John's Place

Last night we went to dinner at John's Place. It has been close to four years since I last went there for dinner, I should have been back earlier as the food is good.

John's Place has been around since October 1984 and I spent many a dinner there while at university. There was one time in 1988 that a friend and I went in for a late lunch followed by some beer followed by dinner followed by more beer. We did not have the cash on us for an all day and evening session there, but John gave us credit.

Since I have been back in Victoria, I have only been there a handful of times.

The restaurant makes their own bread. Their onion rings are all made on site, no frozen pre-cooked ones going on here. There is an attention to detail with the food here that is lacking in most restaurants in this town.

I had the bacon cheese burger. The bun was fresh, the patty was hand formed, the bacon was high quality and perfectly cooked, and they offered me the choice of three cheeses. The fries that came with it were well done as was the gravy.

We started with the onion rings, they were amazing as always, though last night I think the fryer as not quite hot enough as they were greasier than I had expected.

We finished with desert, my cheesecake was well done and huge for what it was but it is not the style I like. Sheila had the apple pie. I love their apple pie. It has a good crust, a nice tang and the fruit still has substance.

John's is a diner like environment, they even have the jukebox - 9 songs for a toonie. It was an atmosphere that made us feel comfortable having Max there, even if he got loud it was not a big deal.

We will be going back sooner rather than later. Though I am not going to go and stand in line for the weekend brunch, that is one meal I hate to wait for no matter how good it is.


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