Malaysian curry, $14.
Ferris' Grill
536 Yates Street, Victoria, B.C.
http://ferrisoysterbar.com
On a recent chilly, rainy Saturday night, five of us dropped in on Ferris' Grill.
Ferris' is a compact, narrow place in a restored brick heritage building. It's full of character — walls decorated with posters, well-worn wooden furniture, high ceiling with all sorts of mysterious stuff. It's usually packed with people, and those people can be sitting awfully close to you. So, you need to be flexible about your personal space and not mind the can't-help-it eavesdropping.
Because it was Saturday night, we faced a half-hour wait for a table, in part because we were a largish group.
Why is Ferris's so popular? we wondered among ourselves as we waited. A couple of us are repeat customers, and we're not sure why we are drawn back.
We came to an uncomplicated conclusion: It's a comfortable, reliable place to eat — despite the space crunch. And maybe we're drawn to a crowd.
During the wait, we noticed that staff are constantly coming in and out, because there's no internal staircase between the downstairs Grill and the upstairs Oyster Bar. Cool breezes for customers near the front and back doors.
We ended up near the back door which, in fine weather, leads to a patio.
Tonight, everyone was staying inside, except the staff.
On to the meal, which was a hit for four out of the five of us.
Meal 1. Malaysian curry $14. Deep fried tofu and stir fried vegetables atop noodles. Quotes from the person who ate it: "It was yummy. All the many flavours worked well together. It had just enough spice to get the tastebuds excited but not kill them. The vegetables were cooked just right, not overcooked. The pad thai noodles were great."
Meal 2. Jambalaya $18. Short grain rice in a spicy tomato sauce with mussels, shrimp, clams, chicken and chorizio sausage. "It had just the right spiciness. The mussels were succulent. You fear for mussels — they can be chewy." The Malaysian curry person had a bit of the jambalaya (because we were sharing our meals a bit): "It's pretty good. Could be spicier."
Meal 3. Halibut burger with house salad $12. "Delicious. It was grilled with a delicious crust on it but it was moist inside. I ate all of it."
Meal 4. Pan fried oysters $14 (large), plus a small house salad as a separate order $6. Six oysters in large version. You need to order something else with the oysters if you're feeling hungry. The oysters came clustered in the centre of a big shallow bowl surrounded by oyster juice and under a thin fried slice of onion bread. I ate this dish and liked it. The oysters were tasty, heavy on the lemon, which is OK. As always with cooked oysters, there were tough bits, which I cut away or, if I missed them, chewed like bubble gum and swallowed. Though the menu said pan fried, the oysters had more of a poached character. It's one of those, I could have done this at home without too much trouble dishes. In contrast, cooking the curry or jambalaya would have been a production, and I'll probably ordered one of those next time after seeing how much my dining companions enjoyed them.
Meal 5. The Gina Lola $10. It's a sandwich, made with grilled zucchini, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted peppers and spinach on a grilled sourdough bun spread with homous and feta cheese. Quoting the diner: "It's bland and soggy. The yam fries are limp and a little bit burnt." She ate most of the sandwich because she was famished and didn't want to wait for something else. People around the table sampled her yam fries after she complained about them and agreed that they were indeed limp, not crispy, and some were burnt.
Apart from the Gina Lola and the chilly breezes (keep your coat on) it was a good experience. Friendly service even though the staff was slammed by a Saturday night crush. Relatively quick delivery of the food despite that crush.
We'll be back for more.
Pan fried oysters, $14
Halibut burger with house salad, $12
Small house salad, $6
Gina Lola with yam fries, $10
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Mobile credit card transactions using Square
Mobile food vendors, and other on-the-move merchants, might soon be able to easily accept credit cards, using an iPhone or an iPod touch with a wi-fi link. One of the co-founders of Twitter is helping to start up Square in the U.S. The company provides a square add-on that is plugged into the audio jack of a compatible device such as an iPod touch; the add-on has a slot that you slide a credit card through. You buy, say, a cup of coffee. The merchant taps in the price, swipes your card, offers you the iPhone for a scrawly signature using a fingertip and gives you the option of typing in your email address. A receipt is emailed to you. You can sign up as a Square user, which will gives the option of having your photo displayed when you engage in a Square transaction. Only a few beta users at this point, all in the U.S.
Square's just-launched website http://squareup.com
Square is, naturally, on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/square
A video demonstration at TechCrunch, featuring Twitter creator Jack Dorsey. The interviewer bought him a cup of coffee using Square.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/01/jack-dorsey-square/
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Exploring with Google Maps' Street View
Google Maps' Street View feature has arrived for Victoria. Here's the Ferris' building, the one with the green F.
http://maps.google.com/maps/sv?cbp=12,7.21,,0,-5.78&cbll=48.426778,-123.368953&v=1&panoid=3ZnzJKlZ7ruzVJFtUA9OGA&gl=&hl=en
View Larger Map
