Hi Folks: Well, as suggested in our beginning page for this week, I’ve eaten in a LOT of restaurants over the years. I’ve worked on field studies that required me to live in hotels/motels for over a year at a time, and eating in restaurants can certainly become a familiar experience – especially for breakfast. When you eat in the same place every morning, after a while the servers stop asking you what you want and just bring it. Hint for the day: ALWAYS overtip breakfast servers. They work just as hard, but breakfasts tend to cost less and if you use a percentage of the tab for a tip, they lose out.
So, while the phrase ‘let’s go out for dinner’ isn’t as exciting to me as it was maybe thirty years ago, I’ve also been to enough places that I appreciate those that stand out a little from the competition. In my experience, the price and the ‘class’ of restaurant make little difference. I’ve had wonderful experiences in some high-end dining rooms, and some wonderful meals at small Mom & Pop shops. One of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had was at a diner on the highway outside of Winnipeg, and I also have wonderful memories of eating at ‘Chef Pierre‘ restaurant in Ottawa, where the waiters wear tuxedos and the salmon is deboned in front of you. Marcia and I used to go down to Toronto’s waterfront for ‘First Night‘ on New Year’s Eve, and we went to Penelope’s on Front Street for dinner. We only went there once a year and so were quite surprised the second time when the gentleman not only remembered us, but seated us at the same table!
One of the most unique dining experiences Marcia and I have had was at the Sultan’s Tent on Bay Street in Toronto (they’ve since moved). We climbed several steep flights of stairs, turned a corner, and were in a sultan’s tent! There were goat-hide rugs on the walls, unbelievably comfortable purple divans, large brass tables, and the most delicious mint tea. One booked a table for the evening, and after eating, the guests were encouraged to lounge on the divans and watch the traditional belly dancing. It was wonderful!
Okay, enough reminiscing for now, but you get the idea. The focus of today’s post is a restaurant in Victoria called Floyd’s Diner. Eating at Floyd’s is an experience unto itself. Floyd’s Diner sits at the NW corner of Quadra and Yates Streets, and it’s not hard to find. Floyd’s is, in a word, Pink. Well, more of a dusky rose, but that’s two words. Inside the walls are painted in primary colours – bright gold, blue and red, and the walls are decorated with old movie posters, Beatles photographs and similar memorabilia. Floyd’s may have the only pink Vespa in Victoria. It’s not that Floyd’s is a throwback to the sixties – one gets the impression it never left and that one is transported through a time-warp upon opening the door.
Eating at Floyd’s is an assault on the senses, but in a very good way. It’s sometimes quiet but often very busy, it’s often very loud, and it’s always very friendly. The staff are mostly young and very energetic, with always a smile, even when they’re being run off their feet. (They also give some of the best hugs in town if you ask nicely).
Floyd’s was the first restaurant I tried after arriving in Victoria a few months ago. It was a cold and rainy afternoon, and Marcia and I ducked in there for some lunch and a chance to warm up a bit. We both tried the ‘bottomless’ bowl of tomato bisque soup and it was heavenly. In fact the soup there is so good that the last two times we went to Floyd’s they were sold out, so go early or miss out! Fortunately, there’s much more to Floyd’s than just soup; they have a wide variety of foods to tempt your taste buds!. Yesterday Marcia had their spinach salad, and I had Eggs Benedict as I’d never had them before, with chunks of chicken, crisp-fried bacon and sautéed mushrooms, served with a side of potatoes. Excellent fare.
Actually, my only hesitation in recommending Floyd’s as a place to eat is that if enough people read this, we may not be able to get in the door! Hmmm…
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Mike.
Follow this link to read Marcia’s View.