Victoria, BC restaurant recommendations

This is more of a brunch place, but last time we were in Victoria we enjoyed Nourish: https://www.nourishkitchen.ca/ . Local ingredients, vegetarian/vegan friendly, and located in a beautiful Victorian house in the Inner Harbour.

A classic Victoria experience is to have high tea at the Empress: https://www.teaattheempress.com (Note: this is pricey, and I haven't done it myself, as I preferred to have curry in the Bengal Room, which is no longer an option, unfortunately.)

It's been a while, but years ago we really enjoyed Nautical Nellies: https://nauticalnelliesrestaurant.com

For a casual lunch, walk around the harbour to Fisherman's Wharf: https://www.fishermanswharfvic.ca We liked Barb's Fish and Chips: https://www.barbsfishandchips.com

For Indigenous food, there is the Songhees Food Truck at 1502 Admirals road. Again, this would be a more casual option, rather than fine dining, and I haven't tried it myself, as it wasn't open the last time I was there. https://www.songheesevents.ca/food-truck

Note that there is a little water taxi that can take you to different points around the harbour, if you need a break from walking.

And I know you didn't ask for activity suggestions, so I'm sorry if I'm overstepping, but I recommend:

Whale watching from a Zodiac with Prince of Whales. (We've gone whale watching 3 times, and our experience with Prince of Whales was the over-the-top best, although there are no guarantees with wild animals, of course.)

Fan Tan Alley is a cute little spot.

Visit Thunderbird Park, very close to the harbour, to see Totem Poles.

The Butchart Gardens are popular (need to book a bus or something to get there), but it's probably getting late in the season for it to be at its best.

I've enjoyed 10 acres Bistro the last couple of times we were in Victoria, it is in the inner harbour. Over in James Bay, ( still walkable) we like Heron Rock Bistro. It is much more a neighbourhood feel. If you feel up to a trek, the Teahouse at Abkhazi gardens is a lovely setting and we had a good lunch there a few years ago.

Last year, we had a lovely dinner at il Covo Trattoria. Italian. https://ilcovotrattoria.ca/

Last month, we quite enjoyed Finn’s Seafood. https://www.finnsvictoria.com

And on both trips, we also enjoyed a Greek restaurant, Ithaka. Not as elegant as the other two, but pretty good Greek food. https://www.ithakagreek.ca

BTW, if Tea at the Empress is on your agenda, we failed to reserve in advance and missed our opportunity, last month.

Enjoy your visit

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful recommendations!

I used to live in Victoria. Two signature Victoria places are Pagliacci's (Italian) and John's Place (brunch). You'll probably have to line up for both, but worth the wait. A new place everyone is talking about is Marilena's Cafe and Raw Bar, but I haven't been there myself.

Last December we stayed at the Magnolia Hotel. Their restaurant was excellent. We also enjoyed the restaurant at Butchart Gardens.

I second Ithaca Greek restaurant. I search for Greek restaurants everywhere we go! The gentleman on the website in the middle holding the bottle of wine was our waiter, he's from Cyprus. Very enjoyable waiter. Good food (although my favorite Greek restaurant is in Budapest, not Greece!!

Murchie's on Government St. It's half cafe and half tea shop-there is good chance that there will be line -up out the door during busy times. If you love tea this is the place to buy loose leaf tea. Munro's bookstore is right beside it if you like books. The interior is beautiful.

I liked Urban Rebar on Bastion Square - It;s in the lower level of a building. It's not fancy but has good vegetarian and several meals with fish. No chicken/beef/pork/lamb on the menu.

Huge thanks for all the wonderful suggestions! We are now in Victoria and getting hungry :-)

Thanks to everyone for the recommendations. They were incredibly helpful, and we visited many of the places mentioned. Rather than a full rundown, I thought I’d add a few additional notes that might be helpful to anyone who comes across this thread in the future.

We stayed at the Magnolia Hotel. Great location, very nice hotel with a very good restaurant. We’d happily stay and eat there again.

For a casual lunch with a view, we enjoyed Aura at the Inn at Laurel Point. The food was good, but the real attraction was sitting outside overlooking the harbor, watching the water taxis, seaplanes and other activity.

Q Bar at The Empress is worth considering for a cocktail. We weren’t particularly interested in afternoon tea at The Empress, and this was a nice way to experience the hotel and its atmosphere.

We visited Butchart Gardens and did afternoon tea there. The patio overlooking the gardens is a beautiful setting, and it costs considerably less than afternoon tea at the Empress. The food itself was just okay.

For anyone with an extra day, we drove into the Cowichan Valley and had lunch with wine at Unsworth Vineyards. The restaurant is new and attractive, overlooks the vineyard and restaurant garden, and the food was very good, including ingredients from the garden. We enjoyed the wine too, but I’d set expectations for a small, emerging wine region. One quirk: there’s a dairy farm across the road, so you may notice the smell outside. It wasn’t an issue inside the restaurant.

One completely non-food recommendation: the Victoria Bug Zoo was surprisingly fun. We’re not particularly into bugs, but visited when an excellent guide named Grey was showing them and letting visitors hold some. That made the experience, even if some of the holding was a bit outside our comfort zone!

RobC,
Thank you for getting back to the forum with an interesting and very helpful report!

So great to hear you had a wonderful trip.

For others looking at this forum, Yam Magazine has the winners listed (voted in by locals)

https://www.yammagazine.com/yam-best-restaurants-2026-where-to-eat-victoria/

It’s a handy resource. .