I went to the Victoria Gastro Pub yesterday for their opening lunch. (Thanks to Sang Oh for the suggestion!) Lovely place. Vibrant, smiling staff. And an intriguing menu.
First, for all of you who don’t think Gastro Pub is good word choice, check this out: The Gastropub Cookbook
OK, back to VGP: the place is sectioned into the cutest little spaces, creating enough intimacy to connect with your own dining companions yet without being lost in those warehouse-like spaces so common to corporate-managed national brand restaurants. (Yuck! I have yet to understand the appeal of dining in an industrial setting … )
They even have an adults-only dining area. Yay! I take a stand that it’s really an OK thing to have places that are off-limits to little kids … places where folk might want to have business meetings, dates or perhaps, even for parents who want to be out for a romantic evening with their spouses and to think of anything but their kids. Don’t get me wrong: There are plenty of kid-friendly spots inside Victoria Gastro Pub … I just happen to really like the adults-only room concept. But I digress …
Victoria Gastro Pub has a great bar area that is actually set up to be conducive to meeting people, interacting and feeling connected and included. Check it out. It’s a locally owned pub. It’s got some vibe. And it’s worth a visit. Who knows? Perhaps it’s just what Columbia’s been needing anyway … a place with some heart and soul … and good food, to boot.
PS — I don’t do restaurant reviews, per se. I leave that to others. I’m more interested in space, place and vibe.
19 Comments
December 13, 2007 at 3:18 am
I can’t imagine the word “gastro” not being paired with “intestinal”.
December 13, 2007 at 5:16 pm
I agree with fm, the choice of the word “gastro” struck me as odd.
-wb
December 26, 2007 at 5:35 am
Google and wikipedia are your friends:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastropub
December 28, 2007 at 1:54 am
I can’t believe they did not just look it up themselves. Some people!
December 30, 2007 at 2:52 am
Honeydew- don’t be so simple-minded. It is odd to name a restaurant with a British term that has a less than appetizing meaning in the U.S.
December 31, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Thank you Freemarket, you brought up a good point about typical Americans and that it’s difficult for them to “break” out of their mindset on certain things. Quick question though – if Americans truly think that way about the word gastropub, I’m curious as to how bistros, cafes, taquerias, trattorias, brasseries, crêperies, churrascarias, patisseries, izakayas, cantinas, etc. do so well here? Anyway, no worries though, Victorias will do well. In a town of cookie-cutter chain restaurants, Victorias is a great addition.
January 3, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Agree with Brian we need to break out of mind set sometimes and explore the world. What is of interest is what type of food is served, beers and wine. Could one of you provide that information as Victorias Gastro Pub website has no links as yet.
January 3, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Lady B,
I have been 3 times in 4 days and have had different dishes each time. So has my wife. And in those 3 visits, we have been with 3 other people who have had 3 different dishes. All of which, were delicious.
They have an extensive beer (about 15 on draft, 45 in bottle) and wine (I lost count… well over 100) list. They have a wide range of types of dishes. Burgers, salmon wrap, duck quesadilla, venison, roast chicken, cheese tray, onion soup, crab chowder. That’s about all I can think of at this point. I defintely plan on trying everything on the menu!
January 9, 2008 at 3:25 am
Admittedly, the atmosphere and wine menu at VGP were great, but the menu itself left a lot to be desired. There were no healthy choices, and every other word was ‘duck-fat’. The service was fine, the prices were great — so there is hope for this new restaurant. I think they just need a small menu-tweaking, including more low-fat options for people who are impressed by fine cuisine, but not by grease and unnecessary calories.
January 9, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I loved lunch at Victoria’s Gastro Pub. The menu selections were different and you did not have to have a duck-fat choice. Imagine grilled lobster and cheese!!
The waiters are great and if you are with a group you can sit as long as you would like.
I hope they are there to stay.
January 9, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Actually, Brian, they have 96 wines on the menu, but you might have thought it was over 100 as they are listed 1 to 77 and then 101 to 119. Maybe in time, they will add another 5 wines so they can advertise having over 100. Meanwhile, they have a good selection. I also only counted 43 beers in a bottle, and so people know the price range on the bottled beer, it’s $4.25 for a Coors Light or Budweiser up to $14.95 for three selections. And if people are interested in the wine bottle price range, it’s $25 (for Beaujolais Villages, George Duboeuf, 2006 and this is one of my favorite wines in years past and I suspect the 2006 is also good, so don’t be put off by it being the least expensive choice on the menu) all the way up to $950 for a Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (they oddly don’t give the year, and the going price online for this wine varies from $600 to $1,300 depending on the year, but even if it’s the $600 bottle, the mark up is far less than the bottle of wine we ordered which had about a 300% mark-up). They have 18 beers on draft, ranging from $4.95 for a Miller Lite to $9.50 for a 10 ounce La Chouffe. The listed cocktails are all $9 each and their alcoholic coffee drinks are all $7 each.
Some of the other dish choices (along with the prices as of 1/8/08) include: duck fat frites (with roasted garlic Aioli for $6 or with duck confit and Gruyere cheese and duck gravy for $8) , oysters (6 for $12), charcuterie plate (prosciutto, sopressata, rosette de Lyon, mustard, cornichon, and a baquette for $12), salads ranging in cost from $8 to 12 (Caesar with or without shrimp, bibb, warm frisee and spinach, and apple), lobster and jicama ($9), smoked trout croquette ($7), wild mushroom torteloni ($7 on the lunch and though the dinner menu says it’s only $5, they charged us $7), and if anyone wants the entrees listed (there are nine on the dinner menu ranging from $14 to $22), let me know and I’ll give those – ditto the desserts (which are all $6 with the exception of the $7 English trifle). Unfortunately, their website has nothing but the logo yet, so you can’t just go there to get menu items and prices.
Of the six items we tried last night, the cumin spiced duck quesadilla was the most tasty, and at $9, also the best value.
January 14, 2008 at 5:06 pm
burgers?
anything for a simple eater? not me… my husband….
i can’t wait to try it!
January 15, 2008 at 10:28 pm
What’s the price range on most of their entrees?
January 17, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Finally somewhere local that has an fine assortment of fabulous raw oysters. I am in Heaven!
January 19, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Carla, I wrote earlier that the entrees (nine on the dinner menu) range from $14 to $22 (and it’s actually to $23, my mistake). Were you actually wanting specific entrees listed?
If so….
$14 Torchia Pasta
$16 Pan Roasted Atlantic Salmon
$16 Roast Chicken and Dumplings
$18 Grilled Venison Medallions
$18 Sauteed Petit Filet Porter Braised Beef Short Rib
$18 Roast Duroc Pork Chop
$19 Duo of Lamb
$22 Fish and Chips (Shrimp and crab stuffed sea bass)
$23 12 oz Black Angus New York Strip Steak and Frites
There are only four lunch entrees and the range in price is $9 to $14, though I had thought the baked eggs (which were excellent) were only $7 on Tuesday and so am not sure if my menu from the previous Tuesday has a typo or am just remembering the $7 price incorrectly (I do know that of the three of us having lunch, two of us had a menu that shoes the Lobster Grilled Cheese as having Brie while the other had Boursin and it was the newer menu that had the Brie, so they are changing menus a bit, and prices as the torteloni appetizer was $7 on one lunch menu and $5 on another).
January 21, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I agree. Victoria’s is beautiful and the food is great. We happened by there for brunch the other day because Eggspectations is always a disaster and the wait is gaudy.
Admittedly, “Gastro” in the title is weird, but the food was really good and the prices are outstanding. Less than $45 for three for a quality, filling brunch is fantastic.
And the staff is very personable, easy-going and fun to talk to.
I’m getting married in a couple months and after eating there, we spoke to management and reserved the private room (beautiful decor) for our post-wedding brunch.
January 25, 2008 at 10:04 pm
We ate there last Saturday and had the best burger I’ve ever had. Tasty, juicey…and they make their own pickles. Very thin sliced cucumbers with onion…very tangy and a nice surprise when we bit into the pickles. I thought the paprika smoked fries were disappointing. Not cripsy enough like they had been sitting around a bit.
January 30, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Omar, in comment #3 on this post, reminds us that Wikipedia is our friend. My goodness, but the folk at Victoria Gastropub seem to agree. Their opening “about us” website text reads: “Wikipedia defines a Gastropub as “a British term for a Public House which specializes in high quality food a step above the more basic ‘pub grub.’” The name is a portmanteau (combination) of “pub” (the short form of public house) and “gastro” (short for gastronomy, or food-related).”
February 23, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Just came across this blog as I’ve been looking around at just what Victoria is all about.
I hate to say it, but nailing the words “gastro pub” to the side of the building does not help. It is fine and good that the term is colloquial British. But when a diner has to Google the restaurant before deciding to go inside, it is the restaurant that suffers. A quirky name for your place can be cool, but it shouldn’t cause your patrons to wonder, doubtfully, what they’ll find inside. Even “Victoria, Public House” sounds more appealing.
Having looked over the menu now, my anticipation is growing. The environment inside sounds nice though it also sounds like it may still feel like a Bennigans (the former occupant). Columbia needs more independent restaurants with real chefs practicing their art. The big box, warm ingredient A in pot X, tastes the same in Baltimore as it does in San Diego restaurants have worn me out. I sincerely hope Victoria earns my business with something special and different… and I think it may.
Despite the offputting name.