JOIE French Café — Restaurant in Victoria

Everything but the food was good for our first experience here. Nice view outside, great for people watching and it's a good location. The staff was kind. I docked a star for the high price and two stars for the not-so-good food since that's what really matters.

I ordered the chicken alfredo crepe. The starter salad was spinach with a vinaigrette on it, half of the leaves weren't in a sad state. It just wasn't good. The crepe and sauce on it was good but the chicken had ruined it. The taste and texture was like chicken that had been sitting in the fridge for 5 days. I don't think I've ever had chicken that bad at a restaurant. I was disappointed because of the price one would expect the chicken to be cooked when it's ordered. Maybe it was very freezer burnt. We were going to go to the Village instead but wanted to try something new. With the same price I could've gone to The Village and got a delicious, well cooked, fresh, sustainably sourced meal with an incredible side salad consisting of way more than just spinach and some vinaigrette.

My partner was also disappointed, he ordered the french onion soup and an apple pie. The soup was something he could've easily made himself and the pie wasn't the greatest either. We went to the patisserie across the street to make up for the lack lustre feelings we got from the large hole in our wallets. There are a lot of good reviews so maybe something went wrong or we ordered the wrong things? But I don't think we will...

Something Amaizing is happening here! True French at the heart of Victoria's North Park neighbourhood. Under new ownership expect the unexpected, REAL croissants like the ones at my favorite cafe in Paris, and what to say about the brioches and amaizing "Pain Perdu" drizzeled with a caramel sauce made scratch and wonderful berry salad. A delight with every bite. I just keep on returning to see what else Laurent is making, he definetly has a gift with food. They now serve dinner too. The menu is classic and includes local lamb as welll as seafood and vegetarian choices, all made from scratch with the finest local ingredients in season. The crepe with grilled portabella, spinach, brie cheese laced with truffle oil and pops of local candied smoked salmon was amaizing. The scallops and prawns are accompanied by lightly caramelized small potatoes accompanied by an amaising white wine sauce and local greens salad with local strawberries and blueberry vinegrette. All is made to order with love in this small cozy cafe and the outdoor patio is just great. Definetly returning to sample Chef Laurent's creations, a true gastronomic experience at a moderate price. The down side is that there is no wine but considering the great food, a lemon San Pelegrino will...

Best restaurant in Victoria, to be honest. (Although I haven’t visited their dinner restaurant yet.)

I go here almost every week, so I decided I should finally make a review.

The heart of this place is the delicious selection of CRÊPES. I especially love the savoury crepes. They’re filled with different kinds of melted cheeses, with protein (bacon, fried eggs, ham, smoked salmon, scallops, prawns, etc.) on top, and often a sauce of some kind as well.

My favourites are the Lorraine (bacon and eggs on top with cream cheese inside), the saumon fumé (cream cheese inside with smoked salmon, lemon, and truffle oil on top), and the mira-mar (Swiss cheese inside and scallops and prawns on top). If you order one of these and don’t like it, you must be crazy.

The sweet crepes are also amazing!

This place also has the most delicious iced tea I’ve ever tasted, with a very unique and interesting flavour.

The staff are very kind as well.

I could write much more, but yeah, I really love this place. I’m very lucky to live just...