We love sushi. We've eaten the best and the worst over the years across the country. Last weekend we were stuck in Victoria due to weather and decided to order take out sushi from Chiba Sushi. It calls itself "the best sushi place in town". It isn't. This place should be torn down and sown with salt. We arrived and place an order for over $100 worth of sushi and sashimi. We waited...and waited...and waited. No offer of tea, water...nothing. We stopped a young waitress after the 15 minute mark and asked what was up. She said "it's not my fault that they're slow". Wrong answer. The restaurant was less than 1/3 full on a Sunday night at 7PM. At the half hour mark I asked to speak to the manager...the original dragon lady...and she screamed at me...that's right...screamed, saying "I can't hurry the cooks...not my fault...and so on." This is in front of customers who had just walked in as well. Finally after about 40 minutes we got our food. When we opened it at our hotel room it was dreadful. The sashimi as old...bordering on going bad. The portions we small (and I'm being generous here). They gave us one set of chop sticks. Folks, go anywhere...even food courts...and you'll get better sushi...we even had better sushi on the ferry back to Vancouver. STAY AWAY from Chiba Sushi!

Very friendly service by the owner, thick cut "hand punched" fries, cooked well. I'm leery of large fires because they can be cooked unevenly. These are crispy on the outside and cooked through. The fish is excellent with a a batter that is tasty and not not thick, and not greasy. Good value. I usually eat in, just a few tables, clean premises. The best fish & chips in Victoria for my money.

I hadn't heard about or seen Spiced Water until I bought a groupon for 10 drinks, because it was near to where I am working. I was pleasantly surprised when I entered the shop, it was very clean, and organized well. The owners/employees had obviously taken their time, and carefully kept the cafe spotless!

When I stepped in, I was warmly welcomed by both employees working behind the counter - we talked about the weather for a bit, as it was snowing pretty hard in Victoria. I mentioned that I had puchased the groupon, and the gentleman pulled out a binder, and registered me for my 10 drinks.

The two employees worked together to grind the beans, and create my latte, there were some issues with the consistency of the ground beans, but they wanted to make sure it was done properly, so that I would have the best possible espresso experience.

The latte itself was incredible! I usually opt for flavoured lattes, or add sugar/sweetener to them, but I didn't have to with this one! There was so much flavour, it was by far one of the best espresso drinks I have had! I look forward to using my remaining drinks, and continuing to be a customer there in the future!

Beware of Customized Cakes.

We used to love Pink Sugar. In fact when we first bought a tray of their cakes we found it incredible that they were vegan; they tasted so good! We remained faithful customers and passed on many good reviews to friends and colleagues. We even brought overseas visitors there to sample what great food Victoria has. Well, things have certainly changed in the past couple of years and their quality has steadily decreased in terms of taste and flavour. (Their customer service has never been great, but you tend to overlook that for good food sometimes, right?) Numerous Groupon vouchers to sell their stale, bland goods have been circulated recently, hoping to drum up more business. That should have been my another warning.

So, against my better judgement we had to go with ordering our son's birthday cake with them. After previously looking at Ooh La La and loving what they do, we discovered they were closed and couldn't get the cake made in time. Pink Sugar sprang to mind as we had never had a customised cake before - maybe they were better? With more thought and attention to detail paid to them? Let's take the risk. They used to be good!

Bad move.

After confirming our requirements and stating what we would like for such a special occasion in our lives, Pink Sugar assured us that the cake would be made and in time. To cut a long and disappointing story short, the cake was dreadful. It was late, so my husband had to rush out just before the birthday gathering to collect it. I thought that kind of understandable, thinking the cake's appearance would make up for the delay.

Wrong again.

Plain, cracked icing and characters unsecured to the sponge so they fell over, when it arrived home in my husbands arms I was so sad. We didn't even want photos of it to remember such a lovely day. But such is life and we wanted to speak with the manager for feedback. Feedback that would be beneficial to their business that this was not good enough for the amount we were charged. We didn't expect money back, but hoped we could spare other parents the disappointment of such trash for the money paid. We left messages and was assured we would be called back by the manager. She never bothered. We then emailed them with sad looking pictures of this cake, he again, never received a reply. Maybe the manager is deluded into thinking it was a one off (no, it isn't from what I have heard), maybe she is plain lazy (likely). Either way, she is definitely unthoughtful.

So I would suggest you only go here if they have a special offer and you are desperate. Definitely not for customized cakes. They are not worth the money and seriously need to re-evaluate their business plan, their staff, their management and certainly the quality of their cakes. As they do not ever reply to phone-calls or emails from customers, I hope you guys out there never encounter any issues with them. You certainly would not want to have a conversation with their staff behind the counter like I will have to, they are miserable and sometimes, damn scary.

I don't like giving bad reviews, I prefer to speak to the business themselves. But they don't want to know that this quality of service is unacceptable, especially for special occasions. People have told me not to bother with Pink Sugar anymore, I wish I listened. This is one place I will be telling friends, family and colleagues to steer away from now. Lesson learned.

Go to Ooh La La instead. Lovely friendly people, stunning cakes and great service.

I used to frequent My Thai when they first opened, drawn to the great food and reasonable prices. I moved away for a few years and decided to try it again after moving back to Victoria. Wow, how things have changed.

I was first struck by just how dirty the place has gotten. There was dirt and cobwebs all over the place, the carpets were absolutely filthy, and the place did not smell very good. They also haven't painted the place since it opened and it shows. The tables had chips of paint missing all over them and looked like something out of a Salvation Army furniture section. They also had graffiti all over the front sign, which they hadn't bothered to clean or replace.

My wife wanted to leave at this point, but I remembered the food being good so we hung in there to order food. Big mistake. While the curry was not terrible, the pad thai was burnt and disgusting. The shrimp that it came with also smelled pretty bad and were not fresh. The only thing I didnt mind was the white rice.

The meal was over $50 by the end, but was not worth half of that. There is a reason the place was empty for the dinner service.

Barb's gets a visit from us at least 2-3 times per year, mainly in the summer months. Good change of pace to eat outside, on the docks, and be out on the beautiful Victoria waterfront.

We always get the same thing: 1 or 2 pc Halibut with Fries

Sometimes my husband & I will share a 2-pc Halibut & Fries because we're not keen on so many fries. It's about $17 or $18 for this, so very reasonable to share & plenty of food for both. Sometimes we've ordered a side of coleslaw when sharing. Our vegetarian daughter can get a veggie burger there too.

We like Barb's...you go there partly for the fish, partly for the fun of eating out on the docks.

NOTE: In the busy summer months it can be difficult to find a table, especially when the cruise ships are in. You have the pager & the wait for your food, so often times you can mill around & nab a table in the meantime (but you have to be aware & quick!)

I like this place. It's at the centre of all things touristy, if you're a tourist, and has a good selection of beer and a decent menu. The food is good. In terms of the ambience, I like the wooden decor and that the interior design is in circles and squares. My only nit is the price. Bit expensive at over $7 for a 'sleeve' vs. a pint.

We are regulars here and have seen many changes in the upstairs pub. The view of the outer harbour and Ogden Point is tremendous. There's a real wood fire. The setting is great. The clientele are interesting - esp. the cruise ship passengers and the regulars bellying up to the bar with their own pint pots hanging in hooks. The food is very tasty and the menu shifts regularly, which is nice; they make attempts to vary the snacks, which we appreciate. There are 7-8 craft beer on, of which 1-2 is a seasonal. Some are served at room temp, English style; others are colder, Canadian style, which I prefer, but the beer is consistently good and the pub features caskivals and beer fests for afficianados. The only nit I have is the service. While we always get friendly enough service, it's always SLOW. Not sure if the waitresses are understaffed or the bartenders are slow or if the manager's not motivating enough, but we have never had really fast service.

We come to the pub side often. I love the interior design, very lofty with the wooden beams and light. Originally the seating was limited and the service a little slow, but in the past year both these things have radically improved. And we get good service always as regulars. There are 4-5 craft beers on at any time, one of which will be seasonal. My favourite seasonal is the Amber Artifact Lager; of the regulars, the pale ale is very clean with a bite for a summer day and the Beaver Brown is great when you come in out of the cold. The food is quite delicious, although pricey for a pub. I love the Aussie Pub Burger but at $17.50 and going up with each menu iteration it's too much for me.

My wife and I went there for the first time on the 18th Dec and ordered two noodle boxes to go. It took too long to get our order for the amount of customers there, which wasn't many. When we got home, my wife found a plastic suction hook in her noodles~! We called them, and they said to bring it in and she would get a free meal.
We went in next day and ordered noodle soups. Again we were disappointed. The soup was not hot, ingredients were missing from those indicated on the menu - lime, basil. When I asked for it, I was told by the server, " Oh, most people don't want it". She was indifferent to our needs, and if I was the owner, she would be looking for another job.
For a new restaurant, I give it a year before they go broke, unless they change their approach to service, quality, and customer satisfaction. In one word: Terrible.