Victoria's dining scene is having a moment

My most extravagant university meal in Victoria, just over 15 years ago, was a night out at Pagliacci’s, the local Italian institution. It was a shock, both to my taste buds and my already depleted student wallet.

Pagliacci’s had, for a long time, held space as the quintessential Victoria restaurant. Old-school style, history and paired with good flavours. I notice it every time I walk through downtown. A night out? A date night? Pagliacci’s.

Fast forward to today, and Victoria’s dining scene is undergoing a quiet revolution. New entrants like are pushing the region in exciting new directions. Stuffy Italian is gone, wine bars and small sharing plates are in.

 Every revolution hits a crossroads, and Victoria’s is no different, as restaurants chart different paths for what Victoria's cuisine truly is.  

Janevca Kitchen & Lounge

Flowers are a striking element of the most awarded and newest restaurant in Esquimalt, next to Victoria. Like a whisper on the wind off the coast, billowing into a tornado, the number of my friends raving about Janevca was too much to ignore. 

Janevca is Victoria to its core. Set in the beautiful Rosemead House, the former Old English Inn (because it’s not Victoria without a hint of the Brits), it combines the warm opulence of felt-like couches with Victorian-esque arch-backed chairs and a brick fireplace. Centred in their dining room is a gargantuan fake maple tree towering over tables, which might feel out of place in any other restaurant.

The elegance extends to hand-pulled chain toilets and serving staff attired in traditionally white serving garb. The team knows the dishes well, and the sommelier knows what to pick. Coupled with an affordable and expansive wine list that skews European, a bottle here is more of a need than a want. 

The food at Janevca is doing one thing that even Vancouver restaurants have failed to match: pairing taste and technique with large portion sizes at surprisingly reasonable prices. This is a restaurant that should only be experienced with at least one other person, if not more. 

A heaping pile of cold-smoked beets spills out over a soft, luxurious whipped smooth ricotta, surrounded by little candied hazelnuts. It’s a spiralling display of textures and colours, the beets technically cooked perfectly, if missing some flavour due to the season.  

Like the meticulously designed room, the chicken liver mousse is delicately and intentionally squeezed over a slice of toast, texturally perfect and quick to melt with each bite. It’s a dish that looks as good as it tastes, that even three people can enjoy.

Yet I found myself returning to the chicken. Sourced from Rossdown Farms, the wood-grilled half chicken, skin charred to a deep blackness that lets the char Sui sauce shine, is a massive portion that is infused with flavour. Certain sections may have been slightly drier than you’d like, but on the whole, it didn’t detract from the dish. It has a kick, Victoria’s taste buds be damned.

Janevca feels like a restaurant out of time but wholly in our time. It has a flavour and flair that is decidedly local, infusing Britishness with local tastes, and an effervescent, relaxed style. 

Marilena Cafe + Raw Bar 

The sister restaurant to Elisa Steakhouse, my favourite steakhouse in Vancouver, Marelina shares both a feeling and a DNA with Elisa, of open flame grills, marble countertops, open kitchen viewing and pricey dishes. 

Whereas Janevca speaks to old money British taste, of gilded gold flowers and hand-pulled toilets, Marelina is the epitome of what we expect fine dining to be, with rich patrons, white tablecloths and extravagance. There is little subtlety here. 

The clientele is also clearly different. Janevca had much less grey hair, with younger couples clearly there for a special occasion. Between the pressed suits and layers of makeup, Marelina’s patrons looked like they had just left their finance job for wining and dining potential clients.

While Elisa specializes in steak, Marelina is all about seafood. It’s a menu that begs exploration, from thick-cut sashimi delicately placed on a bowl of ice and prepared by the large team at the sushi bar, to lingcod and branzino, lobster spaghetti and (very expensive) caviar. 

While I don’t consider myself a seafood expert, I grew up farming seafood. Our beach bay was full of oyster boxes, as my grandfather dug up the beach for fresh clams, before preparing heaping plates of freshly caught lemon, garlic and butter prawns. I’ve become more inured to seafood, with little patience for mediocre quality. 

Seared sweet prawns, splayed open slightly, and cooked immaculately with garlic aioli, espelette pepper and a bit of lemon, were some of the finest I’ve had, not a bite overcooked or overseasoned. Both my friend and I agreed it was the best dish. 

Scallops by themselves are a treat, but it’s the exception where the technique brings out the flavour. The decision by the kitchen to cook one side allowed the natural flavour to stand out, imparting each bite with a variety of textures while letting the scallop flavour breathe.

A miss was the Brussels sprouts. While perfectly cooked to a golden brown with a layer of Parmesan, it was missing any acidity or sweetness to balance the fattiness of what I assume were deep-fried Brussels sprouts. We ended up leaving half at the table. 

Marelina and Janevca represent two competing visions of dining in Victoria: gilded, ornate decor versus clean lines and modernism; subtle British sensibilities with extravagant new-money virtues. The fact that Victoria has both speaks to how far it's come as a food city. 

Paggliacis may still exist, but it’s these new entrants that are defining food in the region.