Fox & Monocle Cafe — Restaurant in North Saanich

Once in a while you find you're having a hard time understanding why a good restaurant gets good reviews and you're just not enjoying the food like everyone else has... And then you realize you're not eating it properly.

It's not like a plate of food should have directions to consume, right?

I chose the Seafood Ravioli: Rose sauce, roasted tomato and roe. Not much to get wrong here, but when I got my deep plate with the ravioli beautifully arranged in a sea of rose sauce, with little dollops of roe on top, I dove in and just couldn't figure out why the roe was overpowering the taste of the seafood in the ravioli, and the sauce wasn't helping anything taste better!?! No matter how I cut the ravioli, it just seemed the plate was unbalanced--I dissected the ravioli looking for some missing ingredient that could compete with the pop rocks crackling of the roe...

And then I spotted the spoon.

While the rose sauce was more of a bisque consistency, it was certainly smooth and rich, with little streaks of green savoury oil, but it didn't smother the ravioli--just contained it. Only when I pushed a slice of ravioli and roe into a generous spoonful of the rose sauce did I realize that I had been eating the meal completely wrong from the start!

Good chefs are like alchemists as they forge their creations, and when they pair their fare with other ingredients, foods or wines, the food can often evolve from good to sublime. I think this was the case with my seafood ravioli; everything needed to work together to taste wonderful. My experience evolved from a plate of pasta I was struggling to understand, to an interesting culinary experience.

Now, had I tried the Stinging Nettle Risoto like my wife, there would have been no thinking involved, as it was a no-brainer, wonderful meal right from the first bite.

Staff was very attentive and friendly, parking was easy and plentiful, meals took an appropriate amount of time to prepare, and having the personal touch of Tracie making sure her guests were happy and content with their experience shows pride of ownership. This is how a restaurant...

Disappointing service. We made a reservation several weeks ago and were excited to drive down and try it out. A few hours prior we called to confirm our reservation and we’re told that since there was a cancellation, we could come at 7:30 instead of 8. We confirmed that we would come at 7:30. Upon arrival a confused hostess said our reservation was for 8, and we told Her we were instructed we could come at 7:30. After talking to her manager she said we could sit at the bar and have some drinks until the next table became available. Once we got our drinks we were asked what we would like to order for dinner. assuming the kitchen was busy and they just wanted to get our order in early, we put in our appetizer and dinner orders. We noticed tables were clearing out behind us and thought hey we’ll get seated soon! Our appetizers arrived and halfway through eating them our server came over and said if we really wanted she could fit us into a table now (it was well past 8 now) we said yes and she let us pick any of the 4 open tables. Once sat down, and our water and drinks had run dry, our dinner was then placed in front of us. I asked to see a wine list, and 5-10 minutes later a wine list was placed on the table as she passed by. As we finished our dinner, waiting for the ice cubes to melt in our water glasses to sneak in a snip, someone finally returned back to the table and asked if we needed anything. We had finished our meal by then so we just asked for the bill and left.

Food wise it was definitely good but not mind blowing. Beautiful presentation, but overall a bit on the bland side and under seasoned. Not worth the drive or the wait in my opinion

The worst part is we could clearly hear other tables getting much better service, including having the menu described and keeping drinks topped up.

When we left my girlfriend checked her phone and there was a text message at 8:20 from the restaurant stating that we had a reservation at 8 and if we would...

Our evening meal was one of the greatest meals I've had in my life, and I've been to many, many places. I texted that to my boyfriend back in Los Angeles, and he replied "oh dang, that's serious". What a gem!

We had the beef pie, the chicken, and the steak. We had started with bread and cultured butter and the truffle and cheese croquettes. Then we got every dessert. I don't know how to use words to describe the depth and truth of the flavours, but I can say each item's intended flavour is astronomical. The highlights, if I can even pick, were the cardamom sauce with the deeply cocoa chocolate cake, the beef pie juice and crust, the light as ambrosia pear honey cake, the delicate sugar brûlée'd (?) croissant apple tart... the truffle croquette filled with warm melted cheese... oh and the cocktails were special too. I had the Silk Road Quench cherry tea and gin, and it was an astonishing colour and flavour. Also, the fresh loaf of bread was truly dreamy. An eggy softness and lightness. I couldn't fault a single thing here. Thank you for existing! We'll see you tomorrow for coffee and next year when...