Bold Butchery & Grill — Restaurant in Victoria

This place is one of my top five ATF eateries in Victoria, it's kind of fast food in that you order at the counter and have a seat while you wait for your name to be called. There are two booths and a bunch of two person tables, but I saw a lot of takeout going out the door too.

The chicken shawarma is amazing, roasted on a spit and everything is homemade except the wrap itself, make sure you say yes to the pickled vegetables and the hot sauce! 😋😋😋

Their fries are the best I've had since childhood! I had to ask them what their secret was and they said it's the type of potato they use, It tastes how french fries used to taste when I was a kid... In the 70s for reference lol. 😆

The only hard part is trying to decide whether to have the fries for my side or the crispy falafels which are absolutely incredible. Last time I tried a falafel wrap and they had cut up the falafels so I didn't get a crunchy bite like I was hoping, I might still order it again and just ask them not to smoosh the falafels because biting through the crispy exterior is 90% of the fun. 😍 Or just get a side of falafels, you get 4 falafels for five bucks with tahini dip, you can't go wrong!

When I was on a low carb diet I ordered the falafel salad and shawarma salad, and it was amazing as well, you have a choice of five different kinds of homemade hummus and I'm not sure what kind of dressing they put on it but with the hummus and the pickled vegetables and the dried chickpeas and the shredded cabbage, or shredded beets I'm not quite sure what they were, maybe shredded beets actually 🤔 it did not feel like diet food at all!!

They also make I think three different soups from scratch, I tried the tomato and it was tasty! When my dad was dying and not hungry, I brought him three flavors and he really liked them especially the homemade pita chips that comes with it. It was just nice that he found something he enjoyed eating towards the end. 🥰

I brought a friend here last week, and he loved it as well, and was shocked that it's been there for probably 2-3 years and he'd never heard of it. We ordered two chicken shawarmas with fries and a can of pop each and it came to $31 total. I was sure the guy had made a mistake because I thought that a shawarma and fries should be at least 15 bucks plus tax plus the drinks, but the guy insisted it was correct... start the caaarrrr lol.

I mentioned to my friend that they also have good burgers, and we looked at the menu quickly before we left and they actually have a new brisket burger that we're going to go back for soon omg omg! I'll report back 😄😉

The same owners have opened an Afghan restaurant next door which I'm dying to try, I don't think Victoria has any other Afghan restaurants, and unfortunately I don't even know what that would consist of. But I'm dying to try it 🤣😁😋☺️

PS they take cards but don't take cash unless you have exact change, but I always just round it up for a tip anyways, it's...

Good product but they put way too much hot sauce (even though I asked for “mild” spicy level). The sauce was dripping out the bottom when I tried eating the shawarma and it made it look as if I had thrown up on my clothes. It tastes good, but be very precise about how much sauce to put (or ask for it on the side) if you have any in case you get an inexperienced staff member.

I wonder how often the staff eat the shawarma (especially the newer staff) because I have shawarma all the time at other places and there was no way I could have avoided this “sauce disaster” with how much they put, especially since there’s no dine-in and no outdoor seating nearby, so you have to eat it standing up.

I had been here multiple times previously with no issues (both before Covid and during Covid with a vehicle to eat inside in the parking lot, no sauce disasters in previous times) and went out of my way to eat here in Victoria today but I’ll be extra cautious if I ever go again. Maybe the shawarma bowl would be a safer choice than a shawarma wrap when it’s take-out only. I suppose every business is having issues...

Some good, some awful.

I was really excited to try their Shawarma after the many recommendations online.

Was I EVER disappointed.

It was nothing more impressive than a wrap you could make at home or pick up at the grocery store.

It seemed insulting to call that little, dry, one note wrap Shawarma. :/

It looked nothing like some of the pictures online, so I imagine like other businesses trying to stay afloat they've had to make changes. It's a shame that menu pictures aren't updated to reflect those changes though.

Much to my surprise though the other things we ordered were great.

I got lentil soup and it was absolutely delicious. Such comfort food.

The Halloumi fries had a sauce that was really really great. So well balanced and flavourful.

The Bold Pita chips were also really nicely flavoured, cooked perfectly, and you could tell that they either just changed the oil recently or they just keep the oil really clean.

I'd like to go back to try other things, but I'm not sure I can forgive them for the massive disappointment of that...