Osaka Sushi
1951 Oak Bay Ave.
250.590.6650
Another delicious recommendation from NL. Thank youuuu very much!
We first visited Osaka about a week ago and very quickly visited again within the last week!
Fresh, delicious sushi.
We are always looking to see if anyone else's tuna sashimi comes close to Ebizo's so we tend to try it at new sushi places. Osaka's tuna sashimi was quite good, better than some other places in Victoria which will remain unnamed. It was a nice refreshing cold, slightly fishy but not overwhelming and almost had the same melty-texture of Ebizo's. Ebizo still takes the cake for tuna sashimi in Victoria.
We chose 3 rolls to share.. they had a great menu to choose from. Though, some of their specialty rolls were quite expensive. We got 2 from that list, and one from their regular maki rolls.
First, and my personal favourite, was the Green Dragon roll, a specialty roll. A regular tempura prawn roll with mayo, topped with avocado. I find tempura rolls can sometimes lose their crispiness, but this one was so crispy, topped with the mayo and extremely fresh avocado, the roll was surprisingly very creamy. Great flavour and texture. We got this the second time around as well :)
Second, my next favourite, was the Spicy Ahi and Avocado roll. Their spicy mayo is to die for!!! Such a perfect spice kick and very creamy. Again, the extremely fresh avocado topped this roll off. I found the ahi was a little off for me, but SM loved it. Our second time around we got the regular Spicy Tuna and Avocado roll which was also very delicious.
Third, SM's favourite, was another specialty roll.. I believe it was called the Osaka special roll. I think it had tuna sashimi and cucumber inside, topped with red cabbage and seaweed salad. It was very different and pretty tasty, just not quite worth the price.
Our 2nd time back, we tried their California roll -deep-fried style (which they offer on about 3 different maki rolls). We weren't very impressed with the cali roll, the crispiness of the deep-fried style was yummy and we decided we would try it again with a different roll, but the cali itself was a little tasteless.
Our first time was on a Monday, which is free Miso Soup day. I highly recommend going on a Monday because it can't get much better than free miso soup. But they do have specials every day of the week.
Sadly, the place has been VERY quiet each time we have gone, one of which was a Saturday night!! Please, please, pleaseeee check out Osaka Sushi and keep them in business!
We will definitely be bringing our families along for the ride to try the deeeeliciousss Osaka Sushi, right in your backyard and friendly Oak Bay :)
Update! We have been frequenting Osaka sushi very regularly now. The waitresses and sushi chef know us well!! Our new favourites which we recommend you trying are the hand cones!! Love this place and am so happy to see that it is getting more and more popular each time we go!
Lady Marmalade
608 Johnson St.
250.381.2872
ladymarmalade.ca
A bit of a hipster joint, Lady Marmalade has a seat-yourself kind of atmosphere. After continually hearing great things about the All-Day Breakfast/All-Day Lunch cafe, we decided we must check it out.
I have to skip right to the food, because I'm salivating just thinking about it......
Sadly, their website only has their Toronto menu on it, which surprisingly does not have the delicious sandwich we BOTH ordered.
It was a breakfast sandwich, served on french bread. It came with scrambled eggs, bacon, avocado, cheddar cheese and a delicious mayo that is escaping me right now. (it also comes with cilantro mayo, but I dislike cilantro).
To top it off, it came with pan-fried potatoes and a delicious salad with dressing similar to the ginger dressing at Japanese Village.
The service was nice at the restaurant. Our waitress was very pleasant and attentive with coffee re-fills. I have noticed extremely mixed reviews on Urbanspoon for Lady Marmalade's service, so I think I will have to go again, (darn!! ;p) to really stick by my claim of good service.
I might mention that we did go during the holiday season/boxing week and it wasn't overly busy and the staff were very pleasant. A good sign, in my opinion.
We will definitely be going back... yummmm......!
Update! We did go back to Lady Marmalade and weren't as impressed by the breakfast sandwich the second time around. The salad and dressing were still delicious.
Big Wheel Burger
341 Cook St.
250.381.0050
bigwheelburger.com
"Big Wheel Burger provides the best quality burgers, shakes, sodas and fries through local, sustainable and environmentally friendly resources."
This is Big Wheel Burger's slogan on their website. It's inspiring, makes you feel better about eating burgers and helping your local community.
After seeing reviews on Urbanspoon which were very unfavourable and hearing through family friends to avoid it at all cost, we decided "how bad could it be? let's find out!"
We weren't over the moon with our experience. The staff is friendly and they take your name to call out your order, which I'm always kind of happy about. It personalizes your experience!
Now, time for the food. The food was a bit of a disappointment, I must say.
The patty is definitely homemade, not a cookie cutter patty you'd find anywhere else. It was very chunky and uneven in shape. Not a whole lot of flavour. The cheese on the burger was pretty tasteless as well. Fresh lettuce and a small helping of slightly tasty mayo, the burger was generally pretty bland. Beside their pop machines, which are self-serve, there are a selection of condiments you may add to your burger. Onions, relish, banana peppers and so on. The bun could be a bit more substantial, as the fresh patty juices kinda made it soggy.
The fries were nicely cooked. Golden brown and soft on the inside, slightly seasoned. They weren't a huge disappointment.
Overall, I think if you're feeling like burgers, don't want to go for the whole Pink Bicycle sha-bang!, and are interested in helping your local community, try them out. But don't expect a whole lot of food for the prices you're paying. For $1-2 more, you could have the portions of Pink Bicycle or Bin 4.
If they were to drop their prices, we would consider going back. But for what you get, it isn't quite worth it.
Stay tuned for Burgers Take Over Victoria PT.2!!!
Update! We re-visited Big Wheel burger not too long ago and very much enjoyed our 2nd experience. We tried the famous milkshakes and agree they are pretty fantastic! We would definitely go back again :)
Wow, 2012 has arrived!!
In my very expert opinion (not!), I have decided to announce a food trend for 2012!
One word...
CHIPOTLE.
It's everywhere this year!! I think it will be big all year!
Embrace the smokey taste of chipotle for a little kick in your step ;)
Have a great year everyone!
xoxox.
