VICTORIA AND VANCOUVER ISLAND - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 180

FOOD
While Victoria doesn't have a reputation as a culinary hot spot, for the past decade things
have improved greatly with the opening of numerous restaurants serving top-notch cuisine
with influences from around the world. Local chefs are big on produce organically grown
and sourced from island farms. Seafood—halibut, shrimp, mussels, crab, and salmon—also
features prominently on many menus.
You will still find great interest in traditional English fare, including afternoon tea,
which is served everywhere from motherly corner cafés to the grand Fairmont Empress.
English cooking in general is much maligned but worth trying. For the full experience,
choose kippers and poached eggs for breakfast, a ploughman's lunch (crusty bread, a chunk
of cheese, pickled onions), and then roast beef with Yorkshire pudding (a crispy pastry
made with drippings and doused with gravy) in the evening.
Cafes and Cheap Eats
While Victoria is generally associated with afternoon tea, there are some serious coffee lov-
ers in the capital. A good percentage of these consider Moka House (various locations,
including 345 Cook St., 250/388-7377, 6am-midnight daily) as pouring the best coffee.
As a bonus, bagels are excellent and wireless Internet is free. The focus at minimalist
Habit Coffee (552 Pandora St., 250/294-1127, 7am-6pm Mon.-Fri., 8am-6pm Sat.-Sun.) is
most definitely the coffee, although there's an eclectic collection of magazines to browse
through. Also recommended by the caffeine crowd is Serious Coffee (1280 Broad St., 250/
380-0272, 6:30am-8pm Mon.-Fri., 8am-8pm Sat., 8am-6pm Sun.), also with free wireless
Internet and lots of comfortable seating.
Lady Marmalade (608 Johnson St., 250/381-2872, 8:30am-10pm 8am-4pm daily,
lunches $8.50-14) is a funky café with a delightful array of breakfast choices (think brie
and avocado eggs benedict) and healthy lunches, including an avocado, brie, and bacon
baguette.
With walls decorated with original art and an eclectic array of table arrangements,
Mo:Le (554 Pandora St., 250/385-6653, 8am-3pm Mon.-Fri., 8am-4pm Sat.-Sun., lunches
$10-15) impresses with creative yet well-priced cooking—think shrimp eggs benedict, yam
omelet, maple-balsam grilled vegetable sandwich, and more.