Agrius - Victoria

We had just 24 hours in Victoria and arrived on a 4 hour whale watching boat transfer from Vancouver. We still had a bit of the sea shakes, were sleepy from waking up at 5am, and were keen to have a nice meal before our sightseeing. I booked in advance as I knew it to be peak tourism season and had heard this was an up and coming spot. On arrival we were given a beautiful patio table, which it seems like you can end up fighting for with customers from the attached cafe or Agrius itself. The manager/waiter who seated us was happy to chat and was super friendly. Management seems to be local and focused on this and a couple of other chains. They work with local farmers, bake their own bread, and are obsessed with ingredients. Menu items won't shock or disturb, but all will excite the palette. After a couple of tasty cocktails arrived, we went for the brisket sandwich and the perogi hash. Both were mouth watering and fulfilling. Before leaving we got a few tips about where to eat and drink about town, and even took those recommendations. All in all a pleasant, satisfying experience.

After our breakfast at Fol Epi, we decided to return to Agrius for lunch. Not knowing what to order, the server helped steer us with her thoughtful descriptions of the day's offerings. We opted for the Croque Madame and the Seasonal Tomato & Copa Salad. The salad to accompany the Croque was awaiting delivery, so a cup of beautifully prepared lentil soup arrived and it had a lovely broth with sauerkraut & house cured beef. Flavourful and rich with complex layered undertones. The Croque Madam came with a creamy egg atop a hefty portion of bread filled with house cured ham and mornay. Decadent and satisfying. The composed salad of local golden tomatoes was artfully displayed with ruffles of house cured Copa, nectarines, roasted hazelnuts and a delicate (not bitter) basil emulsion. Everything on the plate really played well together and although it initially seemed scant on portion, the actual richness was really quite satisfying! I asked for some bread to sop up the residual basil jus and committed to remembering all these elements in hopes to duplicate this at home. After a walk around the neighbourhood, we returned for the gelato...the best we've tried here in town.!

I am from the US and came while visiting Canadian friends. I almost never eat sandwiches because the carbs aren't worth the usual ho-hum taste. But their crab cake sandwich special sounded good. It turned out to be the BEST sandwich I have ever eaten in my 60 years on earth. I kid you not! I have no idea why it was so good, but it was the taste highlight of our visit. I highly recommend!

We love tasting menus. The one here, 5 courses, at $62 is an affordable adventure. An oyster amuse bouche was perfection....i could easily eaten a fozen. Each course was nicely presented and served to showcase the kitchen's obvious talents. A couple of real standouts....the rice and the duck. There is a lot of hype about the bread, but, honestly nothing special. Also, we noticed other tables were constantly getting replenished but we had to ask. In fact, we noticed a lot of buzzing around other tables while we were given cursory service, cool and distant. The room is quite pleasant, with a small outside area, most likely used for lunch as the evening as too cool for al fresco. The menu is short but very interesting with several very unusual items. A few real treasures on the wine list. An affordable dining experience especially as there seems to be no problem sharing. We were quite impressed and pleased with our dinner until dessert. A disaster of unfortunate textures and flavours. Didn't make sense. I'm sure the chef will rethink this as he definitely seems to care.

My go to place for brunch and lunch - very creative and extremely professional attention to all aspects of the dining experience. The croque madame will haunt me for weeks :) it was that good.