Blighty’s Bistro

We were visiting from Chicago and found Blighty’s Bistro on Unilocal.Richele answered my call asking about reservations. He welcoming response was the beginning of a great dining experience. The ambience was lovely, music added just the right touch, art intriguing. My wife had the fish and I the beef. Excellent. The owner took great care of us. We will certainly be back the next time we visit the area.

Local café in upscale Oak Bay. Fresh, local ingredients; creative dishes; service by owner; intimate environment without any pretentiousness… One of the best restaurants in recent memory.
The halibut and salmon crab cakes were especially good — very fresh, just enough filler to hold the cakes together and mildly spiced to allow the fish to really shine.
Definitely make reservations, as several walk-​in parties were turned away throughout the evening.
Well worth the short trip from downtown Victoria.

What a delightful restaurant! My hubby and I arrived in Victoria this afternoon and wandered through Oak Bay Village looking for something good to eat. When we arrived at Blighty’s Bistro, the owner greeted us warmly. Even though we didn’t have a reservation (which is usually required to get into this hotspot mainly frequented by locals), she found a table for us and proceeded to give us a delicious meal. The food was great and the service was, too!

We just had an absolutely fantastic meal and overall experience at Blighty’s Bistro. The service was superb and the food was even better! My 2 siblings and I picked this spot to celebrate our parents’ 30^th anniversary, and we couldn’t have been happier. Everything was local and home made, and there wasn’t a single dish we weren’t impressed with. We even had my sister’s 15 month old baby, and there was a booster seat already strapped to the chair and waiting for us when we arrived! The combination of great service and incredible food make this place hard to beat. It’s one of the best dining experiences I’ve had in recent memory.

Amazing staff and amazing food! It’s a small place but great atmosphere, never loud. A place you have to try! They only take reservations.

Mussels to die for, halibut perfectly cooked with wild mushrooms and quinoa. He had a great tenderloin. We love this place. Good G and T packed a punch. Too full for dessert.

My wife and I just finished dinner at this fabulous restaurant. This was recommended on a trip 2 years ago where we dined twice it was so good. This is all about an owner whose joy and passion shows through. Tonight we both had the pork chop that was so tender and juicy my knife was hardly required, mix that with poached pears and the golden beets for layers of flavor. Appetizers and desert were equally memorable. Been around the world and count these meals as some of our finest.
Small and intimate you want to make reservations. You will not be disappointed.

WONDERFUL! We are visiting Victoria for the weekend for a Rotary convention. I did my usual research a month ahead of time and made reservations at Blighty’s Bistro. I usually check trip advisor and Unilocal for highest rated and read through the reviews. I couldn’t remember why Blighty’s was our choice and we talked about cancelling because it was a taxi ride away and looked somewhat small. We ended up going and had a fantastic meal in obviously a local’s paradise. Rachelle, the owner, actually helped serve us and the food was divine. Our only regret is that we left our umbrella but we brought home a memory that will last forever!

Love Blighty’s! My wife says she will never be able to eat fish and chips anywhere else again. Small, intimate, and run by quirky, friendly Richelle, you will love Blighty’s.

This restaurant is a 5 minute drive out of town and an establishment frequented by locals (not so much tourists because it’s out of town) and you are missing some of the best food in Canada if you don’t eat here… in 14 days around the Rockies, Calgary and Vancouver so far, this stands out in our top 2 :-)
From the minute you walk in you will love it! ;-) Rochelle (17 years the owner) and Ambrosia are the warmest of hostesses and really make you feel welcome… I can’t remember the last time a hostess/​owner made me feel so welcome… it’s a small bistro and is extremely popular, so you will need a reservation.
The food is innovative, supremely delicious and excellent quality… and great value too… it could stand head to head (and above!) many excellent restaurants in big cities around the world. Ingredients are locally sourced and organic where possible and we couldn’t have been happier with our menu choices. The menu is small, but varied and absolutely spot on (the only thing missing was veggie options, but if we’d have decided not to have fish, I am sure they would have catered for that on the spot).
There was absolutely nothing whatsoever to fault… apart from it took Rochelle 5 minutes to get me a glass of wine and I was suffering from alcohol deprivation during that time! ;-) I am only putting this in because we joked about it at the time and Rochelle will appreciate the joke!!! ;-)
SERIOUSLY SUPERB — you absolutely should eat here if you love great food! :-)

This is a wonderful local dining spot and one easy to miss if you are not familiar with Oak Bay. Rachelle and her jovial crew have been tending to the dining needs of locals for well over ten years. The menu changes on a regular basis and the choices are always interesting and well prepared. She will try to get special items (I am a big duck fan and it is not always on the menu) if given a bit of notice. Wine selection is adequate and reasonably priced. This place can get busy so would recommend reservations. A great place to go for an enjoyable and satisfying dining experience.

we order take out for fish and chips. They were awesome, the halibat was perfect with a thin coating of batter (not greasy) and the fries were done perfect as well. We have order from all the usual fish and chip stores and lately they have not been soooo great, very greasy, so have now found new place and it is close to home. Thank you Blighty’s bistro. will actually come for a sit down dinner as well

Terrific little restaurant. good food, nice waitress, ok wine list. A nice surprise.

If you enjoy an intimate dining experience with excellent personal service, this is the place. I love this little restaurant … and return to it regularly with friends from out of town, just to show them how nice this town can be.

My wife and I have been eager to try Blighty’s since moving to Victoria a few years ago. Today the stars converged, even found parking directly in front. I should have know that it was too easy.
On entering the eatery, we realized the place was packed and the average age of the diners was 75 years old. Not a good sign for anybody other than the liver and onion set.
Still, we waited patiently –the woman working the tables noticed us and came over… she muttered there were no tables and started to walk away. My wife and I looked at each other and called out to her. She came back and muttered something unintelligible, then we heard «Try again in a half an hour, maybe… mutter, mutter, …»
Wow. Good luck with that. Fine no tables but god-​sake treat customers with bit of politeness. Sorry if we don’t fit in your normal demographic.
Won’t be trying again.

Very cozy and cute restaurant, very friendly staff, great food. This restaurant is in mine and my wife’s top 5 list for Victoria. If you’ve never been to Blighty’s, its a must to visit. Again, the staff are great. Definitely book a reso though.

We have learned to consult Unilocal when we go to a town where we have never been before. The local recommendations from the hotel were the tourist type places that you would expect. One look at Unilocal and we made reservations at Blighty’s Bistro. The people working at the Empress hotel had never heard of the place. We went into the bistro and the service was awsome and very personal. It was not blinding fast but this is a bistro in more of the Eurpoean tradition where a meal is something to be enjoyed and not something you rush through. The food was the best we have had in all of our meals here in Victoria. The place was nearly full with locals and almost no tourists so get a reservation.

1) Make a reservation. You’ll be glad you did.
2) The bistro is run by the owner, so you know she cares about her customers!
One of the things that makes Blighty’s Bistro unique is that they manage to achieve the perfect balance of casual and special. It’s not the kind of place I feel the need to wear pantyhose or heels (thankyouthankyouthankyou), but it is absolutely the kind of place where I anticipate the flavours, creativity, quality and artistry of the food, much more than just a decent meal.
Last time we went, I had two cocktails… one raspberry dream, one mango martini. Both were potent, balanced, flavourful and delicious. I was glad my boyfriend agreed to drive afterward.
The bread is fantastic. Our server, Margaret, told us the secret is that they serve it with good old-​fashioned butter — not margarine, not whipped butter. Whatever it is, it’s working.
We shared a prawn appetizer, with some of the largest, most succulent and perfectly cooked prawns I’ve ever experienced. Each flavour in the dish was so complementary and tasty that my date and I surreptitiously dipped fingers and forks in the coulis adoring the plate until there was only a smear left.
I had beef tenderloin, and my boyfriend has the stuffed fish and chips, and both of us were extremely, extremely happy with our food. But really, having read the menu (and eaten here before), I can’t imagine being unhappy with anything I ordered. The menu choices are well thought-​out, and the chefs and kitchen staff clearly know what they’re doing. You really can’t go wrong.
It’s not inexpensive, so it’s a special occasion place for me, but the good news is that it really does make an occasion special, and you can pretty much count on it.
I hope to see their web site finished soon (it’s only a landing page at the moment) so I can check back on the menu and everything else often.
Go here — you won’t be disappointed!

We started with the appetizer special: morel mushrooms with potatoes and asparagus. A wise choice. That dish alone gets a ⁹⁄₁₀!
I ordered the seafood chowder and it was excellent! Unlike many chowders I’ve had, the proportion of potatoes to shrimps/​scallops… was great and every mouthful was full of seafood.
My mom had the Bil Mur (fish and chips) and it was delicious. I’ve been told it’s their signature dish, and would recommend it to anyone and everyone.
We had the chocolate mousse cake and it was a great way to end our dining experience.
As a seafood fan, I definitely know that we will be going there again and I recommend that you do too.

Wow!
That’s a great experience!
Very Friendly and timely service
We loved the ambiance and the food
A Japanese chef trained in France explain s in part the near perfect cookind and seasoning.
Pay attention to the rice and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Great local seafood at a decent price.
Best fish and chips I ever haved.
Wine list is a bit limited.