509 replies to this topic

[zoomer]

Having an Irish wife, I have spent countless nights in Irish pubs.. in Ireland. Victoria's Irish Times I'm afraid is a bit of Disneyland, although they do pour a good pint. What I dislike most about the Irish Times is how every square inch of wall space is covered in bright and shiny images of Ireland, from pictures of the Old Country to Guiness adverts, etc. It's as if they bought out an Irish tourist shop and plastered it's contents throughout the building. In a typical pub in Ireland you won't find that!!

While wine bars are becoming more popular in Ireland, they still pale in comparison to the pub, of which they are nearly 1,000 in Dublin alone. The pub/nightclub scene in Dublin is mind boggling, I found it made Vancouver's seem like Campbell River's.

You would think that the huge number of pubs would reduce their value because of all the competition, but the average selling price of a Dublin pub thus far in 2006 is 4.67 million Euro, or 7 million Canadian.

http://www.barkeeper...asp?News_ID=400

[simon]

It's as if they bought out an Irish tourist shop and plastered it's contents throughout the building.

Yes. My thought was that either there was a closing out sale somewhere, or they went to authenticirishpubdecor.com and ordered a #3 and a #5. (nothing against the establishment...as mentioned, tasty beer)

[zoomer]

It's as if they bought out an Irish tourist shop and plastered it's contents throughout the building.

Yes. My thought was that either there was a closing out sale somewhere, or they went to authenticirishpubdecor.com and ordered a #3 and a #5. (nothing against the establishment...as mentioned, tasty beer)

exactly simon. If those pictures actually meant something to somebody and there was a story behind them, then ok, but you're right, it's a #3 and #5 for sure!!

[bcradio]

Doesn't anyone drink under the Johnson Street Bridge anymore? Now that's good atmosphere!

[G-Man]

Ha I used to like to drink on Beacon Hill.

[Mike]

If 'authentic' means looking like it has been around for decades, then no, the Irish times doesn't cut it. No one stuck 'authentic' old jugs of kerosene and stevedoring equipment on the walls of a pub a hundred years ago (AFAIK).

The IT has great finish to it. It looks presentable, the woodwork is quality, it's got a lot of corners in it. Nice enough. I'd call it a great caricature of an Irish pub, in the same way BBJ's is a caricature of a Canadian one. It's over-the-top clichés, with good beer and food. No real fireplace though.

[Caramia]

Big Bad Johns is pretty authentic. It had the first licence to serve alcohol in BC, and has been around over 50 years. At least one of the regulars has been coming in for that long too. I bought him a beer one night and heard some great stories.

[rayne_k]

I don't know why, but I particularly like the Four Mile Pub. The restaurant is nice too (great Christmas decor).

[Rorschach]

And they have decent wings and wings specials at 4 mile too.

[Rorschach]

Big Bad John's was the very first place I visited for a beer when I originally landed in Victoria. The crowd in and around the Strath is not to my liking.

[gumgum]

6 Mile has the best burgers. Hands down.

[Rorschach]

I'll have to try the 6 mile burger.

[url=http://www.sixmilepub.com/menu.pdf:d5d8e]Six Mile Pub Menu[/url:d5d8e]

Which of the burgers is your favorite?

[gumgum]

You're safe with any of them.
Choose it based on how you would choose your favourite toppings on a pizza.

[viewership]

I don't really visit a lot of pubs and I'm certainly no expert like some of you but I wanted to point out two pubs that I haven't noticed mentioned yet--Logan's and the Ross Bay Pub.

Logan's, which I haven't bee to in a while, has a great community atmosphere with tons of regulars an lots of local and smaller bands playing. It's definitely for the younger crowd though.

The Ross Bay Pub is quite the opposite. It focuses more on the food side and it shows. They have your traditional pub fare as well as some more west cost items and I've yet to have a bad meal there. My friend is a regular there and is always singing it's praises.

[Holden West]

Service shortcomings at pub leave a bad taste

Pam Grant. Times - Colonist.
Dec 21, 2006.

Smiths has been packaged as a British bar, complete with Union Jack banquette seating and menu divisions with names including "Slap and Tickle."

Lori and I were typical of most people visiting on a week night in December -- cold, frazzled from retail overload and in need of sustenance.

Even though the room was nearly empty, it was several minutes before we received menus, perhaps since there were only two people working -- one behind the bar, the other dealing with four tables, including ours.

While I have sympathy for our server, it doesn't change the fact that she was more than a little abrupt when we asked about various dishes on the menu. A plowman's platter described as assorted meats, cheeses, pickles, sauces and breads doesn't tell me what is on it, and it seemed logical to ask the person taking our order, particularly when the price of this build-your-own-sandwich option is $15. We were eventually told what the meats and cheeses were, but not the rest. It's really simple. If you can't be bothered to tell me, I won't ask again.

Appetizers ($5 - $12) feature the usual chicken wings and calamari and some oddly named dishes such as Most Favoured Veggie Spring Rolls flooded with Thames River Sauce. Having lived in London for nearly a decade, I didn't even want to ask what that meant.

To start, we selected one of the nightly appetizer specials, tiny lamb burgers on soft white buns, about three exquisite bites each.

We also shared the baked prawn dip, described as prawns, spinach, fresh herbs and roasted peppers baked in asiago cream. There are various interpretations of hot spinach dip around town, but this was the smallest portion we have seen, barely warm, largely composed of frozen spinach, shrimp in place of the expected prawns and a barely discernible amount of cheese or cream. On the upside, this dish is served with bagel chips instead of the ubiquitous sourdough bread or tortilla chip options, which made for a pleasant change, but neither of us would order this dish again.

Main courses (12 - $16) were similarly uneven. The list includes traditional British pub options, a chicken curry, bangers and mash, "Shephards Pie" ("Why can't anyone ever spell this dish?" asked Lori) made with beef instead of the lamb, and a series of burgers and sandwiches.

Lori's halibut and chips was good: a generous portion of good- quality halibut in a well-made batter, cooked till crisp with bland jicama coleslaw and decent chips that were a little closer to frites as far as size goes.

My steak sandwich offered a good piece of beef, cooked as ordered, with sauteed mushrooms and crispy fried onions. The roasted garlic gravy was a good foil for the accompaniment of mashed potatoes, but sadly rendered the ciabatta bread mushy and would have been better served on the side.

Tent cards advise that brunch is offered on the weekends, but inquiries were met with a response of, "Oh. There's a lot of different things." I phoned the following weekend to find out what was on offer and was told "Ummm, well several different things actually." Pause. "Such as?" I asked. "Oh, ummm, well we have blueberry pancakes, omelettes and a full English breakfast."

"What is on the full English?" I asked. "Let me grab a menu," came the reply. Bingo!

When I arrived, I was given a lunch menu. Asking if they did brunch, I was given a list that included the options I was told of on the phone as well as berries and vanilla yogurt with granola, steak and eggs, an omelette, fresh fruit salad and so forth.

In the end, I selected a lunch menu and in keeping with a solo Sunday afternoon visit to the pub, opened my newspaper. After a time, I looked up to see where my server was, as I had not received my coffee yet. I was astonished to find that this time, one person was responsible for both bar and floor.

My requested lunch, the Churchill's chicken burger, was bland, the ciabatta bread again didn't hold up, and the side of lumpy, tepid gravy that I asked for made anything with Bisto seem like a master sauce by comparison.

I have visited Smiths three times at different times of the day and have never seen more than a handful of people. This is probably why the labour costs are being kept to a minimum, but it's a mistake to take this approach. The old adage applies: you have to spend money to make money. Cut corners with the food to save money and it shows.

It's a good thing it wasn't busy when I visited because at no time did they have staff levels that could handle it -- with one person on the floor, they can't even go to the bathroom, for crying out loud.

The woman who served Lori and me showed the effects of this kind of cost cutting, simply unable to muster up even a glimmer of enthusiasm for what she was doing.

And that, unfortunately, is contagious.

- - -

Smiths pub

Quality Inn Downtown, 850 Blanshard St.,

Victoria, 360-2544

Open daily, 11 a.m. - 1 a.m.

Major credit cards and Interac accepted. Wheelchair accessible,

but not to restrooms.

**

- - -

RATINGS

* Serves food

** Needs work

*** Worth a visit

**** Very good

***** Superb

ROUND THE ISLAND

After more than a year's effort from a group of people ranging in age from four to 88, the Cornerstone Cafe opened its doors in Fernwood last month.

Part cafe, part community resource centre, it focuses on urban sustainability.

Shade-grown fair-trade coffee is served, heat for the cafe is supplied via geothermal units and composting and conservation of water iss important, as is the use of biodegradable and otherwise environmentally friendly materials throughout.

Daily homemade vegetarian soups include African themed peanut yam and ginger, white bean and kale, bagels, various panini, cookies and pastries to enjoy while you peruse books and soon, wireless Internet for laptop addicts.

Open daily. Located at the corner of Fernwood Road and Gladstone. Call 381-1884.

[Mike K.]

Weird. I went to Smiths for the first time last night and quite liked it. I only had a few beers but the servers were polite and relatively quick on the draw for orders. There were only two of them -- and pretty to boot -- and the place was busy so overall the service was great.

[Holden West]

^That review appeared the day before, so the owner had 24 hours to clean house before your arrival. You can bet the staff received a royal ass-kicking.

[homebrewer]

^^I asked once, it's a satellite station that's not shaw. I wish I could get it at home.

There are countless online streaming radio stations if you have broadband (cable or DSL).
If you use windows
- check out http://www.shoutcast.com if you use winamp
- I prefer itunes on windows, it has an online radio section.
If you use a free operating system, check out "streamtuner".

oh, and hello all from downtown, from a recent transplant.

[zoomer]

Welcome to VV!

Where are you transplanted from homebrewer? With a name like that I'm not surprise you first surfaced in a pub thread!

[homebrewer]

Welcome to VV!

Where are you transplanted from homebrewer? With a name like that I'm not surprise you first surfaced in a pub thread!

Thanks for the welcome!

I come from Ontario, where I've lived all my life until now. What type of crowd uses this forum? Judging from what I've read thus far it seems to be others in the ~30yo range? Are there are recommended social events for transplants for social networking/getting to know people? I do indeed brew beer. In fact, I brought my kegerator (keg fridge) across the country with me. I also enjoy a good glass of wine or scotch. I haven't found much in the way of fine dining here on the island yet, perhaps I shall start a thread
As for beer related topic, I've tried these pubs so far:
Swans: Slowest service I've had in the city, every time I've been there. Really disappointing, as I'd heard a lot about this place before coming out, and live really close, sad that slow service alone can ruin your feeling of a place. "Joan" the older lady who is a regular introduced herself to me, quite a friendly older toothless lady, wearing a moo-moo. They have pretty good beer. A good social bar, often live music as well.
Spinnakers: Was closed very earlier for the size of pub. Very happy to see cash conditioned ales! (as fresh a beer as you can get on tap, for the non beer geeks). Food hasn't been that impressive, except for the halibut and chips.
Garricks Head: Really nice atmosphere, fireplace was great. Felt a little old here, seemed to be a closer to 19yo crowd though. Used my first public urinal when I left the pub, and got a pic of the event to send back to family/friends.
The place in Cook Street village: closed really early, like 11p.m. so had to drink my beer quickly as I got there just before that
The revolving restaurant that doesn't revolve: nice view, live jazz band
Canoe club: My favourite so far. Great beer, great location and interior. Service has been good-great. Bathroom sink is pretty neat, nothing like lathering the hands of a member of the opposite sex after a few drinks.

Microbrews:
Vancouver Island Brewery: Did the tour. Pretty good beers, I like the dark lager the best; a dark lager?! A little too close to megaswill (Labatt/Molson etc) for me, but was impressed.
Phillips: Hands down has me as their biggest fan, I went to the brewery which isn't really built for the public and met the owner, really friendly guy. I don't want to know how much I've spent on their beer since I've been here, I'd be disowned by the homebrewing community if my receipts ever got out. I love all of their beers, especially the double chocolate porter.
Lighthouse: Race rocks is now my favourite "regular" beer.
Saltspring island: Wasn't that impressed. I did have an amazing golden ale, but got a second that wasn't good at all.

I see some people posting here work in the place they are reviewing, but my biases are only as a customer. I'm a computer geek by day