West Coast Grill (Prestige Oceanview Resort)

As a rule, I normally do not dine at hotel restaurants while I'm on vacation.  Sure, there are the occasional gems to be found (therefore, I do eat at those places), but more interesting eats could be found elsewhere.  However, there aren't that many dining options in Sooke, so we felt that convenience and predictability were the name of the game for lunch.  Furthermore, we could get a $10.00 discount since we were staying at the hotel and if we decided not to get daily housekeeping.  Yes, we took the $10.00 discount...  

So we arrived as they were changing over to their lunch menu, but 2 of the kids wanted breakfast.  My son had his go-to dish being the Traditional Eggs Benny with 2 poached eggs, layered Canadian back bacon, housemade Hollandaise sauce and country-style hashbrowns.  As evidenced in the picture, the free-range eggs were beautiful and runny.  The hollandaise was more buttery than tangy being rich and silky.  He liked how they used real back bacon rather than ham.  For Elaine's son, he had the Classic Breakfast with 2 eggs, andouille sausage, toast and country-style hashbrowns.  This was pretty large in portion size as the split sausage was meaty and well-seared.  Nothing amiss here and reasonably-priced at $13.00 (especially at a hotel restaurant).

My daughter didn't want breakfast and had the Pacific Fish & Chips with 1 pc snapper coated in pakora batter, handcut fries, sumac raita, slaw and a cup of chowder.  For me, this was a rather interesting twist on a classic dish.  Since they employed pakora batter, it was a bit thicker, yet ultimately crunchy and spiced while the fresh snapper was flaky and moist.  Replacing the usual tartar sauce with a sumac raita, it really changed the flavour profile.  Beyond the tang of the yogurt, the cumin really came through with a pronounced earthiness.  The cup of chowder was very creamy and was chock full of veggie and clams.  Elaine and myself ordered the Mountain Burger with a hand pressed patty, caramelized onions, smoked cheddar, applewood bacon, devil’s relish, lettuce and garlic aioli.  This was surprisingly awesome with a well-charred lean patty enveloped by a tangy tomato relish and sweet onions.  A bit firmer than usual, the brioche bun held everything together with what was a tasty burger (a la Samuel L. Jackson).

Viv and ended sharing the burger which meant we ordered a few more items including the Spiced Calamari with broken nori, togarashi, fried jalapeños, wasabi and yuzu crema.  Okay, we loved the creativity here, but the dish was a miss for us.  Beyond the tender strips of squid, the batter was wet and not crispy at all.  Furthermore, the greasiness of the whole dish was exemplified by the nori as it was not appealing at all.  This could've been good, but it needs to be tweaked.  On the other hand, the Steamer Pot consisting of 1/2 clams and 1/2 mussels was good.  The shellfish was buttery and prepared properly.  They weren't as plump as the ones from Wild Mountain though.  We chose the chorizo and lemongrass cream sauce which was rich and fragrant with a touch of spice.  Loved the seared bread on the side, it was so crispy and soft.  It was perfect for soaking up the broth.  As you can see, the food at the West Coast Grill was more than acceptable and surprisingly reasonable in price.  Loved the water view as well.

The Good:
- Beautiful decor and located right on the water
- Above average eats
- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:
- The calamari was not prepared properly
- Strangely, not enough parking for all the guests of the hotel and restaurant