Niche.

Go to this restaurant. keep it alive. i beg of you.

My friend Emi was again nervous to take me to this restaurant for my birthday lunch - i hope by the time she reads this she'll understand that i trust her tastes implicitly!

Niche is a gorgeous little restaurant in an old, beautifully renovated character home Victoria's James Bay.

we were promptly seated in a cute little table by the window - having a look at the menu, i noticed each menu item was typically three words - like beef, beets, blue or risotto, duck, nettles.

i think i ordered fish, cream, fennel or something (what i guessed to be a chowder) along with risotto, duck, nettles and chocolate, rhubarb, mint for dessert.

the soup that i got was the best fish chowder i have ever had ANYWHERE. cream, perfectly cooked white fish, fennel, pernod, maybe some white wine - the point is the stock was absolutely fantastic. SO good.

my main came, which was a risotto with a duck leg confit (duck slow cooked in its own fat until its super tender then roasted crispy) with stinging nettles and grated grana padano - this was also probably one of the best risottos i've ever had.

i'm a sucker for 3 things on any menu - chowder, duck, and lamb. occasionally crab cakes but i've been burnt so many times with those you hafta build up my trust before i'll order them.

Their chowder was amazing and the duck melted in my mouth - so far so good. Dessert came - a beautiful minted firm-set ganache (mixture of dark chocolate and cream) served with a rhubarb compote. it was delicious.

what's more? all three courses for $18. even my favorite little bistro in Vancouver, Cassis, was blown out of the water on both taste and price point.

so i went back again, this time for dinner, with the worst food critic of all - my waspy eightysomething grandmother. hunched in all her glory, white hair and neck wottle, we sit down.

after looking at the menu for a minute or two she throws her hands up in the air and tells me to order for her. now this is a behavioral indicator that can really go to one of two extremes: pie-eyed enjoyment, or, in one instance a face full of sesame sauce for one unfortunate chef at the local teppanyaki house.

I ordered her a seafood risotto, a seared tuna loin in shiitake broth and the never-ending dessert platter.

for myself the oxtail ravioli, seared duck breast with truffled israeli couscous and also the dessert platter.

if i was going to get through the flapping neck wottle and slurping i'd need a lot of wine. and so i had it. may i say, a nice selection.

The risotto comes for my grandmother and i get the ravioli, served in a gazpacho sauce. this ravioli was hands down the richest, most amazing ravioli EVER. the oxtail was SO tender and the sauce was perfect. Oxtail is amazing when braised - much like short ribs or shanks, my favorites.

i went to take a bite of my grandmother's risotto and was deflected by her fork - for a minute there i thought she might take out her dentures and faceplant.

the mains came - my duck was good, as was her tuna - both perfectly cooked. the truffled israeli couscous was fantastic.

dessert. oh my god, dessert. home-made vanilla panna cotta. a home-made cinnamon doughnut. more home-made strawberry ice cream, an incredible chocolate ganache and a beautiful rhubarb tart. remember those pie-eyes i was talking about? yep. my grandmother was in heaven. everything on that plate was absolutely fantastic. amazing.

so why am i asking you to keep this place alive? it's never been busy when i'm in there. never more than a few tables, and i think this is hands-down the best restaurant in Victoria. Even critiquing in Vancouver as much as i have - compared to Lumiere, Vij's, i still think Niche comes out on top.

orgasm. sigh. hankie.

I give Niche a full five out of five.

225 Quebec Street
Victoria, BC V8V 1W2