Reviews of Vis-à-Vis (Fish Shop)

n marie

We were actually at The Penny Farthing next door. Sat outside in the fenced off heated area and loved it! Great service and safely spaced tables. Love pub night !

Elizabeth R. Bjornson

Great service, amazing crab ???? bisque and a wonderful treasure of a lunch spot! ????

Mark Coldicutt

About what you would expect on Oak Bay Ave.. Great food, friendly staff as well as nice setting. I highly recommend this place...

Louise McKellar

We waited for a longtime for our soups and we didn't get napkins or knife to butter our bread. For the price my friend and I were not impressed. Will not go back.

Stephanie

A disappointing experience! This was one of our favourite restaurants and we always came here from Vancouver to celebrate our Anniversary - we loved it that much! However last week, we really noticed that the quality of the food went down this year. From our favourite butter lettuce, to beef carpaccio, and to our entrees. Everything tasted more bland and it really looked like they cheaped out on the ingredients. It was obvious in the taste. The photos below are a comparison of the beef carpaccio from last year (with words) to this year. Unfortunately didn't take enough photos of the other food. Definitely less taste, less ingredients in their foods. Hope they fix this up so we come back again next year!

Square Pigeon

Generally good but a tad inconsistent. Had really undercooked (very badly undercooked) eggs and waitress asked me if "I was going to be OK"... lol. Most days good food and good value. Service on the slow side.

Jeremy Tang

Food and services are great. too much salt in the food.

George Fountain

Table service was slow. Staff amazing

Lorraine Locherty

My favorite breakfast place in Oak Bay. The food is always fresh and perfectly prepared.

Todd B

Good portion breakfast for $9 before 9am on weekdays. Got the standard with poached eggs.

JoAnn Ayotte

We looked everywhere for breakfast in Victoria and no restaurants were open before 11. But Vis-a-Vis was and the food was absolutely amazing. You should go!

Justin Curran (Vicengineer)

Great wine bar with friendly staff

Nicci “Nocturnal Nicci” Smith

5 Stars as always!! Shrimp & Avacado Salad is wonderful! Yum!

Justin Roux

Awsome breakfast sandwich and eggs benny! Opens at 7 am on weekdays aswell!!

Jimmy Perry Costamagna

Great food, just a little small and difficult to maintain a private conversation.

Amanda Johnson

Have been here 3 times now, twice for breakfast and most recently once for dinner last Saturday. Breakfast has been really solid here - good food, reasonably priced, competent service. The only minor drawback is that the pace of breakfast is quite slow - which is not a complaint if you're aware and have the time to be leisurely. Dinner was a much different experience. No major complaints about the food, but nothing to rave about at the price point. Our service was bordering on incompetent, however. We ordered cocktails to start; it took over 20 minutes for them to arrive. Mains came out well before our appetizer was finished. The servers were never aware of which dish or drink was going to which person, and the table was cluttered because of the timing of the service. I see similar complaints about service related details in other reviews here; the management seems to respond each time pointing out that they take the complaints seriously and that these are isolated incidents. "Isolated" might not be the right word... I'll definitely be back for an unhurried breakfast, but I'm less likely to return for dinner given the experience.

John Pickersgill

Great outside patio. Very clean , very safe and lots of fun.

Cj Rice

Good try

ROBERT HOOKES

Food was outstanding.This chef is an artist. A pleasant surprise we just walked in great food

Meaghan Irene

Great patio setup, covered seats available heaters are plentiful and warm, and they provided blankets. I had a blood orange prosecco, which was amazing. The mussels were delicious too!

Anthony Dason

Limited menu, indifferent sauce in the clam dish, that included unopened cooked clams when served? Pricing high for essentially street food, as patrons are steered to sit on the patio carved out of Oak Bay Ave.

B-Real 4 Real (BReel4Real)

Food was astounding, great ambience. The server was absolutely amazing. Great experience, will be coming back for more.

John Cooper

Great food. Dun atmosphere.

A.A. Brown

Quiet Saturday brunch, thoughtful light menu, well-prepared dishes, attentive service, good craft beer menu.

Wyatt Robinson

Breakfast was great, portions were large

Chris Macena

Awesome food and spectacular service

Manon Fontaine

Good service, good food. I had the crab bisque and the chicjen liver terrine. Baguette was disappointing with a soft crust

Jessica Samuels

Great options for gluten free. I had the Nicoise Salad.

Cathie Dunklee-Donnell

The service was friendly and helpful. There was a great atmosphere. I sat at the high table along the window and the view of Oak Bay was so nice. I loved the crab bisque soup. For forty dollars I got a three course meal that was delicious. I got a 9 oz glass of wine for 12 dollars.

Victoria Driving School Inc.

Amazing French bistro. Ordered steak frites, delicious. Duck confit risotto with truffle essence was great. Creme brulee for dessert, fantastico coffee. Highly recommended. Really friendly server!

Damian Herman

A really cosy wine and tapas bar with great food.

Jacques Lavallee

Very disappointed charcuterie and cheese plate cheese dry and old same for the meat it place I will never return

Janet

Was recommended this restaurant on one of the tourism websites for Oak Bay. This restaurant is connected to the Penny Farthing, probably same kitchen? Service was great, atmosphere was cozy, and most of the food was delicious!

Christina

So amazing but then I was on vacay

Jody Wall

Great little spot! Very excited to go back and try the charcuterie on the next visit.

Kit Armstrong

Small, conformable location. Fantastic food and cocktails.

Vanessa Schneider

Great bistro, love the ambience!

Brenda Quinn

This is a euro-cozy lyonnaise-style spot to enjoy great food. The avocado shrimp salad is a thing of beauty.

Jesse Arnup

Great brunch

Sean Easterbrook

Mediocre experience. Service was quite slow, 20-30 minutes to get drinks after ordering them, each time. The only part that wasn't slow was our mains coming out well before we had finished apps which is very disappointing. Mains actually came out before a drink which I'd ordered at the same time. Slow to clear so we had a cluttered table the whole time. No writing down of orders an none of the food was brought by our server so each dish had to be auctioned off at the table. Terrible excuse for espresso with zero crema.

Neil Neumann

The basic burger on the Pennyfarthing Pub menu is just a nice big simple burger; the best way for me. The meat nicely cooked with a sear on the outside but juicy inside. There is minimal distracting stuff in the bun & and a dill pickle on the side.

Ian McLeod

My wife and I went to Vis-a-Vis for brunch on Sunday and returned for lunch on Monday. The brunch was excellent. My wife and I split the Dutch pancake and an order of the eggs Benedict. Both were delicious. It was clear they used high quality ingredients as the egg yolks were a rich orange color and tasted equally good. Hollandaise sauce was thick and flavorful. The Dutch pancake was excellent, I'd go back for that alone. The sautéed apples on top really set it off. Lunch the following day was equally good. I had the mushroom truffle duck confit risotto and it was probably the best risotto I've ever had. Rich, flavorful, and plenty of it. My wife had the Chicken and Brie sandwich and it was also excellent. Both trips the food seemed well thought out, prepared with high quality ingredients, and by a skilled chef. For lunch they seemed a little understaffed but the people there were nice and were doing their best to attend to all the guests in a timely fashion. Highly recommend Vis-a-Vis. I will be returning at some point!

Chris

If you're visiting from another country, and are looking for the best version of a north american breakfast, this is it

Alexandra Schmidt

Delicious food, the atmosphere certainly makes you feel as if you're somewhere else.

Peter Gladstone

Great food and excellent service in a lovely ambience. On a nice day sit outside.

Katie B

A charming space with a simple but delicious menu offering an assortment of sharable plates and larger meals. The wine list is great and the servers are quite knowledgable; they can suggest great pairings that will enhance the food and will reflect your personal preferences. Their charcuterie boards are delicious, but my personal favourite is the fried brussel sprouts. Depending on when you plan to go, I'd suggest making a reservation. It's a lovely place for a leisurely lunch and a big glass of wine.

Gayle Wigmore

Great lunch here. Nice atmosphere and we were not rushed. Had the Salad nichola and the crab bisque with a delightful New Zealand wine.

Grady Harris

Vis-aVis has a geat wine list and consistently good food and service. Never disappoints!

Andrew McMillan

Vis a vis is french for $30 for a breakfast sandwich and a pretty good latte

Alejandro Bonett

Great little place next to Penny Farthing, same owner. Sat out in the patio and the food and service was excellent!!

Kimberly Spence

Wonderful service from Maeve! Delicious food as always, love coming here for our anniversary and brunch. Thank you!

Juan Cuesta

This place is a must if you are visiting OakBay. We had a delightful Christmas Eve experience in a small, warm and cozy environment. The quality of ingredients, textures and combinations were exquisite. Service was ok and prices were in line with expectations. We will definitely come back.

Simon Cuell

Combined with the Penny this makes for a nice road-patio experience with surprisingly tasty food

Norm Wilson

Great service, good room and very yummy food. Good date spot !

Ainsley DeSouza

The most magical eggs ever

Shilo Butler

Waitresses were very nice, food took an hour. Thanks for the comp but the meal was not fresh. Will try again another time.

Jeremy Kaufmann

open early and a great price

Crystal Walts

My salad was delicious and no shortage of bacon which is greatly appreciated.

Oxana Milovidova

Ridiculously bad service.

J Patterson

"A evening in Paris" vis a vis isn't. Nice atmosphere but the food was mediocre.

Tobin Frank

The food was excellent, but the overall experience was disappointing. We went there for my wife’s birthday. When we got there, we spoke to one of their employees about getting a table. It was all outdoor seating (their COVID protocols were very good) and we were told we could leave our number and go wander around the village and we’d get a call to return for a table in about 15 minutes. This was no problem of course, so we wandered a bit. It was quite cold out, but we were walking, so it wasn’t a big deal. But 15 minutes came and went, and then 30, then 45. At that point we were just waiting at a bench near the restaurant, freezing our a@&es off. Finally we went up and asked, and they realized they had accidentally skipped us on their list. They were extremely apologetic and sat us as soon as possible. As far as we were concerned, this was a simple accident, and accidents can happen to anyone. In my opinion, how a business DEALS with their mistakes is the true test. Our waiter was excellent, and told us that the first round was on the house because of their error. We told him that we had been planning on sharing a bottle of wine and asked if that was ok, and he indicated that yes, it was. We weren’t extravagant, the bottle was maybe a LITTLE more than a couple of cocktails would have been, but not much. At this point I thought to myself “excellent, they made a mistake, owned it, and have certainly made up for it”. We went on to have an EXCELLENT meal, and just a really wonderful time. Our waiter was really friendly and helpful, and the food was wonderful. We had a couple of scotches at the end of the night, and ordered a desert to share which we were going to take home to our hotel. Then the bill came. When he brought it, he told us that they had comped the desert because of the earlier mishap. I thought to myself “wow, they’re going all out, I was happy with the wine, but this is really pulling out all the stops.” I paid the bill, and we got ready to go. Then I looked at it, and realized that the bottle of wine that we were told was on the house was actually NOT on the house. I didn’t want to ruin the evening for my wife, so I didn’t make a fuss. As I mentioned, our waiter was excellent. This part is pure conjecture, but my guess is that this wasn’t his call. My guess is that a manager in the back probably said to him, “no, we’re not paying for a &$@&ing bottle of wine, just comp their desert, they should be happy with that”. Our meal for two came to over $200. The difference between the bottle and the desert was probably $20, maybe $25 tops. I don’t really care about that money. But the apparent pettiness of the restaurant ruined an otherwise lovely evening.

Ghabe Bossin

Went there on a whim, 7:00pm on a Friday. Seated promptly, great service overall. We just ordered food, but as compliments of the chef we were served a taster dish with celery root, chorizo and cauliflower with a pesto sauce as well as a small glass of Malbec each. Both were delicious. I'm not usually a red wine person, but it did have some pretty great elements that paired very well with my calves liver and onion entree. My partner ordered the risotto, which was equally delicious. We are absolutely going back again!

Lise Sirois

(Translated) Nice place, good burgers, affordable. (Original) Bel endroit, bons burgers, abordable.

Maury Swoveland

Only had fries and onion soup but both were great. Onion soup never galas to impress!

Veronica Augustin

Absolutely fantastic food, great service and a lovely location!

Sharon Miller

I couldn't have found a better lunch spot. The food and service was excellent. I couldn't resist the crispy brussel sprouts [I ate half before I took the pic] they were mouth watering delicious, but that isn't really lunch so I opted for the shrimp cocktail, large firm shrimp with a delicious dipping sauce. And then I topped it off with creme brulee. The food at the tables next to me looked just as good. If you are in Victoria it is definitely worth the bus ride.

Jamie Chan

Food was incredibly disappointing, especially for the price point. The cocktails we had to start were heavy on simple syrup and too sweet. We ordered the escargot and prawn cocktail to start, and Manila clams as the main. Food took forever to arrive. The escargot was drenched in cognac and didn’t have any other flavours and the prawn cocktail was underwhelming and not properly deveined. We sat at the bar hoping for a more intimate setting, however the bartender (our server) didn’t bother asking how our food was, and it was pretty clear we weren’t happy with it. We cancelled our clams and left to eat elsewhere. For a $100 meal, we would expect higher quality food and service (and there was barely anything to eat!!!). Would not recommend.

Andre Du Toit Schoeman

Great ambiance, good food and service.

Lori Ravenstorm

I am so happy we finally gave this place a try last spring - it is now one of our favourite places to go! The food is small plates - the selection is fairly small, but quite varied, and everything we have had has been terrific. Standouts are the maple pork belly and the broccolini. They also have much better than standard cocktails - not on the level of Clive's or Veneto, but very good for a restaurant bar. The regular specials are very worthwhile - we love to go for 3-for-2 small plates on Wednesdays, and find that's just the right amount of food for the two of us.

Mike Hutchison

Excellent service, great food, and charming atmosphere.

Judith Adamick

Worst cappuccino I’ve ever had. Breakfast was so so

Matt Chan

Went in for a first time visit for their Dine Around Victoria menu with my girlfriend, food was absolutely spectacular! Good service and wonderful atmosphere. Definitely will be back!

Kirsten Youngs

Had been here for amazing dinners but the brunch was even more fab. Well done!

Michael Tang

It's pretty good but the Tea served was a bit crap

Health Renegade

In my top 3 spots in Victoria! Grab a spot on the patio and watch the world go by!

Clemens Rettich

Excellent. The cocktail program is limited but inventive, and I'm sure standards are available for the asking. The brunch was pretty much note-perfect, both in quantity and value. Lots of flavour. Solid friendly service.

Paul Blood

Welk-prepared food, good wine and beer selection, great staff. Always a nice relaxed spot for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Jacob S. Macauley

I loved my breakfast there so cozy and great value. They follow the health spacing well and I loved the addition of the outdoor seating my friends and I have had our official brunch place.

Nodo

Food was good, but the staff seemed like they hated their lives

Ian Macdonald

Staff are amazing, super friendly and outgoing. I would order the avocado salad again, it was delicious. Crab bisque could have been better. Wine selection is good. Great atmosphere!

Lyne Duberry

Good special breakfast, nice patio, tasty food, great service.

Charlie Watson

Very good food, good coffee, nice decor. Fantastic cappuccino foam.

Nadia Munro

Great local place with such a great new seasonal patio! Good wine selection, excellent cocktails, always great service. One of our go-to's.

Lenny Helton

Great cheese board, mediocre wine, and barely edible steak.

Rachel Capon

It blew us away. A jewl of Oak Bay Ave for sure.

Russ Kocuper

So delish!!

Nancy M. Noso

The food was excellent, amazing charcuterie board, perfect creme brule. A romantic atmosphere with great service!

Linda Breault

the salade nicoise had half an olive and one green bean. the chef obviously didn't know the advertised sakad choices. service was good.

Yves Antaya

Great restaurant and awesome service. One of my favourites. Their roasted mushroom and spinach Benedict is one of the best I ever had.

Jo L

The appetizers are especially delicious.

Lindsay Scigliano

Very good staff ! Cozy little place !

M. H. Wells

Visited for my birthday. Service was just fine and the food was excellent! The atmosphere is gorgeous and the price was very fair for the quality! Would completely reccomend.

britney goudy

In love with the atmosphere and delicious menu. Plan to return often.

DEBRA SKELTON

I thought I would celebrate my 70th birthday with a solo brunch at a new restaurant, and decided to try Vis-a-vis. I was given a delightful patio table, enjoyed a delicious plate, treated to an elegant flourless chocolate cake, and then - was not allowed to pay for my meal! Such generosity! I would like to thank manager, Matt Field, and all the wonderful staff at Vis-a-vis for creating this wonderful memory for me. And but the way, the cuisine was extraordinary!

Brennen Belich

It might be good, I’m not sure because we have been waiting for over an hour and still no food. Only 2 other people in the restaurant. Our server Eric forgot my drink, and our orders. Seems he may have forgot to ring them in after asking again. The Benny and hash browns were pretty good in the end. Will give them another try and see if it’s better next time.

Sheena O'Connor

Had a lovely time with a beautiful cup of coffee in the early morning.

Lianne O'Neill

A quaint restaurant with nice servers a unique and yummy, affordable food. Went for breakfast, would go again.

Carla Neufeld

We came as a family for breakfast with our 3 kids. The menu selections were delicious but sold me with their chocolate croissants and Nutella crepes! I had also come the night before with a friend for the charcuterie board and Brussel sprouts! A wonderful cosy little place with excellent staff and quality food

Chris Brown

Great menu, good service.

Kate McLeod

This is one of my favourite places in Victoria, if I’m looking for more of an intimate atmosphere. It’s an ideal place for a date or one-on-one meal. The cozy warm lighting and background music make for a wonderful scene as you enjoy delicious wine and French cuisine. The food is yummy and reasonably priced. The waitstaff are friendly and very knowledgeable of the menu. I will continue to come here!

Arash

Good spot for a weekend brunch or dinner

Tim W

Update: This is long overdue, but the manager of this restaurant sent me a gift voucher for a generous amount to make up for our experience here. Through no fault of this restaurant we haven't been able to make it out for dinner to let them make it up to us, so I can't comment on the service, but they seemed keen on letting us give them another shot. This is worth something. Ambiance: 5 Stars Food and Drink: 4 Stars Service: 2 Stars Vis-a-Vis is located adjacent to and is part of the Penny Farthing Pub in Oak Bay. The building is charming old brick with comfortable interior millwork. Vis-a-Vis itself is a little more modern than the Penny Farthing, but still charming and comfortable. The stage for a french Brasserie is set wonderfully in this restaurant that showed so much promise. Food and Drink: I ordered 'The French Connection' wine flight (which was excellent) alongside the Duck leg (also excellent) with a side of cauliflower gratin (it was quite good) to be shared with my spouse. My food and drink all arrived at the table with no problems whatsoever. We ordered a Paris Brest to be shared for dessert, it was expensive ($12) and wasn't good, they advertised almond cream and lemon curd served with the pastry, it was just lemon curd and it tasted old. The Paris Brest at "La Roux" in downtown Victoria is far superior. Service: My spouse was not so well treated. My spouse ordered a cocktail from the previous cocktail menu (That had changed within the last couple of days, and the drink she ordered is still on their website) thinking that their advertising on their website was legitimate: Vis-a-Vis says that they're happy to make cocktails from previous menus and that they keep all the old recipes on hand just in case one is desired. Our server, named Mishka, balked at my spouse ordering a drink from a previous menu, wasn't interested in putting in the least bit of effort to make the drink order happen (no suggestions, no questions about the recipe, not apologetic that it "wasn't available"), she only pretended to go ask the bartender (she just went to the bar and waited for 5 seconds without speaking to the bartender) if he could make it, and came back saying "He doesn't know" after my spouse mentioned what the website said about making older recipes. My spouse was disappointed as she wanted the drink she had seen on their website and had assumed that their promise of making older recipes was genuine. She ordered something else instead and was not satisfied. She also ordered a Chacuterie and Fromage board for herself, which did not arrive when my food did. It was obvious that when my food was delivered that there had been a mistake in the kitchen and that her food had not been made, though they were aware of the order. We had an awkward 10 minutes while the restaurant staff was staring at us and talking whilst a few cooks panicked in their haste to cut chacuterie and cheese for her. They delivered her food just over 10 minutes after my food arrived, and didn't seem apologetic or offer any recompense for the awkwardness or inconvenience. Also our table ended up being quite cluttered as the servers never bothered to clear our appetizer plates/flatware. This was our first date night out since our son was born 7 months ago, and we were largely disappointed that we didn't just go to our favourite restaurant: Brasserie L'ecole instead. I wouldn't waste your time here unless you live in Oak Bay and even then: The service is atrocious.

Greg Krantz

Awesome breakfast

Danielle Ronin

Great staff & atmosphere. Intimate or casual. They serve both comfort food and lighter fare with attention to aesthetic detail. Try the shrimp & avocado salad.

Brayden Klein

Great atmosphere, super service, creative and delicious plates. Thanks especially to Matt for being a great host!

Stephen Sloot

A little pricey, but great atmosphere and superb staff

Paul Lalonde

Excellent cocktail and dinner bar. Best steak frites I've had in Victoria.

Toni Ries

Great crab bisque

Arianne Berteau

Great French food and good service! I ordered the Fish trio. The candied salmon was a bit to dry to my taste, but my boyfriend likes it more dry than a do, so he was happy. He ordered a burger and loved the fries and the mayonnaise. We shared a charcuterie board. Great atmosphere. I recommend going there!

Athena H. Razis

It was good but not as good as expected. I like the name though... do not order the frites order the regular fries.. they put what I believe is an overdose of truffle oil on the frites and it tasted Smokey.. But an ash tray kind of Smokey... not the hot dog kind

Perry Wernich

Really delicious, well priced and some of the most attentive servers in Victoria.

LUZANGELA MOLINEROS

Always nice

Graeme Campbell

Fantastic food and excellent service. Had a lovely special dinner.

Eric Conner

Found a risotto with an assortment of wild mushrooms and pulled Confit of Duck with crispy Parma. My ultimate comfort food. Paired with a Rioja Tempranillo. Found myself in an establishment so warm and wonderful that they would be found on every street corner of Heaven if I was the Architect.

Linda Gordon

Lovely brunch today. Avocado and shrimp salad was a feast for the eye and taste buds . Lovely presentation. Followed the salad with Creme Brule accompanied by delightful shortbread cookie bar. Very nice. Pleasant service and charming atmosphere.

Brenda Fioretti

Mussels were great, avocado shrimp salad was uniquely presented and delish, risotto also different from the ordinary and tasty. Little on the noisy side, ambiance is nice.

jack martin

Food and Service excellent, extensive wine list. Small & quaint. About 6 tables for 4 and a few seats at the Bar inside, Outside Patio is quite large. Both the result of managing Covid. In my view a must go to place in the Oak Bay area.

Lynn Brumby

The poached eggs with the Eggs Benedict were cold. Shame really as the sauted potatoes where hot.

lance 50

Pleasant staff good to awesome charcouterie more pickles needed my god the duck pate/terrine was heaven

Dan Green

Great place to eat. Great service, great menu.

Williamjames Sarginson

I had Beef Bourguigon and my partner had flat iron steak and frites we both enjoyed our dinner more than enough food, the service was excellent,competitive pricing.

J Templeton

Wonderful venue for an evening out. They assisted in such a willing way with my food sensitivities such that my dinner was wonderful. The others at our table had the beef bourguignon and often have it because they look forward to it so much. Our server was expert and helpful!

Cheryl Brunton-Dubbs

Lovely soups

Tee VeeDee

Friendly staff....great atmosphere..... delicious food

Jeff Halvorsen

25 oz ribeye. Best steak of my life. Enough said.

Martin McElroy

Vis a Vis - 'Face to Face' is a small bistro that is part of the group that runs The Penny Farthing, The Bard & Banker, and The Irish Times, all amongst Victoria's best pubs and restaurants. This is a well run group where standards are maintained through professional and well trained staff. Vis a Vis offers comprehensive breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner menus. There's also a full wine, beer, and cocktail menu available. Always a nice ambience in this venue, the staff are attentive and friendly. In addition to the later meals, breakfast is always a winner at Vis a Vis, and that's a compliment in a town with more than it's fair share of great breakfast bars and restaurants. It can be busy at peak times so a reservation will avoid disappointment.

Chris Troisi

I will not go into to much detail but usually even with a not so great experience I do not go out of my way to write a negative review. In this case the review is not based on the food experience but wholly on the reception and service. Young girls whom have no decorum or pride in what they do and it was projected on to us. I have seen others love this est. and I have no doubt this is the case. We had an experienced based on a snapshot in time which gave us a very bad first impression. We were planning on having desert but instead wound up at a cafe down the street called Ottavios. The contrast was unbelievable not to mention the food.

Mike Berkley

Loved the increased outside seating.

Fil Mazzarino

Food is awesome

cache McWherter

Long long ago, I stumbled upon Vis-a-Vis, and it was *AMAZING* Delicious, creative food, friendly and knowledgable staff, and great wine selections. In fact, on my first visit, they were serving Dom Pérignon by the glass! Sadly, the restaurant I returned to bared little if no resemblance to the restaurant I once loved. It has apparently "merged" with the pub next door (apparently always under the same ownership), and now is essentially just a different room in the same restaurant. Upon walking in, it looked like we came to a private party: A bunch of friends at a handful of tables, and no waitstaff or employees able to be seen. Eventually, a waitress came out, and dropped off two pub menus, and disappeared again. Here you'll find a few burgers, some mac and cheese, fries, and whatnot. Nothing particularly inspired or compelling. The wine selection seems to have atrophied. Due to the lack of promising anything, we eventually left, and went to Stage Wine Bar instead. This was much of what I remembered Vis-a-Vis once being. A cute little restaurant, with a nice wine selection, creative trendy food, and a serving staff knowledgable in the wines and the food. I couldn't have been more disappointed with the Vis-a-Vis experience since the changes.

Christopher Brooks

A good breakfast and a nice patio

David Zack

Anyone can have an off night. Our first visit here wasn't a rave experience as we were expecting but the restaurant management was right on top of it and made it right. Our second experience was 5 star all the way...service maybe six star. Thank you Vis a Vis for taking care of business and doing it right.

Anna Sylwestrowicz

Vis-a-Vis used to be my favourite restaurant until today. I tried to make a reservation for lunch (early Mother's Day with my parents) and my son's 19th Birthday. I was told there was a no reservation policy. So we arrived at 2 pm to follow the lunch crowd. We waited for 45 minutes and finally a table for 4 became available. The not so pleasant hostess informed us that the table is "reserved" for the owners friends who sit there every Friday at 3 pm. So we left and had lunch at home.

HS Madan

Amazing food. You have to try the Benny. The service was amazing also. Definitely a must try restaurant.

Lorna Cosper

Excellent service. Please keep patio.

Heather Van Manen

Went here for Valentine's Day. They had a prefix 5 course menu with three options for the main. Everything was wonderful, from the service to the aperitif.

Paul Thiessen

Great food, great service, great atmosphere!

Barb Gilfoy

Great breakfast & coffee.

Catherine Sands-Leith

Great patio, great drink selection, great breakfast! Love this place.

Kimberley Munoz

First visit we had breakfast and it was delicious, hot and fresh. I had the fritatta and my husband the basic breakie and we couldn't fault it. The coffee is also good, they serve 2% Jazz. There aren't many places in Victoria where you can get a good meal AND good coffee. I went back the following week and had eggs perigord...OMG this is a real treat. Poached eggs in a rich sauce, with duck confit piece. This will be my regular hang out from now on, you should try it even if you don't live in the neighborhood.

jake sojonky

Poor breakfast sandwich with very little fruit for a 15 dollar breakfast. Servings small. Servers were non existent. Waited with empty coffee cup and had to ask twice for more. Maybe lunch and dinner options are better. If not for the outdoor patio this place should be passed on for breakfast/brunch

Tim Felbel

Delicious food, great service and really cool design. Great for breakfast! Thank you!

Brandon Molitwenik

Great atmosphere for food and wine.

David Green

Fabulous food. Really excellent. French onion soup and Moules avec potato fingerling.

Lorne Moore

Excellent spot! Fantastic staff, food, music and atmosphere. One of my fave spots in Victoria.

Martin Hryniewiecki

The food was great and the bathroom decor will put a smile on your face!

Britt Buntain

My favourite place to go out for an evening. The menu is so hard to choose from because everything is SO delicious. Brunch is outstanding too!

Van Leeuwen Tony

Excellent food and service

Tim Mcgrath

Moroccan Lamb Burger Cucumber ratia, fig jam, butter lettuce, tomato, red onion on a sesame Brioche bun. Dill pickle It was delicious, served here with garlic parmesan fries. Will satisfy even a hearty appetite.

Gary Higgins

A very nice place to eat with seating outside and inside. The food we had for lunch was delicious and can't wait to return and try it again.

Balreet Mandair

I share this review with a very heavy heart, as I was really looking forward to visiting Oak Bay, and this restaurant. Our visit was a few weeks ago. I will start with positive, the location is great and the place looks amazing. Nice and intimate, nice decor. However, our problem was with service, we did not receive much. My husband and I came in on a Saturday, around 1:30pm. When we we first seated the establishment was full, so we understood it would take the server a few minutes before he could get to us, 15 minutes later he came over and handed us menus, we asked for any cocktail specials, and he advised he did not know as he was new. He then handed us menus, which we noticed were Brunch menus, I had googled the menu prior to arriving and asked if we could order from the regular menu. His answer was "no" there was no explanation, just blank look and "no". We assumed that perhaps on weekends they only have the brunch menus, which we were ok with. By this time most of the patron had settled their bills, and there was only us and another table. We ordered the 1 salmon eggs benny, as we were going to hop over to the pub next door after to try an appy there. In the meantime a new group of 6 was seated next to us, they received service right away, and we noticed that they received the brunch menu and the regular menu, we were a little peeved, if we were told we only needed wait 15 minutes for menu, we would have. Now this place is not big, there were few other servers and who assumed was the manager walking around, they could clearly see we were not pleased, as now it was 2:30 and we still had not received our 1 item of food. What infuriated us was, the group of 6 all received their food, and we were still waiting! During this time, no one came to fill our water, no one asked if we needed anything. I finally was able track a server down as asked if we were getting our food, after a little discussion with server and manager, we were advised out food would be only few minutes, when it finally came, it was the wrong item, it was a regular eggs benny, which had been clearly been sitting on the counter for some time. This was the last straw, when I asked the server, his response was "oh... yah, it was suppose to be salmon". We got up and left, no one approached to apologize. We left the restaurant at 3:00, the only thing we had was 1 glass of water. Horrible Horrible service, such a shame, as when we walked in we had such high expectations. In addition to this we found out the PUB next door and this restaurant share a kitchen , which we assumed was mostly likely owned by the same person. So we opted out of going there as well. If you are in Oak Bay, head over to the Oak Bay Beach hotel for great food, and wonderful service!

Tyler K

Their $9 breakfast from 7-9 am is incredible. The salmon benny and the grande breakfast are my two favourites but honestly everything is so good. We've barely gone to other places for breakfast over the past year since we've found them!

Marc P

We had a somewhat "bumpy" experience for dinner. First, making a reservation for a group quite early in the evening (5:00 pm) took three calls and a lot of time on hold since the person answering the phone didn't know anything about bookings for the day we were asking about. Second, we arrived to an empty restaurant and were told that we had been "squeezed in", but only a few tables were occupied by the time we left, and those around us were vacant. Unfortunately this left us very cramped and elbowing each other. Third, how can a reasonably posh restaurant charging $25+ for an entree not have any sort of bottled mineral water? Instead I was given soda water from the bar, with a delicious taste of chlorine, as though I was eating at McDonalds. The food was good but not outstanding. The server had to keep coming and going at order time since she didn't know what was in various things and needed to find out from somebody else. Of course nothing was written down about the orders and since we were a large group we had to confirm our selections two or three times. And the bill was given to us with the comment "Let me know if you need to split it", but when we asked to do so this seemed to flummox the server. All in all, sort of okay, but a somewhat odd experience at the same time. Just ask your wait staff to write orders on a pad instead of trying to be clever and memorize them and things would be a little smoother.

beamreachingmarla

Authentic French style bistro and great bartender

Zane Bartlett

Delicious food with fair prices. Went here for Brunch on a Saturday morning. Fairly busy, but the staff were well composed and maintained good service. Would recommend to anyone looking for some delicious food in Victoria

MJ MJ

I took my mother and her recently widowed friend to lunch today. We arrived at 11:45 and found a lovely seat on the patio. The 'ladies' ordered a glass of wine, and we all ordered lunch. By 12:45 when NO FOOD had arrived, I searched out the waiter (Eric) - as it turns out he had not placed our order. By 1:00 lunch arrived, 1 hour and 15 minutes later!! Note, NONE of our order required cooking - Cold Shirmp salad and a shared Charcuterie plate. OK food but definitely not worth the wait. My time was worth more than the bill. No compensation was offered. Not worth the time or money. Patio is OK - very noisy with buses and dump trucks just meters away.

Maggie Serpa

Fabulous breakfasts

David Coates

Excellent, quality food with large portions and a relaxing atmosphere.

sharon amrolia

Fabulous! You won't regret it. Make reservations.

Silver Curls

Excellent cocktails, lovely staff. Intimate setting with interesting decor. Very clean. Would be our neighborhood hang if we lived here.

Bev Petow

Celebrated having my niece and her new husband up from the States, over drinks and salmon eggs benny! Perfect blend of flavours, - service was helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. Huge thanks to Vis a Vis for being a visionary sponsor for Arts Alive Oak Bay (for my work across the street from the restaurant.) A delightful cozy, classy, relaxed OB restaurant I will definitely add to my very small "Favourites" list.

Tyler Wiebe

Food was great. The bartender mixed amazing drinks. Really liked the atmosphere and the service was great! Would definitely recommend it to my friends.

Omar Lalani

Great food and atmosphere!

Cyn Townley

Always such a nice evening!

Bee Kinanu

Sunday 'brunch' ends at 11am...ie, it's breakfast. But like many others, I enjoy Sunday brunch...but not available here. Also servers are super-friendly but not very well-trained. "Anything else I can get for you?" we were asked after our meals were delivered. He had neglected to notice that we had neither cutlery, napkins or condiments...

Melissa Pinfold

Our server was awesome!

minimmo75gmail

Lovely atmosphere and pretty nice service. Was a little turned off by the price versus quality/quantity. One glass of wine and one appy cost me $30(without tip). I ordered a crab gratin appetizer that was shockingly minuscule and although very tasty, had the consistency of a soup. Unfortunately I couldn't bring myself to treat myself to an entree and a second glass of wine.

Brian E

Great time at Vis-a-Vis. Had the Penny Farthing burger and fries. Staff had masks on and were very friendly. Will return.

Barbara Gibson

Interesting food selection that is very tasty. Staff is friendly and fun.

Ali M

Amazing food and atmosphere.

K M

Went for our anniversary dinner and it was lovely. The appetizers were tasty and the entrees were even better! My boyfriend had the seafood special and I had the beef bourguignon which was to die for! The atmosphere was very cozy and our waitress was very friendly and helpful. When our original choice of wine was not available she selected two similar choices for us to taste before we decided on a bottle. We will be back for sure!

Madison Myatt

Amazing service and great atmosphere. The food is always fantastic.

Joanne Dafoe

Food was good and french wine selection excellent with a good variety of prices. Very close to next table but to be expected. I would have rated it 5 star as the service is always part of the experience. Unfortunately the server had no personality and she obviously was just going through the motions with us and not engaging at all.

Ian Rae

Wonderful meal and ambience during Dine A Round 2021. Will definitely return to this restaurant.

Daniel Koning

I always love the food and the service is impeccable. One of the best little spots for a date or to bring visitors.

Jasmine Taylor

Extremely disappointed, my girlfriend from France and I had the croque monsieur, super easy to make and hard to mess up. Apparently not, the bread was like cheap garbage wonder bread, the Bechemel was runny and had not been put under the grill, the flavour was bland and it was not gruyere they had used. The service was very good however.

MM Hill

We ordered 2 main plates: Duck confit is almost perfect in my onion - crispy skin, moist, flavorful meat and not overly salty which is a fault of most duck confit... and Beef Bourguignon is very good too, although the beef is more like roast beef vs. stew beef which is the classic French version. We sat at the bar. Excellent services delivered by the restaurant manager as well as the bar tender. Bread could be better, it was a bit plain. Enjoyed our food and experiences and will be back.

Julia Brown

We have found our new favorite restaurant, Vis a Vis - I have been here for lunch and dinner and the food does not disappoint! My husband and I recently had a date night here and loved the cozy intimate atmosphere. We have struggled to find the perfect Victoria date night restaurant and this is it! We ordered the mussels which were incredible (love that they're from Saltspring)! We also enjoyed a salad, soup, and risotto balls and creme brulee (sooo good). Would only suggest adding more Rose selections on the wine list. Service was top notch!

Francesca Andreolli

I went there for brunch last minute and it was okay. Toast was wayyyyy too dry and it was a bit pricey for a basic breakfast platter. Was decently portioned, atmosphere is nice and the staff were vert nice. Great coffee!

Ajay Mann

Amazing service. Order was slightly delayed due to my food allergies, however the server Nicky handled the situation perfectly. She was calm, apologetic but utmost professional. I will definitely recommend and revisit when on the island next. Visit was Saturday 29th August between 11am to 12pm. Thank you to the management too, as your team is very professional.

Jan Caldarella

Stopped in for lunch. We had the Lyonnaise salad, and the shrimp and avocado salad and they were both delicious. The lemon tart is AMAZING. High quality food and nice wait staff. I recommend and would go again in a minute.

D'Arcy O'Byrne

Great dining experience inside or outside. Very creative menu so feel free to experiment.

ML L

Great food, thoughtful service, friendly environment. Highly recommended!

John

A small French restaurant attached to The Penny Farthing Pub. It was recommended by our B&B host. The meal and service were very good. Parking is on the street and can a bit difficult to find. Tables seemed a bit crowded together but the noise level was fine.

Vivian Delaurier

The food was quite good very very noisy and a little slow

N K

Poor service and poor food. I had the octopus pasta, which was a special, and it was boring, one note (bacon), no hint of octopus, couldn't taste the pesto on top, thoroughly boring in every way. The side of mushrooms was also bland. It seemed like it was just a pile of streamed mushrooms. No point in ordering them at all. My companion had the mussels, which were also fairly bland. She was served two unopened mussels -- those should never make it to the diner as they can make you sick. When this was brought to the attention of the server, she just said, "Oh, that happens sometimes." An apology would have been considerably more appropriate. The fried Brussel sprouts were decent. When I finished, my plate was in front of me for 20 minutes, maybe. I had to actually stop someone and ask him to help us. Other than that, the service was slow in general. After mentioning the issues with the food, the server did adjust the bill, which was nice of her, but it certainly didn't make up for the poor food and service.

Lorraine Cameron

Breakfast this morning, very slow service. The wrong breakfast arrived for one of us and the eggs were cold for both. We won’t be back.

Paddy Bradley

Great lunch spot.

Robert Brown

Awful food and service. Came here because Brasserie was closed for the holidays. Once I figured out that the place basically stole its concept from Brasserie and Cafe Brio I should have greatly lowered my expectations, but it had gotten really good reviews, so we thought we would try it. Here's how the evening went: Was seated at approximately 5:30 and ordered a glass of Champagne to start. Then proceeded to order a bottle of wine, the meat and cheese board to start followed by french onion soup and steak and frites. The selection had 3 meats and four cheeses to choose from I believe and you could pick two. They were out of one of the meats and one of the cheeses. At around 5:45 the meat and cheese plate came along with my bottle of wine. The meat and cheese plate was okay and the wine was great (the only redeeming part of the meal). Then at around 6:30 the french onion soup came. The soup was very disappointing and lukewarm. Then we proceeded to wait and wait for the steak and fries. At around 7:30 pm the waitress stopped by and said "I think your steak should be ready soon". No apology for the long delay. At this point the wine bottle was almost empty and we were ready to just cancel the order and leave. But hallelujah the steak and fries arrived at around 7:45 and what a steak and fries it was. The steak and fries were cold and the the fries tasted like they were made yesterday and re-microwaved for our meal (but left to cool of course). So long story short, we paid $150 for cold food and decent wine and had the worst dinning experience I've had in a very long time. I should have followed my instincts and ran for the door when I realized the place was just an extension of the pub next door. The owner must have paid the local magazines a lot of money to give Vis-a-Vis the reviews it got. Vis-a-DON'T GO!

Jacqueline McGregor

Love the cozy village ambiance and cant get enough off their wonderful shrim salad..a work of art!!

M May

We love it here!!! Wonderful service and excellent food!

Samuel Froese

Was really excited to try this place out. Other peoples food looked good. Unfortunately my bowl of turkey, veg and rice soup was mostly just broth. I left hungry.

Terri Barnes

Great Service, Wonderful Breakfast and Cozy Atmosphere! However, we found the coffee to be bitter, have you changed your brand of coffee?

Cameron Bird

I suggest a reservation and this place is a very worth it visit awesome food awesome people awesome cocktails nice little spot

Ellenna Ward

The ambiance is amazing, the food is wonderful and the drinks are tasty! Most romantic place ever!

Ashley Godbout

Had a delicious breakfast with my partner. Awesome food, great service, perfect place.

Vince Mueller

Fantastic food, super service, little pricy

Wayne Cressman

Very disappointed that staff does NOT wear face masks. The numbers for Covid 19 infections are rising on the island.Unfortunately safety is not a priority for their customers.

Adam Nott

Great for breakfast.

Mark Sheppard

Breakfast bowl is amazing. Just have to be hungry!

C Cameron

Super disappointing. Had to send back the beet and tuna salad as the whipped tuna (which did not taste like tuna at all) was far too salty. Then tried the squash risotto which was a bit devoid of flavour and the squash was raw. Service, although friendly, was very slow. Friends meals were just ok - nothing special. Update: received a nice GC from the owner and finally went back a few months ago. The food this time around was 1000x better.

Luz Pereira

The service was slow ,waited over 40 minutes for lunch, the food was not great, they had decided to do some sort of photo shooting in a day that was windy and cold so they kept the door open, which make the experience even worse.

Vincent Cummings

We had our morning business meetings here and it is delightful. Great service, great ambience and great food, Love it!

Levy Stewart

Romantic vibes with great wine and the beef bourguignon is so delicious!!!

Alice Elash

Good food and great service.

Thomas Sypkes

Excellent food, service, and atmosphere. Especially enjoyed the sausages.

Victoria Girl

Unfortunately have to say that we had a disappointing meal and experience there. It was our first time, and l liked the atmosphere, it was cozy and funky. There was a duet singing and the singer had a lovely voice. The night was off to a good start but went downhill from there. We sat at the bar and the service was abysmal. Three of the four of us used to serve so we are understanding when things are busy, which it wasn't, and appreciate what good service should be like. Staff weren't busy, and weren't attentive. The food was all very average to disappointing. The whipped fish was strange, it was more like cheese. Then I ordered something else, and first clarified it was actual fish and was assured it was, just to get a different slightly less cheesy whipped fish. Unfortunately as I really liked the space, and wanted to like the restaurant, but likely won't be back for the food or service. An update on my previous 2 star review. We had the chance to go back and revisit the restaurant after the managements gracious follow up on our meal. The second meal was a completely different experience; we had a wonderful, very attentive server and a great meal. All four at the table were very happy with our meals which were cooked to perfection. Good food and service rounds out the great atmosphere at this cozy restaurant. We will be back!

Chris Green

Great customer service and fantastic food

Sandy Renaud

We enjoyed our 53rd Anniversary at Vis a Vis. What a delightful French restaurant.......Shades of Paris! The Beef Bourguignon was delicious! Our waiter was excellent and the manager was so hospitable and even treated us to our scrumptious dessert. Thank you......We will definitely go back!

Kalia Leslie

Great food, great chef, great people & service.

Bob Humphries

My wife and I went there for lunch. Server was halpfull and noted our food allergies. Had the crab bisque, the tuna salad and one of the sandwiches. Food was very nice. Sat at bar and stools along front window so could watch the world go by. A great lunch.

Allen Davis

Nice place - good food - great service

Elizabeth Jones

Lovely little restaurant phenomenal staff and great food. If you get there before 9 am , you can get breakfast for $9 and a hearty one at that.

dave dakers

Was in for a cpl of drinks on a Friday. Service was excellent except we asked for some extra sauce to go with appy. We were done appy before extra sauce got there. Combination of appy was good so eaten up relatively quickly and sauce was slow coming.

Court Fooks

Greta service, good food

Barry McDonald

Small and need reservations.

trask brown

A bit of a wait for the breakfast to arrive at our table but well worth that wait - delicious, perfectly prepared food and our waitress was excellent

Chris Goudy

Service is the best we've seen in town.

Chris B

Its small, its cozy, and it feels very personal. The staff are attentive and the food is delicious. As long as you don't mind sitting close to others you will enjoy this place

Nicky

I don't usually write reviews...but I had to this time! I went to Vis-a-Vis last night for my birthday and the servers were excellent, very attentive. They also noticed it was my birthday, so my partner and I each got a heavily poured glass of Prosecco, on the house. We had a couple of appies...oysters Rockefeller and a cheese and crab spread. Oysters aren't my thing, but my partner said they were okay, not the best he's had. The cheese and crab dish was delicious...very cheesy! He had the beef bourguignon and I had the Coho salmon special. Both were very rich and incredibly tasty. Portions were larger than usual for a fancier restaurant. We paired the meals with a bottle of pinot noir from Underhill, excellent, fruity and slightly smoky wine. We ordered the flourless chocolate cake, and my goodness it was rich! It came with a truffle as well. Now, the real reason I am writing this review...decaf Earl Grey tea! Not many restaurants have decaf black tea, and I'm not a coffee drinker. So my desserts are not usually paired with a hot drink. BUT! While I was away from the table, the server brought a pot of decaf Earl Grey, stating the dessert could not be fully enjoyed without it. This was also on the house. Plates were all cleared after the last person was finished eating for all three courses, and the server never let our wine glasses dry up. All in all, a very positive experience for us...dealing with the food hangover today, though!

Dyan C

too busy on Sundays. A bit of too much fat on foods. Forget the potatoes ... oily. Not sure I would return there.

Lisa Leeson

Had a delicious fried chicken burger and my daughter had the margarita pizza .. both dishes were presented nicely..our server was very professional and lovely ..definitely coming back to try something different. We vowed to make sure we try everything on the menu

Vicki Drader

Food! Servers! But noise...not so much