Savour Victoria’s Vibrant Culinary Scene

Victoria menus highlight the pick and catch of the day, everywhere from raw bars to refined dining rooms. Shop like a chef at Victoria’s farmer’s markets: there’s one for almost every day of the week!

Marilena
With both a sushi and raw bar plus a full, seafood-forward menu, elegant Marilena is the place to tuck into miso-glazed sablefish or sockeye salmon sushi. Whet your palate with cocktails showcasing craft spirits from Vancouver Island producers.

Chinatown Dining
In an intimate, brick-walled dining room, the nightly tasting menu at Ugly Duckling turns local delicacies like halibut, octopus, or duck into refined masterpieces. End Dive takes a sophisticated approach to drying, curing, and fermenting flavour into dishes like smoked salmon belly, creating electric pairings with local cider and natural wine. 

Shuck Taylor’s
Raw-bar energy makes Shuck Taylor’s a must-try stop for oysters (at all-day happy hour prices on Sunday), lobster rolls, and seafood-boil buckets. Order a Caesar made with Shuck Taylor’s Oyster Spirit, a collaboration with Driftwood Spirits.

Zambri’s
Grab a quick pizza and wine lunch at Zambri’s; order like a local and get the meatball on the side. Savour a dinner of local lamb saddle or lingcod, sourced from farmers and fishers who are friends of this legendary Italian favourite. 

10 Acres
At three casual, energetic Victoria locations of 10 Acres, taste orchard fruit, produce grown from heirloom seeds, and grass-pastured meats, all sourced from the group’s own farm on the nearby Saanich Peninsula.

Fish and Chips
A seaside staple gets a sustainable upgrade in Victoria. In a bright yellow converted shipping container on the Inner Harbour, Red Fish Blue Fish stuffs its famous tacones, tempura fish sandwiches and chip combos with crispy local catches. Across from Fisherman’s Wharf, Finest at Sea has a fish and chip truck as well as a full-service seafood market, stocked by its own fleet of fishers. Try the famous clam chowder

Grab a bar stool for the opportunity to taste BC beer, cider, and wine, crafted with innovation and fresh flavours. Flights paired with local bites are part of the experience—and don’t miss a chance to sip a Shaft cocktail (always through a straw), the creamy cousin to the espresso martini and a Victoria favourite.

Downtown Cocktail Crawl
With tropical bar Citrus & Cane relocating near Bastion Square cocktail temple Wind Cries Mary, make an evening of a two-stop cocktail hop. Downtown hotel bars including moody Humboldt Bar, mainstay Clive’s Classic Lounge, plus Q at the Empress and The Courtney Room, are all places to sample bar-menu bites and top-shelf mixology. 

Revolutionary Beer 
Canada’s brewpub scene started in this city, and the Greater Victoria Ale Trail guides you from urban tap rooms to rural brew houses. Canadian Craft Tours can safely transport you on a craft crawl of Victoria, too. Don’t miss Phillips Brewing & Malting Co., with a brewpub serving hot dog towers and gourmet tater tots, plus its own gin and Sanctuary whisky. A short drive away, farm cideries such as Junction Orchard & Cidery, Sea Cider, and Victoria Cider Co. celebrate tree-to-table cider.

Dine and Wine 
Victoria wine bars make chic and breezy alternatives to formal dining. Graze and sip to your heart’s content at downtown L’Apéro Wine & Cheese Bistro, and watch for its occasional Cheese Tasting 101 sessions. At Rabbit Rabbit Wine Bar in Chinatown, small plates like scallop aguachile and lasagna with gochujang Bolognese are the inventions of Top Chef Canada alumnus Billy Nguyen. Bodega Bar is your spot for tasting flights of wine, sherry, or vermouth, and enjoying Spanish-style tapas.