I did something today I rarely do in Victoria. I ventured deep into the bowels of the city's restaurant Red Zone (aka the no-fly zone) for food. I'm speaking primarily of the tourist-trap eateries that line Wharf Street between Fort and Yates. The strip where Victoria's worst restaurant of all time - Wharfside Grille - reigns supreme by subsisting on a steady diet of unwitting tourists who are fooled by the prime harbour-side location and signs that wrongly boast "Voted Victoria's #1 Seafood." [A tip to tourists: There was never a vote, and this place is about the worst place you could go to sample the region's seafood, or any food for that matter. For more, read my review posted last year.]
So there we were, deep in the bowels of Victoria's restaurant no-fly zone, seeking out a new sushi place we'd heard had sprung up a few months ago. Shima Sushi is another of the countless, ubiquitous non-Japanese-operated sushi places in town. Could this newest incarnation finally represent the tail end of the sushi boom? I sure hope so. The city is saturated with blasé sushi bars that lack the creativity, authenticity and finesse I recall from my time spent in Japan.
As for Shima, we were pleasantly surprised by the two rolls we ate there today. The presentation was stylish and the ingredients inside the rolls top notch. On a lesser note, the sushi rice tasted day-old, lacking that warm, soft, sticky texture good sushi rice is supposed to have; it also lacked the necessary amount of vinegar required for sushi rice.
As for Shima, we were pleasantly surprised by the two rolls we ate there today. The presentation was stylish and the ingredients inside the rolls top notch. On a lesser note, the sushi rice tasted day-old, lacking that warm, soft, sticky texture good sushi rice is supposed to have; it also lacked the necessary amount of vinegar required for sushi rice.
Where Victoria really excels in the Japanese restaurant genre is with the naked, raw essence - sashimi. The wild sockeye we had today at Shima was among the best I've ever eaten in BC -- nicely cut, and I could have sworn it was as fresh as the salt in the Pacific Ocean. By law, BC sellers of sushi/sashimi fish cannot serve it fresh, but must flash-freeze it before serving it. In Japan, flash freezing raw fish would be sacrilegious, it is not done in most cases. There's nothing fresher than a piece of sashimi that was just pulled out of the tank a few minutes prior, preferably still moving.
In sum, top marks to Shima for plate presentation and finding a way to prepare their sashimi like it wasn't flash-frozen. The service was a bit sluggish and tentative, but polite and friendly. Shima's interior, with its high ceilings and original century-old stone walls, is quite nice, and I've always thought it would be the ideal location for a micro-brew pub. Perhaps some day after the sushi craze completes its course.
After Shima, we pushed on in search of something else, something quick, something we hadn't tried before. In Market Square, we spotted this little food place tucked in the corner. It's been several things in the past, and I've always bypassed it because its previous tenants didn't impress me much. Now it goes by the name Ayo Eat, a one-chef operation specializing in Indonesian street food dishes. The reviews posted on Ayo's wall say he's been a head chef at a 5-star Thai place in Prague and has even cooked for the Dalai Lama! Pretty good culinary street-cred, if you ask me. We shared an order of his nasi goreng ayam (chicken fried rice with prawn cracker and pickles), and it was delicious. It began uneventfully because I hadn't noticed that the chef hid the spicy sauce under the prawn chips. After mixing that in with the rice, bingo! This is simple, authentic Asian street food at its best, and these Indonesian versions are still somewhat exotic in this part of the world, so please go down there and try it out, keep this guy in business so I can keep going back for more. Maybe some day, Ayo's chef will get too popular for that little box and be encouraged to open a real restaurant. 
Valentino's Cafe, 1002 Blanshard Street, Victoria, BC V8W
With so many restaurants, bakeries and cafes on Blanshard & Fort's "Lunch Row," there remain quite a few I still haven't gotten to yet. I've avoided many of these these places because they seem bland or uninviting. Maybe I felt this way about Valentino's Cafe, but not anymore. The eccentric lady who runs the place is anything but bland or uninviting. The staff, a cast of friendly oddballs, treat you like they've known you your entire life. As our server approached our table to lay down cutlery, he assured, "Don't worry, I work here." The decor in Valentino's is an equally quirky patchwork of pet photos (they are, like Ferris' Oyster Bar & Grill, especially partial to the pug), weird ornaments, postcards, poetry and love letters from real characters that seem more like from of Jack Kerouac novel.
We shared a plate of cabbage rolls and perogies, topped with a cardiac triple threat of cheese, bacon and sour cream. My wife liked the cabbage rolls more than I did (I felt they were a bit bland, and served too cold), but we both loved the homemade perogies. They are made on premises by hand, and fried up to perfection. These, alone, make Valentino's worthy of repeat visits. I believe they also package their cabbage rolls and pergogies to go, so if nothing else, you should go and buy some and take them home to try out.
With so many restaurants, bakeries and cafes on Blanshard & Fort's "Lunch Row," there remain quite a few I still haven't gotten to yet. I've avoided many of these these places because they seem bland or uninviting. Maybe I felt this way about Valentino's Cafe, but not anymore. The eccentric lady who runs the place is anything but bland or uninviting. The staff, a cast of friendly oddballs, treat you like they've known you your entire life. As our server approached our table to lay down cutlery, he assured, "Don't worry, I work here." The decor in Valentino's is an equally quirky patchwork of pet photos (they are, like Ferris' Oyster Bar & Grill, especially partial to the pug), weird ornaments, postcards, poetry and love letters from real characters that seem more like from of Jack Kerouac novel.
We shared a plate of cabbage rolls and perogies, topped with a cardiac triple threat of cheese, bacon and sour cream. My wife liked the cabbage rolls more than I did (I felt they were a bit bland, and served too cold), but we both loved the homemade perogies. They are made on premises by hand, and fried up to perfection. These, alone, make Valentino's worthy of repeat visits. I believe they also package their cabbage rolls and pergogies to go, so if nothing else, you should go and buy some and take them home to try out.
