Bray's — Restaurant in Victoria

One sunny Saturday on the patio: Beautiful sunny day on the patio at Bray's. The patio was pretty full of people enjoying food and drink. We ordered 2 glasses of wine and were enjoying the ambiance of the restaurant and weather. On the bench in front of the restaurant, an intoxicated young man was enjoying his pint and his portable speaker. The competing musical notes made it a mix of interesting sounds. Everyone was enjoying themselves, until.... Until the intoxicated man decided to call to one of the waiters. He called several times, then decided to approach the partition around the patio, right at a table of two patrons and yell again. The waiter came over and asked him to leave. The man walked away, but came back a few minutes later, yelling loudly for a waiter. The waiter came over with a waitress and declined his request for a glass of water. This interaction happened again, then a nearby patron decided to send her partner across the street for a paper cup. The female patron poured the man a cup of water and took it to him at the bench. After she sat down feeling great, the intoxicated man promptly knocked the water over. The man got up and approached that women's table asking for more water. The man thought someone at the table said something offensive to him. He began reaching over the partition at the two women, making a gun gesture with his fingers, yelling "what did he say to me?" That interaction continued on, with the man reaching into the table area numerous times, as he yelled at them. A waiter, waitress, and large statured kitchen staff approached the table, asking the man to leave. The man decided to walk over to the entry way into the restaurant and may have walked in if the 3 staff hadn't blocked him. This round Robin b.s. continued on for 15 minutes, maybe more. I asked the staff to call the police to help, they said the man was on public property. His body may have been on public property, but his hands were not. The gun gesture at the woman was over the partition that surrounds the patio. He gestured many times over the partition. I asked for the check and left Bray's. The restaurant staff doesn't have to do anything to make sure their patrons are safe and enjoying their experience at Bray's. Nor did I have to stay in the environment, so I didn't. Well done Bray's that...

Ate here last week and it seriously changed my mind about eating out in restaurants again. The atmosphere in this place was incredible, even as early as 3pm it was already bumping on a friday. The Drink selection was huge and presented a never ending selection, and lastly the staff were seriously amazing. Super courteous and helpful and not once did I have to wait, even when the place was busy.

So I feel I should say this is a tapas and wine bar so my partner and I had several dishes to try out.

We started with Beef Carpaccio and never in my life have I had carpaccio this good. It was cut thin and seasoned to perfection. The black garlic aioli and Grana Padano was a perfect touch to add a full flavour to this dish. I could seriously eat this everyday.

Next up we had one of my favourite foods, scallops! Now I have to say, I have eaten scallops a lot and a really stand out scallop for me is rare. However, Bray's scallops were thee best scallops I have had to date. I had to ask what part of the dish was made from as the flavour was not of this planet. So the scallops and asparagus were perfectly cooked and seasoned as you'd expect, but on the side was this red & brown jam, unsure what it was I tried it and my word. ... . I have never had a flavour like this, it was Bone Marrow Bacon Jam. Putting that on the scallops changed my life, if you go to Bray's GET THIS!

We had the Miso Glazed Turnips & Roasted carrots next. Again a beautiful more rustic flavour, cooked to perfection. The habenero and beet puree added a nice rounded flavour profile as well.

Lastly we decided to get dessert, The Lemon Olive Oil Cake w/ Buttermilk Gelato... . This was incredible! I had never tried an olive oil cake before this but I am glad we got it. It was thee perfect end to a perfect meal. I will be going back as soon as possible!

I also learned when talking to the amazing chef that they rotate part of the menu all the time depending on whats in season so its always going to be a fresh experience.

Go there! You...

I am surprised at all the good ratings for this place, which is what prompted me to come try it out. A friend and I sat on the patio last night, which had a nice view of downtown and the water at sunset. Cute place, although the washroom was pretty gross. Initially the server showed up and took our orders but after that the service went way downhill, despite the place not being crazy busy on a weekday. We ordered 4 dishes, three of which showed up quickly. After that we waited an hour during which our drinks sat empty and no one came to see how we were doing or to check on our missing food. Eventually flagged down a server to order more drinks, and they said they would ask about our missing dish. It showed up maybe 15 minutes after that, so I’m guessing they had forgotten about it, but no one admitted to that or apologized for the crazy long wait. We were hoping to order dessert but after the last dish finally arrived the server disappeared again and I finally went in and asked for the bill because it had been over half an hour again without anyone checking in. No one bothered asking how the food was. The mussels and gnocchi were excellent, but I wouldn’t recommend the lamb or the broccolini. Overall I’d say I wouldn’t go back, not...