused while sampling their 2% Jazz coffee: “There was a time when you could drive to Sooke and go back in time 10 years… or more.”
Now Sooke is easily as hip as Victoria.
If not more so.
Summer Food Fun and Drink Chapter 12 Fish and Chips · Saturday July 11, 2009 by colin newell
Vancouver Island has some awesome Fish and Chip joints – but nothing compares to the Rock Cod Cafe in Cowichan Bay, on the Eastern Side of the Island south of Duncan, British Columbia.
We get up to Cow Bay a couple of times a year – and today’s visit was wicked – it was easily 32 degrees © – about 90 (F) in brilliant sunshine. And tucking into a patio table at the Rock Cod with a pint of iced tea in front of Andrea and I was Da Kine.
I rave about Fish and Chips a lot on this Island and most of the places are fair to midland – some are downright extraordinary. Some are merely dead in the water.
The Rock Cod rules because the fish is fresh, the batter crisp and tasty – and the finished product is never greasy tasting.
Today I subbed in Onion rings and they were utterly satisfying.
With a small side of tartar sauce and a tablespoon of slaw, this was lunch perfection.
For those visiting the area, by all means visit the Cowichan Bay website – there are some other gems like the Masthead Restaurant and The Udder Guys Ice cream parlor.
On Vancouver Island, this is the good life!
Spring into the Victoria night life - with the Shark Club · Saturday April 25, 2009 by colin newell
When you are 19 to 34 years of age, it is commonplace to put on some tacky threads and hit the night life – to head to the other side of the tracks – to see how the other half lives…
And when you turn 35… Well…
There comes a time when you stop going out on the town…
Which is utter nonsense.
Now unless you have popped out 2 or 3 kids and have been lost at sea for the prime of your life, there are many great reasons to grab the car keys or the cab fare and seek out the gritty side of the downtown.
Example: I am coming up on my 5th century on the Planet Earth…
Duh. I mean… my 5th decade. Yea. That is what I meant.
And I have one very important reason to go out on a date night from time to time:
A much younger wife.
Oh. And the lack of kids.
The Shark Club (many locations in Victoria, Vancouver and the interior…) is custom made for a tasty and thirst quenching couple of hours on the town.
But you have to love at least one of these four things:
- Girls in short black dresses and revealing tops balancing trays of savory snacks and steins of local beer.
- Crowds of girls on the town in party dresses.
- Parched and beefy dudes in plaid shirts with a desire for cold beer and/or girls in party dresses.
- Loud and colorful sporting events on the High-definition flat-screen TVs (of which there are about 28 in each bar).
It is a fun place, really. The wait staff are sweet, mature and ultra professional and courteous. I have never seen an order of apps (we ordered calamari, ginger spicey beef and BBQ Chicken wings) and 2 pints of ale come to a table faster – it could not have been more than 5 minutes from order to delivery. The food at the Shark club is a click ahead of places like Boston Pizza and Earl’s – and the eye candy for both genders is mind numbing.
Alas, I only have eyes for one – and she always comes home with me.
So get out there… into the night. Because, it won’t bite.
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Fall Colors Canadian Style - La Belle Patate Esquimalt British Columbia · Saturday November 1, 2008 by colin newell
La Belle Patate is a little hole in the wall restaurant at 1215 Esquimalt Road a half-block past the Civic Center and Esquimalt’s original strip mall.
Their specialty is Montreal smoked meat sandwiches and Poutine. For the uninitiated, Poutine is a dish of French fries, topped with a thick beef gravy and a macadam of cheese curds. And for those who feel that this might not be the most healthy combination of ingredients – They are completely ignorant to the fact that Poutine is a cruise missile with your arteries in the cross hairs.
Yes. It is that good.
And today we actually ate there. Ok. Here is the story:
Baker/owner of Bubby Roses Bakery, Mark Engels, has been singing the praises of La Belle Patate for some time now – and although we did drive by a couple of times, noting that the general feeling of the neighborhood is not unlike some calmer parts of East L.A. – we swallowed our fear, renewed our life insurance and pulled into the parking lot – a parking lot that served a Thai restaurant, a beauty salon oddly called The Daisy Pot and god knows what else.
Walking through the doors we were greeted with a hearty Hello there! from the owner and staff – We ordered a smoked meat sandwich, a hot-dog and a small order of Poutine. This would turn out to be particularly bold for me… and challenging.
Their Montreal smoked sandwich is a perfect balance of meat (about 6 to 8 ounces) on two cardboard thin slices of perfect rye bread – braced on a paper plate with a pucker inducing pickle. The hot dog is steamed and served on the standard bun with cheese, onions and any assortment of common condiments. The Poutine, which arguably should be served on a skull and cross bones patterned plate, is as described above; fries, gravy, cheese curds… is so comfort food that every bite is yummy inducing. We washed it all down with a tin of Nestea Iced tea – but opted to get a bottle of Spruce Beer on the way out the door – Spruce Beer is non-alcoholic and its flavor (carbonated) defies explanation – you either love it or hate it. We love it.
Lunch for two with more protein that is socially responsible: 22 dollars.
Would we return? In a heartbeat. That is, of course… if my heart keeps beating.
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