When you enter Posh the staff immediately asks: "Have you been here before? Do you know about sukiyaki?"
Posh, a small chain from the Lower Mainland, opened in September in the Med Grill space at the Mosaic building, at 1063 Fort Street.
Sukiyaki, as you might have guessed, is the house specialty. And a lot of people who visit apparently aren't too sure about what that is. The restaurant staff is eager to explain.
The Victoria Posh is still in setup mode. The decor hasn't changed much from the Med Grill days. The menu says it's a "pre-opening" menu. And staff advises that more dishes are on the way.
There are all sorts of variations on sukiyaki; it's sort of like making, dare I say, a hamburger. You can have it a million different ways.
Posh did it like this, during a recent visit.
We were seated in a booth equipped with a small portable burner. Some of the other tables, we noticed, have built-in burners that are flush with the tabletop.
Our friendly waitress gave us a thorough explanation of what to expect.
One person in our group is a vegetarian. So we ended up with a second portable stove to keep the meat away from the vegetables.
We ordered two sukiyaki sets for the four of us.
Two cast iron pots arrived, filled with a soya-based broth and a pile of chopped cabbage.
We also received three pails of vegetables and four small, stackable trays of very-thinly sliced meat, two of pork and two of beef.
The stoves were ignited, the broth started to steam and bubble, and its aroma enveloped us.
We sprang into action, using chopsticks to drop in the vegetables and meat (vegetables only in one pot).
The vegetable pails included a generous helping of cabbage (the cabbage is a big component of making the broth tasty as it cooks down), plus slices of yam, zucchini, carrots, several varieties of mushrooms, tofu cubes, and choy stalks.
There were also four chilled eggs. You're supposed to crack the egg into a bowl, and beat it with your chopsticks. You then dip your super-hot food into the egg, to cool down the food a touch and to give it a niftier flavour. I did this. Diner No. 2 did as well. But Diners No. 3 and No. 4 declined, saying the raw-egg thing wasn't appealing. One of them poached their egg in the broth instead. (Sukiyaki purists — I'm sure this is OK.)
The table also has a small pot of hot water to replenish the pots as the broth cooks down.
The meat was delicous cooked this way. Because it's so thin, we left it in the broth for only a brief time. The forgotten pieces, left to cook for several minutes, were less delicious.
The cabbage is surprisingly good after it soaks up all the broth.
We had a wonderful time chattering and cooking and observing the cooking and trying not to splatter food on the table and ourselves.
Eating a meal this way, we decided, is great fun, especially if you're a group of four in a slightly loopy mood.
But do not wear fancy clothes here. Also, this might not be a great place to dine before you seat yourself in a crowded theatre. Apart from the splatter factor, there's also the aroma thing. You will end up smelling like the broth.
Part of the issue here is inadequate ventilation for the style of cooking. The restaurant seems to acknowledge this. While we were there, the place got a little stuffy, even though it was cool and raining outside. The door into the alley (complete with view of dumpster) was opened for a spell to cool things off.
They could use some ventilation hoods, maybe over each table.
Our order was for a set amount of food — around $17 for each set. (The prices seem to be fluctuating — when I dropped by again, they were slightly higher.)
There's also an all-you-can-eat option for $24 a person. You have the chance to order a greater variety of things if you go that route, including seafood and noodles.
Our waitress said she's found that most first-timers opt for the cheaper set meal, and repeat customers tend to order the all-you-can-eat.
Victoria Buffet Blog has a review of the all-you-can-eat.
