'Tis the season to, well, splurge a little. The Empress has always been one of those restaurants we bypassed because we had always assumed it would be a tourist trap with overpriced "hotel" food. Believe it or not, what sparked our interest in revisiting these misconceptions was a segment on the Empress that we saw on the Amazing Race Canada (they started the race in Victoria). Almost a year later we finally decided to check it out - for our Christmas Eve dinner. Bottom line, it was wonderful, and expensive, but the atmosphere, view, service, and most importantly the quality of the food, was commensurate with the price. As good or better than any restaurant in Victoria. The chef here clearly knows their stuff. Be sure to sign up for a "Friends of the Empress" card and you'll get 20% discount on dinners (but not during the holidays).
Merry Christmas and enjoy the mini photo review.
No, that's not our Benz in the front - we walked here.
Every year there is a huge display of decorated Christmas tress on the mezzanine level. Worth a trip here for that alone.
We decided to pass on the 3-course turkey dinner. It's just REALLY hard to justify $68 for turkey.
There are a couple of tables right by the window and as we always dine early we lucked out and were seated there. Best tables in the restaurant IMO.
The restaurant is just beautiful and was filled by the time we left.
It's a tiny bar so don't expect 100 beers on tap. In fact there is no tap. It's bottled beer poured in a glass - hey it's fine dining.
Okay, enough teasing, on to the food. Ah, do you not long for restaurants that still serve warm bread and butter?
We decided to share their Seared Scallops $20 (Cauliflower & Popcorn Purée, Edamame, Pine Nuts, Shiitake, Chorizo Jam). Oh man were these good!
I had the Crispy Duck Leg Confet $35 (Truffled Fried Potatoes, Sautéed Mushrooms, Asparagus, Foié Gras & Ice Wine Emulsion). It just beat out the Brasserie L'ecole.
The wife had the Vancouver Island Halibut $36 (whipped garlic potato, market vegetables, spot prawn bisque sauce)
We were full by dessert time and the fact that their dessert prices started at $16 made skipping it an easy choice. That decision was rewarded with some free eggnog gingerbread biscuits and chocolate truffles - just the perfect amount to end a perfect meal.
On a technical note, the restaurant was really dark, as in the first few interior shots. All pics were shot without a flash but the food shots had a lot of post-processing to lighten them up.