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Joe's Seafood Bar
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
5 reviews for Joe's Seafood Bar
5 reviews in English
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Review from Sharilyn J.
Toronto, ON
9/6/2011
Delicious food, with a few annoyances.
My first order was Fish Tacos, which I discovered (after finding a spot on a bench along the water) were laid on a bed of.... coleslaw. Gross. If you're going to do that, for the love of god, put it on the menu so I can tell you to HOLD it. Not being interested in oil-drenched wraps, I ate only what was inside. Pretty good, though the taste of the seasonings was understandably strong as a result.
I went back on a Saturday night for their buck-a-shuck special, and ordered 6 oysters. I have nothing to compare the experience to, but I loved them.
Their Twitter feed announced that they'd be doing their buck-a-shuck special all day, every day, starting Sept. 1. Awesome! I went back on the 1st with a friend, and orderered 20 oysters. "Um... I can do 6 or 12...", said the girl, in reference to their regular menu orders. I literally had to pull out my phone and show them the tweet. This was the first they'd heard of it. "Huh, I guess we better make sure we order enough oysters," said the chef. Yeah, I guess.
If it's not obvious by now, this was the most convenient fresh seafood to where I was staying. I gave the fish tacos another shot, sans coleslaw, and they were pretty much perfect. I still would go a little lighter on their sauces if I were them (very rich and flavourful), but really great.
And finally, my last meal in Victoria was the salmon fish & chips. I seriously wish I had discovered this dish on day 1, because it's the best I've ever had. Seriously. The 1 piece meal was quite generous, and the fries were excellent too.
Highly recommend the food, just wish that they were better with the details!
(Oh, and the final annoyance: they don't automatically give you your receipt. So if you're there on business, you'll have to ask.) -
Review from Steve S.
Outdoor seating overlooking the harbor. A bit expensive for fish and chips, but the local beers are cheaper than the bottled, which is great! Heaters overhead make the outdoor seating tolerable in November. Didn't open till 12:00 and having just gotten off the Clipper we were the first there and seemed to inconvenience the staff, but they rolled with it. I would eat here again.
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Review from Chelsea M.
Victoria, BC
7/13/2011
I was in the mood for some kind of fried fish. On my way down to Red Fish Blue Fish, I decided it was a bit chilly out to stand on the dock, so I ducked into the very nice heated patio of Joe's.
I applied here actually last summer before they were open, and had got some chowder here one late night a while ago, but have never really tried the place.
My over all opinion is that Joe's shouldn't open, until they are truly ready to be a fully functioning restaurant.
I took a look at the cooks at the side order counter, grabbed a menu, and sat down. Half the tables were dirty, but I found one near the heater that was clean. I had to move later on because they had it absolutely blasting, on a fairly mild day. After about 10 minutes of sitting reading they're menu, I was approached by a fellow, who I thought was a waiter, although neither patio staff had any sort of uniform. He explained to me that I actually go , order and pay at the side counter, and then they give me a buzzer, and I go and get my food when it's ready. If I would like a drink from the bar, he would get it for me, and I would pay through him. Not wanting to make 2 transactions, I skipped the $4 white bark ale I had my eye on, and ordered a water.
I had the 1 piece halibut and chips for $11. It was ready fairly quick, albeit in a cardboard box. The batter was seasoned well, but it came out very dark, as did the very heavy wedge fries, that do doubt were prepped by Mcain's, or the like. I had to peel apart half the fries from each other, which of course resulted in partly underdone fries. I can't stress how crucial fresh oil is to a restaurant that serves so much fried foods, and really, for the effort of cutting a potato, you could make fries that would have people coming back on that alone. The coleslaw was pretty good, and the best part of the meal. I liked the sauce they gave me, but I wouldn't call it tartar sauce. More like a creamy dill dressing.
I am very glad I skipped the beer, as the bar is in a dark, under construction dining room. After talking to the 'waiter', he told me he was leaving, asked me if I wanted a job, and told me that the back area of the restaurant which used to be boom boom room, a night club, has a seemingly unstoppable leak, and resulting mold. I strongly put down the offer, as I hurried to finish my meal, and get out.
I hope Joe's can get it's act together, but so far, I think it's going the way of it's seedy upstairs neighbour. -
Review from Nigel N.
Edmonton, AB
10/26/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Well my wife and I were dying to try red fish blue fish but I am not cattle. You couldn't pay me to Stand in an hour and a half line for fish and chips. We walked around trying to find something that would compare. We seen a small sign with an arrow pointing down some stairs with a sign that read "fish and chips with beer for $12.50". Well that's all it took. We followed the arrow and ordered a few things off the menu. Fish and chips, fish tacos, etc. Everything we tried was so delicious. We both thought it was the best fish and chips we have ever had and ditto with the fish tacos, excluding the ones my wife made me before;)
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Review from Colleen S.
Victoria, BC
9/4/2010
Joe's Seafood Bar is trying to do too much. There are a couple of issues here:
-It is unclear if they want to be a sit down restaurant or a take away place. It is not okay to encourage customers to order and pay for their food at the bar and their drink at the table. For everyone using interac or in a rush, that is extremely inconvenient. I think that they should stick to take away OR give the option of table service.
-I don't recommend going with a large group of people. I went with 7 co-workers for lunch, I ordered first and by the time I had finished my salad, the 2 guys across from me had just gotten their food. It would have been great if we could have ordered together and gotten our food together.
-The concept relies on the costars buzzing and lighting up when the food is ready. Out of 8 people, 2 costars didn't work...their food was left sitting for 10 minutes each.
-Tipping. I tipped the counter girl $3 on a $14 salad and pop, which is what I usually do, though I have no idea if she got it or if it went to the cute and efficient server that cleared our boxes and quality checked our meals and gave us over all good service. I feel bad that the floor servers probably don't make a lot of money. I hope it went to her, but....
-Overall the quality of the food for the price was decent. On par with Garricks Head or the Flying Otter (the last two places I had lunch). I'd eat there again, but only alone and as take away.
