Summer sips and food - Canoe Club Victoria - 2011 - August · Monday August 1, 2011 by colin newell
I have always had a fondness for The Canoe Club in Victoria. The beer is good. The food is often creative. The staff are usually long term and super friendly and professional. My single warning for Canoe Club is – avoid them on Fridays after work and, maybe, during prime time (lunch and dinner) on Saturdays. They tend to get swamped on Fridays so we always play it safe and go at 2 PM… on any day of the week.
Picture (Click on it) above: Ploughman’s Lunch – selection of cured meats, local Hilary Cheese, pickles, pate and artisan breads… – Panasonic Lumix 8Mp Camera
I am not a beer expert, but the beers are fairly reliable and generally mature by the time they hit your glass – and what I mean by that is… the brewmaster knows what he is doing and the beer comes out of the kegs when the time is right – not a moment before.
The Canoe club, quite arguably, has the best patio scene in Victoria. If you have ever been in any other city in Canada… like Toronto, Ottawa or Halifax – you know the patio scene is the thing – especially this time of the year.
Your blogger sips the seasonal Canoe Club Wheat Ale…
Because of Victoria’s notably short summer season (and the fact that you can count on one hand generally the number of hot summer evenings) the evening patio groove can be slim at times. Bottom line – evening on warm evenings, it can be cool near the water.
The Canoe is perfect for summer days because the patio is ideally located on an inlet and not right on a large body of water – and the layout and design of the patio affords some protection from cool breezes.
In the photo, above, Andrea and I shared the Ploughman’s – cured meats, cheeses, some veg, pate and bread – and as I would discover in a few hours… low on the protein for one 6’ 2” dude. I had a sleeve of Summer Wheat Ale (I call it the chick beer…) and Andrea had the IPA. As always, the beer is good.
Victoria has lots of great food and drink places – so get out there and enjoy them while the weather permits.
Colin Newell is a Victoria area resident and occasional writer for EAT Magazine…
Summer food 2011 Food preview Bubbys Kitchen Cook Street Village
One of the things I miss from living downtown was the Canoe Club patio.
I also seem to recall that they had this amazing Oktoberfest Vienna beer ages ago that doesn’t seem to exist anymore.
Of course when in doubt put back an IPA – you can’t go wrong there.
— Chris Whiteley Aug 1, 09:15 pm #