23 replies to this topic

[VicHockeyFan]

While on Urban Spoon the other day, I noticed this place had a solid 39% support. Not very good. I know it's had a rough ride by most forumers here.

[victorian fan]

It was fantastic when it first opened. People from up island would drive down just to buy their meat pies. Roast (beef, lamb. turkey or ham) dinners. The best of English food.
Sadly..........................

[yodsaker]

tourist trap still playing the Ye Olde English riff.

[AllseeingEye]

That is too bad; last Christmas several local lodges decided to have our annucal Christmas dinner at TBP and I have to say, based on that being the one and only time I've eaten there, that the roast beef was superb. There were over 120 people in attendance and all agreed the quality of the food was excellent. Hope that whatever the complaints were/are, they can be addressed.

[Mike K.]

The Blethering Place has been for sale for quite some time now.

And the owners are asking for a fairly substantial amount (into the hundreds of thousands), yet the new owner will be forbidden to operate the business as "The Blethering Place."

Strange, isn't it, that someone would be selling a restaurant and wouldn't allow it to operate under its current name?

[Baro]

To be fair if I bought it I'd definitely change the name so there's a clear signal the horrible service of before was on its way out due to new management.

[Dimitrios]

Just saw this -

Funny, I can see how this place would be a complete tourist trap, but I was there with my gal and her grandma and we had a pretty nice time. We had a late lunch/afternoon tea sort of meal, and the food was really good. Maybe we're just used to overpriced Calgary? It seemed like a good deal too. The tea was good, the 'afternoon tea' (shared) dish did not disappoint, and the scones, Devon cream and homemade jam were quite remarkable.

The English Premier League soccer paraphernalia in the entry shop seemed a bit dusty, but otherwise it seemed like a fun place.

(1st post - moving to Victoria in September and glad to find this forum).

[VicHockeyFan]

Just saw this -

Funny, I can see how this place would be a complete tourist trap, but I was there with my gal and her grandma and we had a pretty nice time. We had a late lunch/afternoon tea sort of meal, and the food was really good. Maybe we're just used to overpriced Calgary? It seemed like a good deal too. The tea was good, the 'afternoon tea' (shared) dish did not disappoint, and the scones, Devon cream and homemade jam were quite remarkable.

The English Premier League soccer paraphernalia in the entry shop seemed a bit dusty, but otherwise it seemed like a fun place.

(1st post - moving to Victoria in September and glad to find this forum).

Welcome to the forum, gtg!

[sebberry]

The Blethering Place has been for sale for quite some time now.

And the owners are asking for a fairly substantial amount (into the hundreds of thousands), yet the new owner will be forbidden to operate the business as "The Blethering Place."

Strange, isn't it, that someone would be selling a restaurant and wouldn't allow it to operate under its current name?

That's interesting. I can't think of why they would restrict the use of the name like that, unless they were opening a new place under the same name.

[LJ]

The best of English food.

I'm not sure that's much of an endorsement!

[talldude123]

Intesting what advertisements come up when I read this thread. I have never, ever been to Oak Bay in the whole 22 years I've been alive and living in Victoria. It's out of the way, and nothing to do there...Maybe that's why this place is going out of business..

[Bingo]

Never did like the name, and the tables are too small. The food is generally good, so I hear.

[gumgum]

I have never, ever been to Oak Bay in the whole 22 years I've been alive and living in Victoria. It's out of the way, and nothing to do there...Maybe that's why this place is going out of business..

You've never driven 5 minutes to Oak Bay from Victoria? I see little reason to go there myself, but I've been there many times. You've never been there? Really? How is that possible?
Never been to Willows Beach? Never been to the Penny Farthing? Estaven? I am finding this hard to believe.

[Matt R.]

Never been to the Oak Bay Tea Party? Never been to the Fort and Foul Bay liquor store (I guess that's on the Victoria side)? Classic car show on the Avenue? Never been through the Uplands to see the crazy expensive estates?

Never fed the seals at the Marina? Haven't seen/smelled the scent garden at Windsor Park? Never had dinner at Nar? The Galley for fish and chips? Paprika Bistro for dinner? Blighty's??

Sure, I work in Oak Bay but can't afford to live there! Even before I worked in the hood, my wife (girlfriend at the time) would head into Oak Bay from Victoria for sushi and to eat at Small City Bistro, or to do any of the above.

It, like Esquimalt, is one of the great suburbs of Victoria. I grew up in Gordon Head and have lived in Victoria my whole life, and still think Oak Bay has lots to offer. Talldude, drop me line. I will buy you some bait and you can feed the seals.

Matt.

[Bingo]

I have never, ever been to Oak Bay in the whole 22 years I've been alive and living in Victoria. It's out of the way, and nothing to do there...

Yes, Oak Bay is nicely out of the way. It's at the outskirts of the hustle and bustle, with no traffic racing through the community to get to somewhere else. Perhaps that is why you have not found it.

[yodsaker]

talldude123,
What a sad lack of curiosity on your part for a 22-year old. Sometimes you have to make an effort in life, you never know what you will find.
AFAIK the Blethering Place is not going out of business. The owner may just want to retire, he's been at it a long time. He may have other things he likes to do such as organizing the Classic Car Show which he started and is one of the stellar attractions of the summer in OB.

[yodsaker]

I don't go to Esquimalt much but I would never say there is nothing to see or do there or that it's uninteresting. It's a vibrant place with its own character and energy. It does help to get out of the car to see what's going on in a place.

[Mike K.]

AFAIK the Blethering Place is not going out of business. The owner may just want to retire, he's been at it a long time.

If he wants to retire, why would he bar potential buyers from using the current restaurants name? That's very strange.

[AllseeingEye]

Geez...no kidding: some of the best house parties I ever attended in my UVic days in the mid-80's were in Oak Bay, heh heh. Remember the Snug Pub at the old Oak Bay Beach Hotel? Lots of drinking fun there 'back in the day'. And the scenery at Willows in the summer (as I recall...the days of scoping that beach are sadly long gone, as is the memory capacity), was never too shabby.

For the record Thompson, Manitoba or Blue River BC may be described as "out of the way". Despite the fact Oak Bay does indeed exist behind a Tweed Curtain of sorts, I would hardly consider it Out of the Way. You gotta get out there and live a little talldude, you may surprise yourself....

[Baro]

I'm shocked there's no actual fish and chips place on the avenue.