fireside grill

with the high quality, delicious tastingfoodcomes a high price. sunday brunch at the fireside grill costs $25 per person. while that may seem (and is for most) steep, you are definitely getting your money’s worth.

fireside grill 4509 west saanich rd. royal oak district saanich , bc (250) 479-1222 j: when it comes to ghost hunting, ed never likes to visit a heritage place on an empty stomach. i guess that is why we visited the fireside grill. the tales this building’s owners could tell could make for some interesting pages in a local history book. but i was more interested in the food. call me uninterested but if we pulled up in the mystery van, i would be looking to make myself a hero sandwich rather than looking for clues. e: yeah, james can pretty much be like the shaggy to any scooby gang should he ever decide to join one. he’s a coward when dealing with spooks but i will gladly try to shake an entity’s hand. even if i visited a haunted house, i’m willing to bet i’ll find him in the kitchen sooner than later while i go scouting the premises in hopes something supernatural may present itself. in this fine establishment’s case, it’s to insure that you have plenty of money to pay for the higher priced entrées — burgers included. the beef and crab combo was a taste sensation i had to bite into. in what cascaded through my taste buds, i was sold. the menu lists truffle crab as the key ingredient, but i detected more of a blue crab taste that was lovingly slathered over the prime beef.foodporn can not get any better than this! i suspect what the menu is supposed to say is truffled crabmeat. j: i was tempted to order salt spring island mussels just for nostalgia’s sake. i know raven street market cafe on salt spring is no longer of this world (speaking of ghosts) but damn it i miss them. i was won over by fireside’s lamb and gorgonzola burger with greek slaw under the bun. the prices of these burgers are a little higher than other establishments but you do get what you pay for. the lamb was grilled to perfection, not fried, but at a fancy place such as this it is to be expected. among the patrons wearing their suits and designer clothes, i really did feel like shaggy from scoob

our party arrived with a reservation and we were seated upstairs overlooking the large open dining hall. the ambience is warm, quaint and full of character. the tudor building was constructed in 1939 and many of the original details remain like the vaulted timber frame, leaded glass windows and oversize fireplace (hence the name!). it's a charming space and i imagine quite stunning at christmastime. i see why this is a popular place with the older crowd. service was professional and attentive. most of us ordered from the 3-course tasting menu that changes seasonally. smallish portions but well presented. a couple of people at the table were disappointed the cheesecake was deconstructed not a traditional graham crust.foodis comparable to med grill across the road (fine but not totally memorable). busy restaurant so reservations a must.
3.75/5

very nicely appointed restaurant in an old tudor style building with friendly staff. i've been for dinner many times and always has not only a good selection but good quality tasty meals. no too much for the vegetarian though but does feature an eggplant parmesan and lots of great salads. the spinach salad is excellent and with some choices for he non vegetarian you can customize their wide assortment of salads. the plates are the vertical stack so the presentation is nice but honestly thefoodis always delicious. i love the salmon with polenta.

excellentfoodand good service. the flat iron steak was perfect ... but the vegetables -- roasted peppers (2 slivers) and wild mushrooms (1) -- were scant .., if not invisible on the plate. the cauliflower mash was delicious.

great food! great staff! great parking!. once again the fireside grill came through for our group for our infrequent lunches together. the sumptuousfoodwas seasoned perfectly. the wine list impressive, the service was superb, the historic atmosphere interesting yet unobtrusive. and the parking was free and plentiful. all was just as we like it!

disappointing.... went for valentines dinner last night.... had only had positive experiences in the past so was looking forward to a lovely dinner!

was shockingly disappointed... our server was uninterested, and never seemed to understand our frustration. thefoodwhile presented beautifully tasted like nothing special. the salmon was dry, and the ribs were nothing special.

with such a beautiful decor and setting, you expect a great dinner. but when you're in and out in less then an hour (and had ordered a bottle of wine (white but served with no chiller - we were also sat in front of the fire) appetizers and full mains, this feels more like red robin then a 100$ plus dinner)

needless to say we won't go back, no value for money or experience.

near perfection!. i was taken here for a surprise birthday dinner the other day, and was completely wowed! this place is the last thing i expected to find in this dreary bit of suburban saanich. the mock-tudor building is gorgeous, with high ceilings and lots of wood, looking properly english. it dates only from the late 1930's, but looks much older. we were seated in what felt like a ballroom that had been converted to large but cozy dining hall. with a fireplace at each end of the room, and strategic lighting, it felt surprisingly intimate. it was warm, and quiet, but not too quiet, with a nice steady stream of servers coming in and out. there is also a smaller cozy bar area, and an upstairs more private dining room. it's a huge place! service was quick and very professional; and i am super-picky about service. i was totally impressed by thefood- a three course locally-sourced meal for $25. first, the most delicious squash soup i've ever had, and then a huge juicy piece of chicken and tasty morsels of root veggie and kale, etc, followed by an ample chocolate dessert that was not too sweet. perfection. the only drawback ito this place for me is the location. it's not that it's too far, really, if you drive, but just that there is nothing else around of any interest. a real anachronism.

sunday brunch. great spot for sunday brunch. went with a small group and found thefoodquality pretty good for the price and service and atmosphere was excellent. i think the closest brunch in victoria would be the marina restaurant in oak bay. between the two, i think they are comparable. marina is a bit better value (bit better food, discounts for seniors, water views) but i like how open fireside is and it is much more quiet than marina. would definitely return for brunch.

fantastic server & food!. lovely, very accommodating staff for our party's individual issues, our server, jd, was a blast to have. he was perfect in understanding our drink preferences, and meals in general. thefoodwas great, however quite limiting in vegetarian meals (unless you want the usual salad!). everyone in our party left feeling quite pleased with the food, and quite honestly jd made the night. charismatic and joking, i would highly recommend this place and have your fingers crossed you get jd! (though i'm positive the other staff are great as well!)

and the winner is...... well, the winner isn't the fireside grill. a bland caesar salad followed (eventually) by a truly bad chicken dish. the chicken breast was so overdone that a steak knife was necessary to cut it and there was little evidence of cambozola. the accompanying kohlrabi mash, bacon jam, parsnip chips and kobosu emulsion looked like a plate of babyfoodand tasted much the same with the flavours indiscernible from each other. the most creative aspect of this dish (and most of the rest of the menu items) was the person who wrote the menu. when asked how we enjoyed dinner i told our waiter how dry the chicken was and didn't think it had been freshly prepared. he said "oh no, everything is prepared that day - in the morning - and reheated when ordered later". that was it. no apology, no adjustment made, no compensation offered. just a shoulder shrug. not impressed, won't be back.

we thoroughly enjoyed our meal. great venue, good food. don't order the calamari though. it came undercooked and tasting like flour. the waitress took it away and replaced it, but the second order, unfortunately, came out the same. this item really should have been removed from our bill but wasn't. other than that, thefoodwas excellent.

beautiful spot and the service was great, despite being sat at a really awkward table (you know what i mean?)
thefoodwas a huge disappointment bland, baby foody polenta, under cooked pork - i could go on. i felt thefoodcatered to the numerous retirement homes in the area....nothing you need a palate or teeth to eat. great place to burn through a pension though. pricey for the quality.

beautiful summer patio lunch. this is the perfect patio to sit on in summer to enjoy a delicious lunch. i'll keep this review to the point - about thefoodand service.

the menu selections are great and made for some difficult choices. i opted to have two appetizers -- to have a cup of their homemade daily soup (red lentil with pork) and their duck confit lettuce wraps. the portions were perfect and for roughly $4 and $8, respectively, the prices were on par for what i'd expect. not to mention, interesting flavours and decent portions. the only comment i have for the lettuce wrap is that the romaine lettuce wasn't soft enough to actually 'wrap' so something like butter lettuce, bibb lettuce, or even iceberg might be better.

the other two had sandwiches - the beef dip and the pulled pork wrap. both raved about their sandwiches -- which were mammoth-sized portions (okay maybe not that big, but you get the picture) with excellent caesar salads. yes, you can find a caesar salad on just about any menu but not every restaurant attempts to make their own dressing which they do, and do well, at fireside.

we three decided to share the dessert sampler for two which had small bites of four different desserts: a "gin and tonic" ice with passionfruit mousse, cream puff with citrus-saffron scented whipped cream, flourless chocolate cake w/ amaretto icecream and cheesecake w/ blueberry sauce. the gin and tonic ice w/ passionfruit mousse was amazing. it absolutely made my tastebuds do a little dance and i would have been happy to have just that for dessert. everything else was quite delicious with the flourless chocolate cake being my #2 choice.

another thing i really appreciate about the fireside (okay, a few things): we only drank water, and despite a fairly busy patio our server was attentive and made sure our glasses were never empty. for some reason, as simple a concept it is to keep a glass of water filled, many restaurants are not good at keeping this in mind. also, when our dessert was brought out, the server who brought it (not our original server) explained each of the desserts to us so we knew what we were having. though i would said mostly self-explanatory, it was still a nice thing to have done.

lastly, this is one of the few restaurants that actually has comment cards for patrons to fill out. i am not sure if there is some sort of reward for servers who get good feedback, or if it's just a part of fireside's authentic reason for wanting to maintain excellentfood& service, but i really like that they do want to know how they are doing. i appreciate that they appreciate the customer's voice, rather than just wanting people to get out the door especially if unhappy. luckily for us, we were very happy with our experience and look forward to enjoying another meal with them again.

excellent. service was amazing,foodeven better..i savoured every last bite, while taking in amusing anecdotes by the waitor periodically. it was a summer evening, the vibe on the outdoor patio was upbeat and everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves. would definately recommend and return