Get Involved!

Victoria > Recreation > Dining >

Restaurants Scene

Victoria's restaurants fall into several interesting clusters. Here are come comments on neighbourhoods and some of your more outstanding dining establishments in each.

Downtown-Inner Harbour

This is where the core of Victoria's government workers are concentrated, as well as the tourist attractions for visitors. The Downtown combines older architecture with a few modern gems, creating eclectic dining spaces with lots of character, with our that "manufactured" feel: its all real here. The attention is centred around Old Town, close to the waterfront, which is also home to a large number of pubs (look for the wooden signs). This area also has a range of inexpensive eateries, providing affordable lunches and dinners for civil servants, and others not dining on expense account. There are also a number of outstanding restaurants offering seafood, West Coast, or "fusion" cuisine. To the north is the city's Chinatown, with a plethora of oriental restaurants.

East Side - Oak Bay
East of Victoria proper is the community of Oak Bay, surrounded by water on its east and south sides. This area includes the hilly upscale Rockland area, Fernwood to the north, as well as the very-British Oak Bay municipality. You'll find some charming establishments along the winding Scenic Marine Drive (which goes by several names from downtown eastwards, including Dallas Rd, Hollywood Cr, Crescent Rd, King George Terrace, Beach Rd, Cadboro Bay Rd, and Arbutus Rd ). If you're driving along and see both a restaurant and a great view, stop; don't hesitate for a memorable dining experience. There are also a number of interesting restaurants along Fort St, which runs diagonally through the southern portion of the area, and around the University ("U Vic") and Cadboro Bay, which are to the north.

West Side, The Gorge & Esquimalt
This area has historically been a working class area close to the docks and naval yards, though today much of the land alongside the waterways is parkland. The older homes and buildings in the area make charming beds & breakfasts, tea rooms and small restaurants, many of which are clustered along Tillicum.

Saanich Pennisula, Brentwood Bay, Sidney
This mainly rural area north of Victoria can provide a number of culinary delights. Because the peninsula is surrounded by water on three sides, you'll find a number of seafood places, and often with great views or charming waterfront locales. Restaurants tend to be clustered in populated areas, so you'll find good eating establishments clustered in Cordova Bay in the east, Brentwood Bay in the west, and the town of Sidney in the North. In Sidney, you'll find the more charming places around Tsehum Harbour, including the Blue Peter Pub and Restaurant.

Sooke
Out of the way, about 20 kilometres west of Victoria, is the charming seaside community of Sooke. The town overlooks the pretty Sooke Harbour, which widens to the east into Sooke Basin. The area is surrounded by forested slopes, which help create a magic atmosphere. There are a number of great establishments along the Sooke waterfront as well as along the Island Highway. Seafood of course is the specialty, though you'll find quite a variety of cuisine in the area.


Use the pop-down list at upper-left to quickly find restaurants by cuisine. You can use the Restaurant Search Form to quickly filter the restaurants by community/neighbourhood AND by cuisine. You can even search by postal code, even by street to find all restaurants really close to you.

We appreciate your feedback and suggestions. Everyone can recommend a restaurant for our listings (please tell us why its "worthy") or you can send us your themed Top 5 list!