Artisan Bistro

Located in Broadmead Village (Victoria, BC), the Artisan Bistro is owned in part by Executive Chef Daryl Pope, who used to be the Restaurant Chef at the Hotel Grand Pacific. We stopped by for brunch with my parents, who have already been here many times and had nothing but rave reviews. I had to try it for myself.

Duck Confit Hash

The duck confit hash came with wild mushrooms, wild arugula, caramelized onions, two perfectly poached eggs, and truffle hollandaise. There were generous pieces of duck confit that were tender, not dry, as it can often be. The potatoes were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, and the hollandaise was touched with just enough truffle oil to get the aroma but avoid the overpowering effect that is every chef’s nightmare.

The Big Boy

This fully loaded breakfast comes with three eggs, two strips of bacon, maple sausage, smoked ham, hash browns (in the form of the crispy chunks of potato), and toast. My Big Boy (AKA husband) went with scrambled eggs and sourdough toast. To say my husband loves bacon would be the understatement of the century – his love for bacon is rivaled only by yours truly (or at least that’s what he tells me…), so when he said the bacon was some of the best he’s ever had, it was a BIG DEAL. I have no doubts he’ll be ordering it again the next time we are there for breakfast. The sourdough bread was good but a bit mellow on the sour ‘tang’ I expected and love; I believe it’s homemade, so that scores some extra points.

Ketchup, Jam

Speaking of homemade, their condiments were made in-house as well. Made available to us were homemade ketchup and two types of jam: strawberry vanilla and peach cardamom. If you’re loyal to Heinz, there’s a chance you won’t like the Bistro’s ketchup. My husband didn’t like it and asked if they had "regular" ketchup, which they didn’t (I hope they didn’t take offense to that). I quite liked it and used it for my potatoes. I blame the food industry’s overly sweetened products – everything has so much sugar in it that it’s not surprising when many people are disappointed with something made using far less. Given the restaurant’s mission to use organic, free-range, and local ingredients at every chance, I understand why they don’t carry the iconic version we grew up with. Following suit, the strawberry vanilla jam was just sweet enough to cover any tartness, but I couldn’t taste much vanilla. I unfortunately did not try the peach cardamom jam, but my dad kept slathering it onto his toast so I take that as a good sign.

Next time I’m in Victoria, I will certainly be suggesting that we go here for lunch or dinner – or both!