Shanzee's Old Town — Restaurant in Victoria

I love the location of this little breakfast joint. They are located in old China Town and there is a lot of history in this building. There are photographs and write-ups behind plexiglass in the covered walk paths from one side of the courtyard to the next explaining the history of this area. The architecture is fascinating as well. This eatery is walk to the counter, order and pay first...then sit and they bring your food to you. We ordered the gluten free biscuits and gravy and requested extra care, as this food choice is allergy induced, not a lifestyle for us. They were great about asking clarifying questions and I felt confident they understood our needs. We both had waters and I appreciated that they left a bottle with us to refill ourselves, as I drink a lot of water. My husband had chai and I had a london fog. My London Fog was delicious and probably in the top two or three I've ever had.

The biscuits and gravy were on the small side, but filling. If you have a big appetite, I suggest a double order or get a side or oatmeal or something to go with it. The gravy was a vegan, mushroom gravy and was a touch too salty for me, but otherwise good. The biscuits are typical gluten free...sandy more than soft like a biscuit could be. I can make them at home that way, but home was a long ways away while we were here, so I'm happy to have the choice. Unfortunately, for someone allergic to gluten and eggs, there is little else to be had on the island that I found.

The cafe interior is cute, with multiple small seating areas. The washroom is tiny, but efficient...

I was super disappointed. The food online looks great right. I order via doorddash. For 13.95 , a traditoonal breaky of 2 eggs 2 bacon 2 sausage and some hasbrowns isnt too bad. No toast, biscuit is extra $. This was the most bland yet greasy food ive had in a while, and ive had Dennys! I can say the eggs looked great and had nice yolks but they were greasy top and bottom. But even worse, not a pinch of salt or pepper was found on anything in the dish. The shredded hashbrowns were greasy, not crispy mostly mushy, and bland....zero seasoning. The bacon was cooked decent but was coated in grease even for bacon. The sausages were soft mushy and greasy. But i think the most annonoying part aside from bland greasy food is that my order came with nothing. No salt and pepper as i would expect sitting down at a table had i dined in, no offer of ketchup as traditonal with breakfasts, but mainly NO FORK AND NO NAPKIN. Screw the take out orders i guess? Fend for yourselves? Will not return and cannot recommend Thankfully dordash refunded the partial cost of the meal because it was so unenjoyble and flavorless but still kinda a bummer for a sunday morn. Id treat your take out orders better....they are a big chunk of determining if its worth coming...

I feel like this place doesn't need much of an introduction considering it has a sign at the front that says its on Yelps Top 100 restaurants list. Either way, here's some info. I've been Pescatarian for a little over a year now, but I'm trying to fully transition to vegetarian, which can make it hard to dine with the gf at times since we like to share food for variety. So unfortunately I feel like I might not be doing this restaurant any justice since it has such an interesting and very tempting menu full of meat options. Anyway...pictured in this review is the vegetarian hash and the pancake special (pretty much banana pancakes with walnuts).

Vegetarian Hash - I've never had a hash with spring-mix on top. Usually vegetarian hashes are just peppers and onions, but this was more like a salad with egg and hashbrowns. Still really good once you chop everything up together and dump some hot sauce and ketchup on it. I'd order it again. The Pancakes - They looked dense but they were so fluffy and their syrup was awesome. I could have taken a shot of just the syrup.

I'd definitely return. It's in a really cool spot called Market Square too. On a sunny day its just a nice place to eat...