MyWinePal: Enjoy High Tea, Tapas, Chinese Dishes and More on a Victoria Vacation

Downtown Victoria is packed with many different restaurants. Depending on the time of day and how hungry you are, you can have a snack, a full meal, or just drinks. I recently spent a few days visiting Victoria and had a great time enjoying many different restaurants, from formal sit-down meals to snacks with a glass of wine on a patio. Here are the places I visited, which you may want to visit as well.

Happy Hour at 10 Acres Commons

Situated across from the Empress Hotel, 10 Acres Commons has Happy Hour from 2-5pm and then 9pm to late. It was a hot, sunny afternoon of the first day I arrived in Victoria, so I stopped in for early Happy Hour, sitting at their patio. I ordered a dozen freshly shucked west coast oysters, pork carnitas tacos (4 in one order), and a glass of prosecco. Half the oysters were Kusshi, and the other half were Royal Miyagi. You can tell the difference in my pictures by the shapes of their shells. Do you know which is which? Miyagi have the ruffled shells. Both varieties of oysters went down very nicely with the prosecco. The tacos, served on corn-based shells, which I prefer, were also on point. The shredded pork was tender and juicy. The side of hot sauce was a bit too hot for me, so I just squeezed the tiny wedge of lime for some citrus variation and enjoyed the tacos.

10 Acres Commons oysters and pork carnitas tacos for Happy Hour

High Tea at Pendray Inn & Tea House

Just a block or two west of the BC Legislative Assembly, you will find the Pendray Inn & Tea House. It is an old, Victorian house, with rooms and beautiful stainless glass windows. There are different sizes of rooms in the tea house, so you may enjoy one of the smaller rooms with just a few other tables. I went for their Traditional Afternoon Tea, which has the following sweet and savoury bites along with a pot of tea of your choice.

Savouries

Cucumber with Lemon Dill & Chive Cream Cheese

Chicken Salad Crostini with Sultanas

Smoked Salmon Pinwheel, Caper Gremolata & Roe

Yorkshire Pudding, Prime Rib Roast & Horseradish

Classic Creamy Egg Salad

Freshly Baked Scones

White Chocolate & Lavender Scone

Westholme Cream of Earl Scone

Seasonal Berry Jam

Devon-Style Cream

Signature Pastries

Bon Macaron

Blueberry Cheesecake

Vanilla Custard Tart with Strawberry & Cream

Belgian Chocolate Fondant

I chose the Imperial Earl Grey tea. Although each item in the three-tier tray is small, it is very filling. You will not walk away hungry. I really enjoyed the cucumber sandwich with the lemon dill and the Yorkshire pudding with prime rib and horseradish. I do not think I’ve had a Yorkshire pudding at any other High Tea before. Both scones were light and airy and tasted even better with the Devon-style cream and berry jam slathered on them. The blueberry cheesecake and the vanilla custard tart were my favourite pastries, although all the pastries were delicious.

They also offer a West Coast Afternoon Tea, which has four different seafood savoury finger sandwiches. Thank you to Pendray Inn & Tea House for providing me with complementary High Tea.

Chinese Food at March Restaurant

March Restaurant is not your typical Chinese restaurant. More refined cuisine and different dishes than you would see elsewhere. The vibe is also quite relaxing with music in the background and pictures with a love for cats on the walls.

I had a pot of amazing green tea with flowers and fruits in it, complements of Chef Calista. The tea had some sweetness to it and was quite light-bodied. It was a nice pairing with the dishes ordered: flat noodles with beef, and broccoli with sliced meats, plus steamed rice. I also received a bonus egg tart, which Chef Calista added some sugar on top that she torched, so it reminded me of crème brûlée. A nice touch. All the dishes were freshly made, and the meal was unrushed.

March Restaurant loves cats, plus a special pot of tea

Flat noodles with beef, broccoli with sliced meats, and torched egg tart at March Restaurant

Tapas at The Tapa Bar Restaurant

Located in Victoria’s historic Trounce Alley off Government Street, The Tapa Bar Restaurant offers a diverse menu of Spanish-inspired tapas and other specialties. I ordered patatas bravas (crispy fried potato cubes served hot with a slightly spicy sauce), gambas ajillo (garlic shrimp), and mussels in a muy caliente tomato sauce. As it was my birthday, I was gifted a bonus crème brûlée with a candle. I had a glass of red sangria to sip along with my tapas. I arrived just before Happy Hour ended, getting a patio seat, but then the restaurant filled up quickly. The restaurant has a nice vibe being in Trounce Alley.

Patatas bravas, gambas ajillo, mussels in spicy broth, and a crème brûlée at The Tapa Bar Restaurant

Quattro Bambini Pizzeria

If you take a day trip to visit wineries in the Cowichan Valley, you may want to have pizza at Quattro Bambini Pizzeria at Cobble Hill. Their pizza is thin crust with a fresh tomato sauce and topped with pepperoni, in my case. Cooked in about 90 seconds in a wood-fired pizza oven, which is how pizza should be made. Not pre-cut in slices when it arrives at the table, you have a large pair of scissors to cut wedges for yourself. Besides ordering pizza, I also ordered a mixed salad that was topped with shaved parmesan cheese. Not too heavy with a vinagrette dressing. Both did not fill you up too much so that you could continue sightseeing or wine tasting for the rest of the day.

I hope my visits to these restaurants made you hungry. Please visit them when you are out in Victoria. Thank you to Destination Greater Victoria for providing me with an Attractions Pass that allowed me to go to the Pendray Inn & Tea House for High Tea.