OLO Restaurant
509 Fisgard St, Victoria, B.C.
Tel: (250) 590-8795
OLO is located in the former Ulla Restaurant in historic Chinatown of Victoria, B.C. OLO actually means ‘hungry’ in Chinook Jargon; a derivative language of English, French, Chinese and Chinook. The forty seat casual dining venue boosts a farm-to-table dining experience with a menu focusing on sustainable ingredients found throughout Vancouver Island.
The first dish that caught my eye on their brunch menu was the Pork Rinds with chili sea salt. Um, could I have more of this please? These were delicious! Light, crispy and perfectly seasoned with a hint of heat.
My partner ordered this stunning dish; Smoked Wild Salmon with poached eggs, roesti, potato puree, pickled onion, yogurt, radish and nasturtium. The salmon was tender and beautifully prepared. He especially loved the crispy exterior and soft interior of the roesti. The egg was perfectly poached. He couldn’t say enough about this!
As for myself, I had the server recommend a dish for me. She commented the Vegetable + Poached Eggs with sunflower seeds, vegetables and salsa verde was one of OLO’s more popular dishes. I was a little reluctant about the dish when it arrived as it wasn’t very appealing to the eye. Looks can be deceiving because with the first bite I was hooked. This vegetarian dish was packed with so much flavour and texture.
And the last dish was the Souffle Pancake; there were two options – Ham, Cheese Fondue and Green Onion or Wildflower Honey Yogurt and Rhubarb. Since the previous dishes were all savoury we decided to go with the sweet version. The pancake was light and airy, but with all the toppings, the dish was a bit too sweet for our tastebuds.
OLO’s brunch menu is a fairly new concept to the restaurant and I was happy to experience it during my visit to Victoria. The dishes were good, but you will pay a premium for the sustainable ingredients. I will definitely be back to try their dinner menu.
*All food and beverages were complimentary and opinions are completely my own.
