East Garden Restaurant (map, 2888 Belmont Avenue, Victoria, BC, Canada, phone: 250-598-1232) is a Chinese restaurant hidden away in a residential neighborhood in Victoria, near the Hillside shopping centre.

The restaurant is very popular for take out and is a local favorite. The restaurant has a large, bright and well-kept dining area that would be suitable for large groups, families, or friends looking for casual dining. We ordered the Dinner Combination for Two, which was around $15 each and also included rice and soup (items pictured below).

The waitress kindly allowed us to substitute some dishes in the combination at a small extra price. I thought the food was really tasty, as well as generously portioned. Our total bill before tip (but including tax) was $33.99, which is quite reasonable considering how many dishes were included. We had lots of food left over, almost enough for another whole meal!

(For a photo of the exterior of the restaurant please visit Tourism Mall.)

(above) Won ton soup at East Garden restaurant

(above) Chinese Beef and Broccoli from East Garden restaurant in Victoria.

(above) Chow Mein noodles from East Garden restaurant

(above) Deep fried prawns and pork from East Garden Chinese restaurant

(above) Breaded chicken with peanuts

Da Tandoor (1010 Fort St, Victoria, BC, Canada, phone: 250-384-6333) is a cozy, authentic Indian restaurant near downtown Victoria. I enjoyed the Chef’s Special Platter ($20, pictured below) which came with Tandoori chicken, chicken Tikka, prawn skewer, two vegetarian side dishes, rice, naan, and an appetizer. It was really delicious, but the chef could have easily used a bigger plate which would have given him/her more room to present all the tasty food.

(above) Chef’s special platter at Da Tandoor restaurant in Victoria

(above) Naan bread from Da Tandoor restaurant in Victoria

Taking the ferry over to Victoria is a popular day trip for tourists to Vancouver. And for some people, a ride on BC Ferries is inevitable, whether it is to attend school at UVic, visit family, or simply return home. In my case I was going over for a vacation, which also involved performing in a piano concert (click here for free recording of my performance in the concert).

Naturally, during the 1.5 hour ferry trip, I got hungry. There are several food options available on BC Ferries, one of which is the Pacific Buffet, which BC Ferries describes as offering “elegant ocean-view dining on sailings from Vancouver to Victoria and features a wide selection of hot and cold items”. The buffet costs $16 to $21 depending on the time of day.

The line up for the buffet seemed long, so I headed over to the main cafeteria, which is branded as “White Spot”, a popular chain restaurant with several locations in Vancouver. The ocean-going version of White Spot has a simpler menu, but still has some attractive choices, such as the Roast Chicken with fries or Caesar salad, various burgers, salads, or their signature entree, the baked maple-glazed salmon ($11.99, pictured below).

The salmon was surprisingly good, and unlike some restaurants where the actual product looks a lot different from the picture in the menu, my salmon looked very similar to the enticing poster-sized photograph at the cafeteria entrance. My only problem was that I was really hungry, and I could have easily eaten two orders of scrumptious salmon. Maybe next time I’ll try the Pacific Buffet!

(above) BC Ferries Salmon Entree ($11.99)