Our Dine Around & Stay in Town 2020 experience

March 04, 2020

Dine around & Stay in town is Victoria’s biggest food and drink event, by Destination Great Victoria. We lived the whole experience this year: stayed in one of Victoria’s participating hotels, assisted to the Dine around launch gala and tried the Dine around dinners in many of the participating restaurants.

I find this event a great opportunity to try many of Victoria’s best restaurants for affordable prices. Victoria has a very diverse culinary scene worth trying out! An opportunity to visit old favourites or try new ones.

From January 17 to February 2, 2020, many of Victoria’s best restaurants offered special course menus for only $20, $30, $40 or $50. Victoria’s hotels also join this culinary event and offer accommodations at reduced prices.

First off, the Launch Gala

On January 16th, 2020, Dine around & stay in town officially launched with a gala at the Victoria Conference Centre.

Over 50 participating restaurants, BC’s craft breweries and VQA wineries provided their dine around menu samples for us to try. This is a great opportunity where you get to meet the most talented chefs in Victoria, the people behind every dish, sommeliers and much more! Lots of food, lots of options, you don’t even know where to begin!

Tickets sell out every year, so stay tuned for next year’s ticket sale for the Dine around gala. I will be posting on our instagram for you to see.

Hotel stay at the Inn at Laurel Point

Such a magical experience! This local hotel really surprised us. The views are absolutely incredible! The rooms are great and their service is very friendly! Highjly recommended.

They had a really good deal, starting at $149 per night. This waterfront property is the first carbon neutral hotel in the city and it is just steps away from the Inner Harbour! Our room had harbour views, a private balcony, L’Occitane en Provence amenities and a very big bathtub. A great staycation, loved it!

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Check out out instagram highlights for more.

Spinnakers Gastro Pub

Canada’s oldest Gastropub. Offering a $20 set menu for breakfast, a $30 set menu for lunch and a $40 set menu for dinner, Spinnakers featured lots of delicious options for us to try out!

We tried many of their craft beers, which we really liked and made such a good pairing! Had their crispy falafel, roasted parsnip & bacon flatbread and their delicious house made hand rolled truffles for dessert! We also tried their new London Dry Gin… really good!

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During this event, they also had select rooms available for as low as $109 a night.

Little Jumbo

Definitely one of our favourites this year! Little Jumbo is known for their amazing cocktails, but have you tried their food? We really appreciate every single dish.

Tried the warm quinoa salad, which was so tasty! Still dreaming about it… Braised chuck flat with gruyere whipped potatoes as my second course, and what can I say? Incredible! For dessert I had the rosemary lemon cheesecake, so yummy!

OLO Restaurant

Our first time trying out OLO, and it was the perfect occasion. Great food, great price. We love that they focus on cooking seasonally and with local ingredients, mostly farm-to-table. They offer a varied menu that made it really hard for me to choose my entrees. I started my meal with really good mussels, chose the delicious Miso sake rock cod and finished my dinner with their apple dessert. Give it a try next year!

The Keg

A classic! Who can resist to a good steak?

The Keg offered a $40 and $50 menu for dine around. We chose the $40 menu and had their Baked garlic shrimp to start, which I really enjoy every time I visit, chose the Steak and Shrimp and for dessert their Billy miner pie.

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Aura Waterfront Restaurant

We had the opportunity to try Aura’s Dine Around menu, which was incredible! They had $30 and $40 set menus for Dine Around this year.

We had the delicious Deep Fried Sushi (my latest obsession), Cashew Scotch Egg and BBQ Sambal Skate… Everything is unbelievably good! And for dessert, pastry chef Kimberly Vy presents beautiful and delicious options. Our favourite: Bourbon Milk Chocolate Pot de Creme! If you haven’t tried this dessert yet, you’re missing out

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What we liked the most about Aura’s Dine Around menu is that they featured their regular menu items, making this a fun and affordable way to try their recently renovated restaurant new cuisine. They are located at the Inn at Laurel Point hotel, very convenient when visiting Victoria.

10 Acres Commons

The 10 Acres Commons offered a $30 menu that we really liked! You could choose from carnitas tacos, sushi rolls, handmade stuffed pasta, fried chicken, burger and more! We loved the variety on their menu!

611 Courtney St.@eat10acreswww.10acres.ca

Other participating restaurants were Varsha Indian Kitchen, E:Ne Raw Food and Sake Bar, Ferris’ Grill, Perro Negro Tapas, The Flying Pig, The Butchart Gardens, Glo Restaurant, Q at the Empress, The Courtney Room, Zambri’s and many more!

Our Tips for next year’s Dine Around & Stay in Town:

  1. Check out the participating restaurants and hotel

  2. Book your stay in Victoria

  3. Read the participating restaurant’s menus to see which ones you’d like to try out

  4. Make your reservations as soon as possible

  5. Enjoy!

  6. Share using the hashtag #tastingvictoria

We hope you enjoyed some new favourites and we look forward to celebrating Victoria’s fabulous culinary scene again next year!

Let us know which restaurants were your favourites these year!Would love to try your recommendations on 2021!

Thank you for reading along!

Special thank you to Destination Greater Victoria and Inn at Laurel Point for including us in your media events.

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