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Vis-a-Vis
Review
About
With a "face-to-face" mentality, Vis a Vis is a personalized and engaging experience. With front row seats, you are able to interact with our Bartender & Charcutier while sipping on a glass of wine, locally crafted beer or a signature cocktail
Features
CUISINES
French, American, International, European, Contemporary, Wine Bar
Meal types
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, Drinks
Special Diets
Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options
FEATURES
Free off-street parking
Free Wifi
Full Bar
Highchairs Available
Outdoor Seating
Parking Available
Reservations
Seating
Serves Alcohol
Street Parking
Table Service
Takeout
Wheelchair Accessible
Wine and Beer
Location
Downtown
Free off-street parking, Parking Available, Street Parking
Is this an American restaurant?
Reserve a table
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Hours
Closed now
• Opens at 11:00 AM
Sunday
11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Monday
11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Tuesday
11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Wednesday
11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Thursday
11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Friday
11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Saturday
11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Contribute
4.0
260 reviews
Excellent
121
Very good
65
Average
33
Poor
28
Terrible
13
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PETER B
Blaine171 contributions
Jan 2023 • family
We recently visited Vis a vis on a Saturday night whilst on a trip to Victoria.
Food was amazing!!
Great Brie tart , with delicious pastry , Brie and cranberries.
Duck l’orange was superb as was the steak frites and the carrot and lentil vegetarian dish was excellent.
Brilliant crème brûlée and chocolate lava cake.
The server : Caroline was fantastic. When we told her my daughter was vegetarian she went out of her way to conjure up alternative vegetarian dishes for her that were not on the menu. She was very pleasant , knowledgeable about the dishes and appropriately attentive .
A great meal , very pleasant evening,
We will be back.
Written January 14, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Canucksontheloose
Victoria781 contributions
Aug 2021 • none
To eat on the street patio is tricky as it's first-come-first-serve but the small restaurant interior is delightful with its warm brick walls, wood furnishings and chalkboard signage. You can make reservations for seating indoors although table distancing seem a little close during Covid but staff wear masks. The menu is limited and service a little slow, definitely due to staffing shortage which they are upfront about. So there is a wait for food but the salads we ordered (Nicoise; avocado/ shrimp) were tasty and French in portion size. You pay for ambience and food quality here. Great for romantic meals and friendly gatherings, esp. if you've a lot of time to kill. Despite slow (and kind) service, this place is popular. Plenty of free street parking and wheelchair friendly.
Written October 17, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
PETER B
Blaine171 contributions
Jul 2022 • couples
After a long walk along the shore in Oak bay we had dinner at vis a vis
The brie en croute we shared was delectable.
We both had the steak frites with Parmesan frites. Excellent. Only criticism : please cut back a little on the frites so we can sample the delicious dessert. We had the crème brûlée which was also very good
All washed down with a nice Beaujolais.
Pleasant staff.
Pleasing atmosphere.
We will be back from Blaine Wa
Written July 10, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Miko14
Newcastle9 contributions
Feb 2023 • none
I have absolutely no idea what happened last night, but it seems we were the table that was destined to have a horrible experience. We were so excited to spend our Valentines evening at Vis a Vis, as it is one of our favorite restaurants in Victoria. We arrived for our 7:00pm reservation to be seated by a lovely hostess, only to then be turned over to a very unpleasant waiter.
The gentleman proceeded to take our drink order and our fixed menu appetizer, main and dessert choices and then just disappeared for remainder of the evening. Our drinks and appetizers came promptly and were tasty, but that's where the good ended. Over the course of the next full hour we watched as four tables that were seated after us received their entrees, followed by their desserts, while we just sat there. Our server kept walking past us refusing to even make eye contact and making it impossible to order another drink. At around 8:15pm, he finally stopped for the first time to ask "if we wanted to see the wine menu again, as you wait for your dinner?" After a frustrated " No, thank you" reply from us, he went to the back kitchen area to no doubt realize our ticket had been misplaced. Our food showed up about 10 minutes later and you could clearly see it was one of those " I need this immediately" type of scenarios. Both fish dishes were extremely over done and terribly dry and everything was just thrown together on the plate.
We then proceeded to watch as two chocolate desserts that had been sitting out on the counter for over 20 minutes were brought over to us. Unfortunately, only one of us had ordered the chocolate option. So back to the counter both desserts went for another 15 minutes until the correct Banana Flambé came out, with only one of the chocolate desserts coming back to us, after having now been sitting on the open counter for over 35 minutes. Throughout the whole night we watched other diners being offered lovely chocolate covered strawberries before their desserts arrived so that the kitchen could catch up. But guess who didn't get any strawberries...Yes, us.
While we completely understand how a kitchen can become overwhelmed with orders, it was the fact that our server just pretended we didn't even exist when he could clearly tell something was wrong. I am not sure if he was too frightened to admit there had been a mix up with our order, but being ignored for almost two hours with what would have been a "no problem" situation, became a horrible experience.
We left the restaurant just after 9:00pm, after having paid the $250.00 bill, in complete shock. With pre fix menus at $85.00 per person on Valentines Day, this is not the sort of experience you would ever imagine you would have in such a high scale restaurant as Vis a Vis. This used to be one of our favorite places for dinner, but I cannot imagine we will be returning after our experience last night, which also happened to be my birthday!
Written February 15, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jean G
2 contributions
Oct 2024 • couples
My husband and I were out on a lunch date today so we thought we would order the seafood platter for two. At about $70 we thought we’d splurge. After all we live in a city famous for great local seafood. When the platter arrived I was surprised to see crab meat rather than legs (especially since they brought crab crackers to the table). It didn’t taste like lovely local Dungeness crab, but out of a can. The oysters were wonderful. Then I tried the mussels. We are lucky here to get fresh mussels from Saltspring Island. As soon as I put the first mussel in my mouth I spat it out. It was off.
When I asked to speak to the manager he argued with me, saying that mussels can taste different. Well, it was different alright. As in bad. I explained that I was informing him for quality control purposes. His reaction was unprofessional.
I’m a local and have eaten here many times before and enjoyed the food. I will think twice about coming here again.
Written October 20, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
David R
Vancouver Island105 contributions
Aug 2022 • none
I really can't understand how this place is in business. I'd gone here for drinks only several years ago and enjoyed. Came back recently for patio dinner and everything was terrible.
My partner asked for a certain Chardonnay and the server said they were out. In fact, they were out of several wines. At a wine bar! The server then proceeded to tell us all of the various food options that were no longer available. This was a Saturday evening around 6:30, so it's not like they'd sold out. Why bother printing a menu?
Service was slow, the food we ordered entirely forgettable, and I don't feel like anybody at the restaurant cared.
Written November 2, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bad G
Calgary100 contributions
Nov 2023 • friends
Make sure you stock up on Eno. I had soup and a main. I could not pass up the lovely description of the Onion soup complete with cheese and bread. However the cheese and bread were not enough to rescue the broth which was almost flavorless. I had the Local Mussels for a main. The mussels were very small and they were old to boot. One further fact that aggravated the situation was that there was more SAUSAGE than mussels in the dish which is a testament to the size of the mussels. In any case I was treating friends and was embarrassed to have made such a disastrous choice . In the end our two courses cost over $50/person not including cocktails. To top it off my stomach was upset by the time we left. I tried ginger ale but in the end I had to resort to Eno before bed and even that just took the edge off. I even felt like crap the next day! This was my first time at this restaurant maybe I caught them on a real bad day, but I won't be back a second time.
Written November 19, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
golfstar2015
Palm Springs33 contributions
Jun 2022 • couples
We have has the privilege to dine at Vis-a-Vis over the past few years and have introduced many friends to what once was a truly wonderful dining experience. Unfortunately, their continued staff issues, lack of staff training and customer service will prevent us from going again anytime soon.
They have lost a number of their management team and it is reflected in their training of new staff and quality of service.
Very unfortunate as this was a truly great restaurant.
Ownership needs to step up!
Written July 4, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mimi R.
Toronto4 contributions
Jun 2021 • none
I tried to make a reservation on patio - but they said they don't do reservations on the patio. When we arrived, I saw a table outside that was empty and asked for it. I was told it was reserved. They explained they had over booked the inside???? The food was good. The problem was the service. We had told them in advance that we had some vegans in our group and they offered to make the Penny Farthing menu available which had vegan items. We were a party of 6, first group inside for dinner; we had 4 Vis a Vis menus and 1 Penny Farthing menu to share. 2 hours to get our food. Because everything took so long, we were the last table in the restaurant to finish and they began cleaning and couldn't wait to get us out the door. Service there was an after thought.
Written June 20, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
cathy
New York City46 contributions
Aug 2024 • solo
The chef takes a limited offering and delivers a unique take on traditional French dishes. Although I didn't try them, I hear the escargot were in a sauce that was not just garlic and oil. I had pistachio crusted lamb. Cooked to perfection with tasty sides. Ryan, my server, was great at explaining the prep and discussing the chefs choices.i highly recommend this place
Written August 1, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sandra B
Victoria5 contributions
Nov 2022 • none
We are so disappointed in what was a favourite neighbourhood restaurant has gone down hill.
The room is cozy and lively.
We had pleasant and efficient service this visit.
The menu has limited appeal compared to previous menus.
We ordered the Ciopinno seafood special with frites.
The server indicated the dish had a medley of seafood.
It arrived with a one piece of white fish and three mussels. Not the medley presented.
Even worse the white fish smelled and tasted off.
Our server provided an option to order something else. Which we did.
Our steak dinner was fine, however the evening was very discombobulated.
No concession for the poor experience, apart from not paying for the seafood dish..
The wines presented on the wine list were not available.
So very disappointed.
Written November 25, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andy M
West Vancouver83 contributions
May 2022 • couples
It was a return visit for us but not as good an experience as last year. We ordered 2 soup starters and one main course when we arrived . Drinks were brought promptly but food took 45 minutes to arrive and when it did both soups and the main course came together. We asked that the main course be removed and they complied.
Written May 12, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Vera D
Leopoldsburg159 contributions
Sep 2024 • couples
In 1 word wow! We came to OakBay to eat something a little quieter and happened to come into this restaurant. I have rarely eaten such a delicious dish.. lamb with pistachio crumble.. sublimely delicious prepared! Also friendly service and cozy place!
Automatically translated
Written September 20, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
roadkilt
227 contributions
Jan 2020 • none
Trip Advisor does not have a criteria for “Keto Friendly” restaurants. Those of us on the low carb healthy fat food choices wonder if the restaurant will give some good keto options, especially in a mixed group. That will be the focus of this review.
Breakfast/brunch is super popular in Victoria with many great restaurants competing for your sunny side up dollar. Vis-a-Vis has great options at dinner for low carb protein forward apps and entrees, so we thought breakfast should be fantastic too.
Unfortunately nearly all the breakfasts come with bread/brioche bun, baguette, or potatoes. We asked our waitress if we could drop the starch and get a piece of grilled veg instead. No substitutes. Fair enough, your'e the boss I guess.
So we opted for a simple two eggs, lightly fried, with bacon and paid for an extra side of two sausages. No toasted sourdough bread and potatoes/fruit salad (which comes included). No credit or substitute offered.
It took at least 25 minutes for breakfast to show up. The restaurant wasn't full, it was a saturday morning so brunch was clearly anticipated, and there were plenty of staff, so I assume the kitchen wasn't under pressure. Although the eggs were warm and cooked perfectly the sausages were barely warm and overly salty, and the bacon was rock hard and cold.
After that unsatisfying discussion of not having bread/spuds, waiting forever for the simplest of meals, and getting cafeteria grade sides I have to downgrade my normally positive view of Vis-aVis from 5 to 3.
We won't be back, for brunch anyway, and its off my list of places for friends/visitors to go. Too bad, as Oak Bay needs a good brekkie option, try Village on Estevan instead. Friendlier, faster, and more accommodating to the customer, who I heard "is always right". Tell that last line to the staff/management.
Written January 7, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mark D
Vancouver138 contributions
Nov 2022 • none
This was a chance upon on a rainy Thursday. We love french food and so we figured to give it a try. The place was packed, which is always a good sign. Love the French ambiance and the menu had great french cuisine. The vibe was an up-scale pub but not over the top. The service was great. We had french onion soup and a chicken sandwich. They were both very good.
This restaurant is a part of the Victoria Pub company and it shows as they always do a great job.
Will definitely return when we are back in Oak Bay.
Written November 4, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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