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Foo
Category: Restaurants Asian Fusion Asian Fusion [Edit]
769 Yates StVictoria, BC V8W 1L6
(250) 383-3111
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
18 reviews for Foo
18 reviews in English
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Review from Jason L.
9/28/2011 5 Check-ins Here
It's a shack with counter seating with an "around east/southeast Asia" food offerings. Is it legit street food from Asia? Not really. Is it delicious? Yes.
Everything is made-to-order with fresh ingredients, so it makes the flavors pop that much more. They have a rotating chalkboard of daily specials with a "Sold Out" sticker next to any popular ones. Some solid, year-round available favorites of mine have been the pork/prawn lettuce cups and the sweet/sour pork belly on green beans and rice.
My only (minor) complaint is that some of the offerings are way over sauced, so you may want to ask them to prepare some of the menu items with less sauce, less sodium, or just sauce on the side.
They accept all credit cards except AMEX and are open past 9 PM on weekdays.
Oh, and all the people who work there are cool :] -
Review from Paul C.
Victoria, BC
12/21/2011
Yum. Very reasonably-priced tastiness combined with great service. (My wife once ordered the wrong dish by mistake, and they offered to replace it for free.) This is a small place with counter service, so plan on taking your eats to go during popular meal hours.
What prevents it from being 5-stars of great value for me is a bit of unevenness in the menu. Some dishes and specials are amazingly tasty at the price; others are not quite so mind-expanding. So choose carefully. On the whole, one of our favourite stops.
Update: Had a couple not-so-stellar meals lately, so I'm knocking Foo down to 3-stars. -
Review from Matthew L.
Edmonton, AB
8/25/2010
I have relapsed - I am eating meats that are not fish again. And when I decided to relapse, I tried the Pork Belly sandwich at Foo. And it is amazing - it melts in your mouth and fills you with delicious barbecue saucy flavors (well, the sauce used seems like a thicker hoisin).
But I will admit that on my first try, I went for a not-terribly-memorable version of a Curry Fish Laksa that didn't blow me away.
Also, I always feel awkward while waiting for my food at this place and I don't know why. I wish they had a copies of Monday Magazine or Exclaim by the door to read while waiting for the food. -
Review from kath r.
9/14/2010
I wish that I'd read the reviews of Foo before we stumbled across them, then perhaps I would've been saved from a rather disappointing Laksa and a ho-hum Pad Thai.
The concept is great, Asian street food either to go or @ the counter, but the execution was lacking.
The best thing about the Laksa was the fish; large, tender morsels that held their shape and texture. The not so great thing was the rice, or the soup (lack thereof). Laksa is a noodle based soup, serving it over rice meant the rice soaked up all the soupy sauc-y goodness, leaving behind a pretty dry Laksa soup.
@ the other end of the spectrum was the very wet Pad Thai ; with far too much tamarind and sauce coating the noodles the flavours were lost. And the 'shrimp' were a disappointing handful of those teeny tiny shrimp one associates w 80s hors d'oeuvres.
Perhaps just bad choices? I wanted to love Foo so may go again and hope I order dishes that do them justice. -
Review from Eric B.
Victoria, BC
11/4/2010
A- for the pork belly bun which reminded me again why I'd give up booze before I'd give up alcohol. Pork, it's where bacon comes from.
C for the ginger caramel chicken on rice. Overcooked chicken and bok choy with an overly sweet sauce.
I'd try again though - the rest of the menu looked interesting and the ambience was pretty good.
I still think it's a bit weird seeing white people make asian food but my stereotypes are set by what I see in Vancouver. -
Review from christine c.
Victoria, BC
10/11/2009
Foo has been open for less than 2 months now and they're already creating local addicts, myself included. Their location is more than ideal if you're wanting to grab a bite before catching a movie. They are connected to the Dominion Hotel, right next to the liquor store and across from the Odeon and Capital 6 theatres.
So what are they serving up? Some seriously diverse Asian street food concoctions. Some of the dishes are quite spicy, so beware. After visiting Foo a few times now I've honed in on my favourite dishes.
A couple of dishes that were quite tasty, but too spicy for my buds were the Thai red coconut curry and the nonya curry veggie fried rice with shiitake mushrooms and tofu. I'd do the nonya again for sure, I love how they do their tofu, but I'd definitely need a tall glass of milk. A friend's fave is the laksa with local fish, which is some sort of fish dumpling creation with noodles and coconut broth. I want to try everything on their menu, but my go to dish is the Indonesian pork and pineapple fried rice. This dish is delicious with pulled pork and roasted cashews, for only $8!
To summarize they are the anti-Noodle Box, meaning you'll get a satisfying, well-prepared, yummy meal at a very decent price. -
Review from Paul H.
Victoria, BC
2/2/2010 1 Check-in Here
I am not usually one to enjoy restaurants where non-Asian folks are making Asian food...but with Foo I make an exception.
The octopus salad is fresh tasting and hearty. The daily specials are always great and inventive. Never have I had a dish where the veggies were over cooked, or the dish itself over sauced. The price point is reasonable and they are always quick.
Staff here are very friendly. The kitchen is exposed so you can see how clean it is ( very).
Give it a try, I do not think you will be sorry.
;) -
Review from danna m.
Victoria, BC
7/29/2010 2 Check-ins Here
if you like pork belly - GO HERE!
When you are hungry and in a hurry for the movie or lunch or grab and go home go here.
maybe they've lightened on the sauce since 'caro' wrote their review since myself and the diners i went with were over the moon for the pork belly sandwich (a special of the day) and the papaya salad, and the beef curry. I've been here a handful of times and would pick this place over its rival (noodle box) every time!
simple, good, clean food - made with love. you can actually kibitz with the staff and have a good time. -
Review from Russel L.
Victoria, BC
10/13/2010 7 Check-ins Here
FOO: A Little Engagement Goes a Long Way
I've had a few arguments in the past (who me confrontational?), regarding small vs. big business and their level of customer service. But Russel, bigger businesses have more money to spend on training. The more expensive the shop, the better the service. Ridonkulous. As I blogged before on staff and branding, customer service is from the bottom and up. Cost, expense...doesn't and shouldn't matter when the relationship with your customer is at stake.
So how do you measure FOO, a tiny little street asian food restaurant with seating for eight?
THE ORDER:
I've mentioned I'm a movie-freak, so to say the restaurants around my local theatres get a bit of my patronage would be an understatement. FOO is a great little spot serving butter chicken and pad thai, asian food staples. But this isn't a foodie blog.
engagment and good service while you don't wait
Is engagement possible over counter service?
You walk in to the place where a single cashier/server takes your order the minute you're done scanning their food board. To look around, there isn't much to the place. The open-air kitchen takes up half the square footage while the seating figures about eight...all high chairs and bar tops. There is a bit of a patio but it's not used much. About 10 minutes later, that's it. Unless you decide to stick around to eat your food, you've just been FOO'd. (they should totally use that)
THE SERVICE:
I've often struggled on how to review businesses that pride efficiency over experience. If it's about getting in and getting out with a good product and no time for any meaningful service, is that OK? FOO shows how a short turn around doesn't need to mean a lack of engagement.
As I mentioned, FOO is a small space. Yet, when you order your food, the cashier/server makes a point of getting your name. They could easily yell BUTTER CHICKEN but instead they make that extra connection. We do love to hear our names (thanks Dale Carnegie). And the entire exchange of name and payment includes actual eye contact. I may only be there a few minutes, but I'm singled out while I'm there. I wish I could say the same for some full dining establishments.
THE CONCLUSION:
Going steady - This could be the beginning of something major. From the moment we meet, it's all about me. My name, what I want...and you never stop gazing into these baby blues. I've been FOO'd. (had to use it again) -
Review from Stephen R.
5/29/2011
My wife and I were looking for something quick to eat before we met up with some friends and since it was right next to the hotel and down the street from our meeting place we gave it a shot. First thing I noticed, hefty prices!! I know things in Canada tend to be a little more pricey but sheesh. (I must say it was my first time entering a food establishment in Canada so my reaction may have been excessive). We tried it anyway.
I ordered the caramel chicken and she got beef broccoli with noodles. The food is made fresh and comes hot! We got it in to-go containers because we knew we were going to have to get going soon. Seating there wasn't too bad. A few tables inside and casual outdoor seating. Thanks to the friendly seagulls population some of the chairs and counter areas were "marked". The food was pretty good. I wouldn't say it was worth the hefty price but it was good. The portions were not small but not big enough to go along with the price. So, this place definitely has pretty good food but for the price it would have you considering a cheaper alternative without missing out on too much. -
Review from Jason W.
Victoria, BC
5/12/2010
Probably my favourite place in the city. I'm there far more often than I would care to admit. I love almost everything on their menu. It's quick, fast, fresh and delicious various Asian street fare. The staff is friendly and always cheerful.
Do yourself a favour. If you haven't, get Foo for lunch. -
Review from Caro W.
Victoria, BC
7/9/2010
I'm going to be the first to say: Meh, not that good.
We wanted something fast for dinner and decided to hop to Foo for some Foo "d" (sorry for the lame joke)
We had the Octopus salad which was drenched in vinegrette! The caramelized chicken also had the meat and rice soaked in sauce. I detect a trend here...Our friend had the belly pork and gave it a 6/10 (which I would've rated our orders as well)
Another thing I don't understand is why all our orders came in small boxes while others had taller ones? Was it because I didn't like the view of Yates and Blanshard?
Foo reminds me of Noodle Box with a pretentious feel. Noodle Box has more atmosphere, pizzazz and heat; and although both have their food drenched in sauce, I would go to Noodle Box next time.
. -
Review from Dustin D.
Victoria, BC
Updated - 3/1/2011
I'm not sure what's been going on at Foo lately, but it doesn't seem good.
I've dined there 3 times in the last 6 months before deciding to write this update. In all 3 experiences, the food has gone downhill since my early visits. I've had my pot stickers cooked to death twice and the pomegranate black vinegar has seemed thinner and not quite as awesome (quantifiable and specific comparison, i know ;) ). My most recent pad thai was kind of boring flavoured and had much more of a red colour to it than I'm used to seeing. My last visit took a lot longer than usual to get my food even though there was zero line up when we walked in (my lunch guest was served quickly, however both of my two dishes didn't arrive until he was literally finishing off his meal. I was honestly somewhat embarrassed that I vouched for Foo a while ago and took a couple friends, only to be totally underwhelmed with everything. On previous visits the staff was quite lively and engaging and made you want to return, on my recent visits I would say that the level of that has dropped off noticeably.
I truly hope that Foo gets it's act together soon and returns to its early glory days as I'd hate to write them off entirely.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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3/12/2010
Foo is great for what it is, unassuming, fast, fresh, tasty, varied and reasonably priced Asian… Read more »
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Review from Melanie W.
Victoria, BC
4/21/2010 4 Check-ins Here
The food at Foo is fresh with tasty combinations. I've tried almost everything (sorry, can't do octopus) and haven't been disappointed. Plentiful portions make this tiny place an super value too. Across from my office, Foo makes it very hard to stick to my diet.
**Update** Check out the FAB new patio. A great spot for lunch -
Review from Helen H.
11/26/2011
My husband and I were in Victoria for the second time this Fall. We walked into Foo's after seeing a movie and boy are we glad we did! We loved the choices. I ordered the Pad Thai, and he ordered the Beef and Broccoli to go both hot and delicious. The prices were just right with plenty of food left over for tomorrow's lunch!
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Review from Terry S.
Victoria, BC
9/10/2010
I have been intrigued by the pork belly sandwich since I saw it as a special months ago. Finally I tried it today. When I opened the box it came in at first I thought it might be a bit on the small side. However, I was wrong. The flavour was HUGE. After the first bite it knew it was totally worth the $7 it cost. Very, very happy with the pork belly
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Review from Graham I.
Victoria, BC
A nice "foodier" alternative to the stalwart Noodle Box. Small chalkboard menu with daily specials augmenting a 7 starter 6 mains menu. More flavourful than hot. Not much seating but good for fast lunch at the counter seating. Will do better than the location would dictate. It's great Victoria is now of size to have places like this.
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Review from Douglas C.
Victoria, BC
3/8/2010 3 Check-ins Here
Food was fresh and flavourful, however the beef was a bit fatty for my liking. Definitely would come back but would probably get something with out beef.
