I had a dinner reservation at the Courtney Room in Victoria, BC, last Saturday, and was excited to try the chef’s tasting menu. The restaurant has received numerous awards. However, due to new dining restrictions due to COVID, the reservation was cancelled. From my research, the restaurant looked like they had a small two table patio out front, but it is first come first serve.
We randomly walked by the restaurant around lunch time on Saturday and decided to see if they had space. We were pleasantly surprised that they also had an upstairs patio, which had a few additional tables. I think restaurants will get more traffic in these difficult times by having a section on their website outlining the outdoor dining space/capacity they have. Just like how it is now common to list what payment methods they take, the listing of outdoor space info will likely also become common.
Anyway, we were in a rush as we had to make an appointment, and only had 30 minutes to eat, so we decided to share a chicken and waffles. The restaurant had a limited menu at that time of mostly breakfast. Here was the dish.
It was very delicious. The chicken was moist and crispy. The waffles were good and the sauce had a perfect balance of sweetness and acidity. The slaw added additional freshness and crunch to every bite. I would of liked the chicken batter more seasoned.
Overall, service was excellent. The restaurant uses napkins by Frette. I think when restaurants go through the detail of thinking through what kind of napkins they will provide, it is a good sign of things to come. The server was very friendly and even went out of her way to get us info on ridesharing apps in the city as Victoria does not have Uber (we used Current Taxi at her recommendation and were happy with it; they use Teslas; they dont have a lot of vehicles so you should pre-book). Once dining returns to normal, I will be back for the full experience. Given the preview, it is likely to live up to the accolades.