Foo

Asian fusion in a storefront with a food truck feel. I aired this restaurant while vacationing with the family. The place was not very conducive to a party of five dining in, they were actually a little rude about it, but we all made it work. The food was good and the portions were ample. Our son and DiL ate a few meals here in the short time we were visiting, but once was enough for me.

That is not to say I would not go back, just that there are so many good food options in Victoria that I wanted to venture out a little more.

We sat at the bar counter overlooking the kitchen. The kitchen staff were amazing. A very well orchestrated production of every plate. If you are planning to do take away this is your place. Dine in...a little rough but doable.

Foo offers a unique menu with interesting options. There were so many dishes we considered like the Sagg Panner, Kung Pao Tofu and the Sweet + Sour Pork Belly. We were on a food crawl so we chose one dish, Caramel Chicken, to share.

With COVID-19 ongoing, take-out was the only option. For the price, I thought the cute little box was a little too little. Once we started in, however, we found it was a good size serving and the food was fresh, sweet, tangy and well-balance. Right down to the rice, it was all really good. Certainly worth a revisit.

7/3/17

People have different tastes. I get it. And plus you know me, I love variety more than anything. So, a restaurant this is doing a new spin on Asian food?--yeah, I'd try...

I gotta say though, this place did not help stereotypes. It is ultra hipster--the building, the staff, the customers... everything. I ain't got nothing against hipsters themselves, but there are those stereotypes, and unfortunately all are true here:

Relatively expensive. Emphasis on environment, culture, and decor, and NOT on what I would think is the most important thing: food...

1. Draught CA$5.22: Okay, I admit, $5ish for beer is a damn good price. They range from $6 (written on the board, but charged as $5.33) to $10. Very respectable prices for beer. I cannot remember which beer I had, nor how good it was, but all the beers are good quality. No Miller crap here.

2. Tuna Tataki + Soba Noodle Salad CA$13.33 "seared rare albacore tuna, buckwheat noodles, + cucumber ribbons w/ sesame-miso vinaigrette": Tasted like someone salted the food once and left. Then another chef came over and salted again. Then the manager came over and thought no one seasoned it and add more salt. x10. And then they ran out of salt cause all of it was emptied into our bowl. If you can actually still eat after the salt turns the inside of your mouth into a melting snail, you would be disappointed in the fact that there are only 3 very thin slivers of fish. Couldn't have costed them more than $1 for the amount of fish they gave. I had to look to the cucumber to save my life. 1/10

3. Sweet + Sour Pork Belly CA$13.33 "crisp pork belly, chili-fried green beans, sweet soy tamarind glaze w/ steamed rice": Well, after sweating through the noodle salad, and rinsing my mouth thoroughly with the remainder of my draught, this bowl of rice and meat was like ice cold Coke on a hot summer day. The bar was pretty low, but I'd say I do like the meat itself. Sweet and sour, spicy. FOBs would probably hate it--I can hear the "too sweet" ringing in my head already. But for my Americanized palate, it ain't bad. The belly ain't cooked super well though--could be a lot more tender, but it wasn't bad. I guess if you're a skinny-jean guy/girl, this would help you out, and I'm on a diet soooooo......... hard to justify paying $13ish for this when the same would buy you just about 5x more at a real Chinese restaurant, but at least it is edible. 6/10

It should be noted, we (and another family) were the only Asians in the entire, packed, restaurant. You might think that's a bad thing. Perhaps it's a good thing. Perhaps you don't care. But it is as it is.

Though my sample size is rather small, I did take a look at our other friends' bowls, and they were also equally offensive appearing, but admittedly I did not try a taste. However, everyone did note that their food was far far far too salty.

Take my review with a grain of salt?

2/5

#canada #victoria #asianfusion

Say yes to the Sweet & Sour Pork Belly, you won't regret it! I got it to go one night and was pleasantly surprised by how tasty it was. It's definitely Asian fusion - don't expect any traditional flavors here - but I've never had Asian fusion like this before.

As other reviews mentioned, the portion size isn't large, especially for the price ($15), but I thought they were quite generous with the amount pork belly. The skin was crispy and it wasn't too fatty, so I didn't feel that guilty inhaling the whole thing. I would have loved to see just a little more green beans and rice though, but it was enough.

It was on the saltier side for me although admittedly I have a fairly light palate.

Made a great choice to eat at Foo tonight! Had curried Noodle stir fry, sweet & sour pork belly & togarashi fries - all delicious! The flavors were bright & tasty and the portions were perfect. It's a small casual joint with food with big flavors. Definitely stop by and try a few dishes.

Stopped in for a late lunch/early dinner while in Victoria and such a yummy spot! We had a red curry dinner and they split tofu and chicken for me and a crispy chicken something now with a couple of crispy spring rolls. Everything was hot (needed some more spice but that was my fault for not asking) and loved the freshness to the veggies! The guys here are so nice and the food is good. Great little find and you can do to go as well.

OH YES!

This place is a gem.

We managed to go TWICE during our short stay in Victoria.

We tried the paneer, spring rolls, butter chicken and my favorite the caramel chicken. The caramel chicken was perfectly sweetened and crispy. Frankly, ALL of it was delicious.

Not great for big groups unless you get it as take out.

Sweet and sour pork belly was good. We also order chicken pad Thai and beef with broccoli. Flavors were nice. We would prefer less pasta and more veggies. The pasta to meat ratio was off, specifically for the price.

This place was so delicious and affordable, my husband and I had to come back twice! Foo's does have a tiny parking lot but both times we found close side street parking. The place itself is pretty tiny so if you're planning to meet someone there at peak hours, you might be waiting a bit.

We had the pork and pineapple fried rice which was amazing! The caramel chicken was also delicious. The portions are pretty decent for only ~17 for a bowl. My favourite was the sweet and sour pork belly. It was incredible and the pork just melts in your mouth!

It's quick, cheap and delicious and well worth checking out especially for a fast and easy but satisfying meal. I highly recommend this place!

Okay stop! This could possibly be my shortest review. All I need to say really, is I just had thee BEST veggie fried rice EVER! Mic drop! Byee! EVER!