Cactus Club

I have been meaning to go to the Victoria Cactus Club Cafe for ages but the location at the corner of Douglas and Fort is not one I think of when thinking of where to get some food. I have been to the one at Broadway and Ash in Vancouver a couple of times and always been impressed.  

On Saturday afternoon we were in Beacon Hill Park for the photo part of Daniels Grad Dinner and Dance and when it finished we stopped at Sheila's sisters place who offered to look after Max so we could go eat.  I decided this was the day to go to the Cactus Club.

If I did not know the menu was largely created by Rob Fennie, I would not be going.   The restaurant has a 'party' feel to it, almost a Red Robin for more sophisticated 25-35 year old people without kids.  



I ordered a three course tasting meal, though tasting is not what this was, they were really full portions.  

The starter was fried wonton with chicken and then covered in a spicy sweet chill sauce.  It was more than big enough for the two of us to share.   My only complaint about the dish was that there was too much sauce on it.

My main was a place of squash ravioli with prawns on top.  This was then covered in a butter truffle sauce - it was a very good sauce but I honestly could not taste the truffle.   It was very good, almost to the level of wanting to like the plate to get all of the sauce.  

Sheila had the burger and fries and she was not impressed.  There was nothing wrong with it, it was just entirely forgettable.   Her biggest negative was that the burger was simply too full of stuff.

For the desert there was a small slice of Key Lime Pie that we shared.   Sheila had had their pie before and was looking forward to getting to have some of mine.

The more 'party' food seemed to be less impressive than the 'fancy' food.

Will we go back?   I am not sure, I liked it more than say Milestones or Earls but with Sheila not being impressed it is not likely to be any time soon.