tartan toque

wings taste like dirty deep fry oil, way overcooked and leathery. had a burger it was burnt. and lastly tried the poutine and the gravy looked like congealed hood vent grease was cold and just sad. i'm sorry to say but tartantoqueyou need to step up your game because so many other establishments prey upon the wing, burger , poutine market and have better locations. i will give you 3 months and when i come back i hope to have juicy perfectly cooked wings, juicy burgers, and properly made poutine with real cheese curds. thanks

second visit. as previously noted, i did say i would make a second visit after the tt had been open a while.
my self and a friend entered a packed venue on 30 may.at approx. 8pm. the place was packed, a good sign.
this time i ordered the hottest buffalo wings, the waiter said ok the hottest we have. the order from my friend was combo plate 6 boneless wings and a mushroom burger.
i sat down with great thoughts of enjoying my wings with a pint of beer.
the wings arrived and sadly by initial look they sat in sauce that had been poured over the top.
my friends mushroom burger looked great and he thoroughly enjoyed it so 08 points for the burger.
now back to the slathered wings, there was simply no heat what so ever? i have been a professional cook since 1956 and have lived, worked and eaten in many foreign countries.
to come back to victoria and to enjoy a good old suicide wing was all i was looking for.
the wings were soaked but even when taking some sauce on a fork it lacked, heat,taste and any smidgen of buffalo sauce.

the cook should be taught to baste the wings like normal operating wing joints.simply simmer the wings in a separate skillet. rahter than just pouring sauce over the wings in the basket.

melt the butter in a large skillet. stir in the, vinegar and hot pepper sauce. season with salt and pepper to taste. add cooked chicken to sauce and stir over low heat to coat. the longer the wings simmer in the sauce, the hotter they will be. serve warm.

the venue is great, the beer is chilled, the burgers so far are good. but the wings once again lacked flavour and taste.
will there be a third visit from myself??? at the moment i doubt it.
robby mcrobb


-----07 apr, 2013-----

saturday opening time 12 noon. the name of the venue attracted my attention as a born and bred scot. my daughter took me to lunch on saturday. her second visit my first. as a wing shack the décor is great, a wee bit dark with all the dark paint etc. however the menu was quite extensive.
as a wing aficionado, of many years and around the world, i was anxious to give thetoquethe chance to impress me. sadly this did not happen. first we ordered 2 pounds of wings one with house hot sauce and the other buffalo bleu. neither had a tang of any type. the wings were barely cooked. one basket was slathered with what looked like a mayonnaise based dressing. a very poor performance for this operation. i write this having been a cook/chef in the food business globally since 1960. i will return and give them another opportunity. so out of 5 venue scores 4 food scores 1.

good food at a good price.. if you haven't been to the tartantoquefor a burger check it out. it is fresh and tasty and reasonably priced. worth checking out, at least once.

we've been to the tartantoquetwice since discovering it around the corner from our place and both times we've thoroughly enjoyed both the food and the atmosphere! i love the relaxed self serve feeling of the restaurant, and you never feel rushed to leave. happy to have this around the corner from us and we'll definitely be back!

great service, average food. the service here was outstanding - the staff were very friendly and helpful and this is also one of the rare victoria establishments that has an open soft drink bar/serving station where you can select and pour your own soft drink and go back for seconds/thirds on your own and without being charged. it sounds like it's not a big deal but trust me, it is for victoria - places like bin 4 and the pink bicycle have much better burgers than tartantoquebut also overcharge on the small stuff like soft drinks, where free refills are unthinkable.

the burgers were just ok - they pre-mix the burger meat with onions, without asking you or giving you a choice, which isn't for everyone. the boneless wings are also ok but not great - ours were burned and were very rough and difficult to chew. if you've had really good, properly made boneless wings then it's hard to settle for this. i wouldn't go back here but i'll give credit where it is due - the wait/counter staff were awesome.

thetoquespecializes in chicken wings.  all their sauces and rubs are house made. 

tartantoqueis great. they make fantastic food at fantastic prices. great staff, fun place. this is a review of wb. i find you to be a sad individual. your review of tt seems skewed by a deep need to inflict your pain of low self esteem and lack of inclusion on this establishment. join a club, go to a park, take an art class, maybe try the art of cooking at home? i hope you aren't too old to change your outlook on the years you have left.

a nice addition to a quiet neighborhood. i like a lot of things about the tartantoque- but one of the best things about the tt are the owners who respond to all the odd and over the top reviews and nit-picking.

i could never be a restaurant owner because i could never please everyone beyond their wildest expectations - at least not at a place that prides itself on unique and creative interpretations of the classic chicken wing.

the tartantoqueis definitely substance ahead of style - it is what it is - a joint that slings wings, burgers, wraps, salads and beers - does it do everything well? well, maybe not - but everything i have had hit the target. i have seen mention of inauthentic poutine. who goes to the chicken wing joint for a classic french canadian dish? go to la belle patate if you want the real poutine deal.

i really enjoy the wings, the burgers and the sides - and the friendliness and efficiency of the staff.

and good for barry to jump in and tackle the frustrations of some dinners - for me, urbanspoon has the oddest collections of intense nitpickers i have ever seen - that said, when you learn the techniques for weeding out the chaff, this is a great way of discovering some new eating establishments.

bravo tartantoque- follow them on twitter if you can for frequent updates.

great gluten free choices. i have a gluten allergy and i've been to the tartantoquelots of times since they opened. they have lots of great choices from wing sauces, burgers, chicken burgers, and onion nests. i would highly recommend this place to anyone who is looking for a place to eat gluten free in victoria.

re: not safe for celiacs. to all who have been a witness to this public discussion, as the founder of www.theceliacscene.com and as a celiac myself, i take consumer concerns like these very seriously. when i received this complaint through my website, i emailed the owners of tartan touque this afternoon.

i set out to handle these situations as neutrally as possible, trying to balance my personal concern for the celiac community with a mandate to support restaurants in getting gluten free right. admittedly, there have been many times when a diner's misfortune becomes that 'teachable moment.' a silver lining, at someone's expense, unfortunately, but an opportunity to educate just the same.

to be absolutely clear, restaurants can not pay to qualify to appear on the scene, nor can they retain their listing should they fail to meet celiac standards.

i received a call back within ten minutes from barry, one of the owners, expressing tartan touque's collective regret for what happened. while barry was not present at the time of the incident, co-owner kara, was the acting chef in the kitchen. kara corroborated the information; a gluten bun was served to a celiac. they feel very badly for that; feel terribly that she became so ill; wish they could make amends by offering to compensenate them for their meal.

i then reviewed their protocol with them. when a gf order is placed, it is given a code in their computer system, the preparation of a gf order is announced for all to hear in the kitchen so that everyone is alerted to the special preparations that must take place, and when the order is ready, it is announced to the dining area as 'order #xx, 'gluten-free hamburger." when the diner comes to collect the order, the gluten-free order is identified to the diner. this concurs with the protocol i witnessed on the three occasions that i dined with tartan touque before they qualified to appear on www.theceliacscene.com/map283-british-columbia--fort---oak-bay.html.

the point of contention seems not that tartantoquelacks an appreciation of the seriousness of providing a celiac with a gluten bun. after hearing both sides, it seems that despite the discussion of the restaurant's gf offerings, an order for a 'gluten-free' burger was either not made by the diner or not recorded as such by the server. some will say that they should have known, given her enquiries. tartantoquewill say that it was not clearly requested. of the consequences, all are agreed on their seriousness. at the time the order was collected, the order was not confirmed as gluten free by the server, who was under the impression she was providing a regular order, nor by the diner, as per related recollections.

at the end of the day however, a diner is ill and the tartantoqueis very sorry. having corresponded with both parties; balancing my own celiac interest in being able to dine out safely; not having a monetary interest in whether tartan touque appears on scene maps or not, i am electing to maintain their listing, not to deny a diner experience, but in trust that tartantoqueis genuinely aware and committed to the safety of their celiac diners.

i will undertake to dine with tartan touque myself without notice to confirm that their practices meet celiac standards and revisit my decision at that time, if necessary.

ellen bayens
the celiac scenetm
ellen@theceliacscene.com
250-727-6275

we've just eaten at tartantoquefor our 3rd and final time. the first two were questionable the last we both suffered terrible migraine headaches from the high amount of toxicity in the chicken we ate on sat. july 27 , 2013. we usually only consume organic products. this is how we know the source of our suffering. it's not worth it. good bye tartan toque.

back for more. after learning that some staff were let go i decided to try the tartantoqueagain and i am glad that i did. i've been back twice since my last review and both times the food did not disappoint. the owner did offer to make my previous visits up to me but i wanted to try the food on my own.

wings were full of flavour and were juicy as opposed to the previous overcooked ones. the crispy chicken wrap was incredibly good and fries perfect.

i will definitely continue to give this restaurant business and appreciate the efforts the owner and staff have made to improve. great job, guys!


-----02 jul, 2013-----

i've really tried. i have been to the tartantoqueat least 6 times in the past 2 months and have really tried to like the wings. i love wings and was excited to see this place open, and i also am a big fan of shine so the fact that they both are close to my house is great.
unfortunately, every time their wings have been extremely dry. i have had 8 different flavours and the sauces could use a bit stronger of flavour as well. i also recently had a coleslaw salad that was slimy and uneatable. if it hadn't been take out i would have returned it.
i did have a chicken wrap that was delicious although it did have ingredients in it that i had asked not to be.
the staff is so friendly and so is the overall atmosphere and have wanted so badly to like this place but i most likely will not be returning to this restaurant :(

dry wings good beer. tried the tartantoqueon wing tuesday where a pound of wings and a beer for $11. good value, but the wings are overcooked and dry. tried greek (boring), cajun (ok) and thai (good). as mentioned in previous review the coleslaw is yech. soggy. the burgers looked good, but i won't be back for wings.

fool of a toque!. i have now been to tartantoque5 times and the fifth will have officially been my last. when i first heard rumblings of this place before it opened, it was that we were getting a 'chicken wing restaurant from the owners of shine' and as a wing junkie i was pretty damn excited. this much is true, they do have a lot of different kind of wings, the problem is that the wings themselves just aren't good. if you are going to actually make chicken wings the star of your show, you need to source yourself some good quality chicken. these taste like the same frozen sack of wings from sysco that you would find at any crappy pub. they are dry, lack meat and are just overall unimpressive. the sauces are hit and miss; i have tried about 7 different kinds and liked maybe 3 of them. as for their other food, it is also quite disappointing. the hamburger was completely over-seasoned to the point it was almost inedible and i had to drink 10 glasses of water after to flush the sodium. the last time i went the fries were some of the worst i've had in awhile; they were limp, ugly & it tasted like their frying oil was in dire need of replacement. the first time i went i had the falafel and was actually pretty impressed, but the second time i ordered the falafel it was dry and flavourless. then there is their identity crisis; i absolutely love the counter service style and am surprised that we don't see it more in such a uk style city. but they seem to be conflicted about it. one day it's counter service, the next day they've stopped doing that and are doing table service and now i see they are trying to meet halfway by giving you a coloured chunk of wood that you are supposed to display on your table if you want service. they really need to just figure out who they are and roll with it. also they could really benefit from staying open until 10 on weekdays. 9 is just too early for a place that serves beer and pub fare and they could really bank off people that are turned away from the big line at nearby bin 4's after 9 burger special. so far the tt is a huge disappointment with so much potential; chicken wings, counter service and $5 pints of phillips, how can you go wrong with such a winning formula? i don't know, but they've somehow found a way.

foodie at large. i really like the burgers at shine and now thetoqueis available for my regular pregnancy cravings. at times i want fancy infused mayo and other times straight up ketchup and mustard. really like that thetoquehas both old school and of the moment flavours for burgers. thank you for not blackening the meat which i think of as chef speak for burnt. finished all my fries because they were crispy, hot and yummy. love the pub atmosphere with the counter service. really appreciated the tickety boo loo. we got out of there with pop and meals for about 24 bucks. cheap, cheery, and yummy! see you soon tartan toque.