Farmer’s Skillet with House Smoked Sausage and Ham
There are more breakfast places in Victoria that you can count, but because going out for breakfast on the weekend is such a popular sport among the locals, most restaurants have a huge line-up by 9:30 am. We have our regular favorite breakfast spot in town, but sometimes you have to break out of your routine. This morning we drove out to Sidney (about 20-30 minutes away) to have breakfast at Dish Cookhouse & Diner. We first heard about this place about a year ago from my parents, and we’ve been going back ever since, whenever we aren’t feeling too lazy/starving to survive the drive out there in the morning. Aside from serving up awesome food, the place is never busy (which is surprising because the food is so good), and we have never had to wait for a table. It’s located in the industrial area of Sidney, which probably explains why it’s not super busy on a weekend morning – but that’s just fine with me!
They smoke their own ham, sausage, and bacon, and make their own jam. The ham is amazing – I’m not sure which cut of pork they use, but it reminds me almost of Chinese bbq pork with the ratio of meat to fat and the slightly spiced, sweet, smokey flavour. Seriously, some of the best breakfast ham I’ve ever had. This morning I had the ham benny and it was delicious – yummy hollandaise sauce, too.
House Smoked Ham Benny
The portions are large, but not in that oh-my-god-I’m-going-to-die-if-I-eat-this kind of way – it’s not your average deep-fried, grease-laden, heavy diner breakfast. The ingredients are fresh, tasty, and very well-prepared. Their regular breakfast menu (they also have a lunch menu, but we’ve only ever been for breakfast) includes the traditional eggs with bacon/ham/sausage with hash browns and toast, as well as omeletes, skillets (corned beef hash, turkey sausage and bacon hash, veggie hash), french toast, and eggs bennies. They also have monthly and daily/weekly breakfast specials. The last time we were there, Nate and I both ordered the specials: Nate had a bacon cheddar burger benny, and I had the special french toast with bananas in rum caramel sauce. Both were insanely delicious (although I’ll admit I was in a bit of a carb-coma after!).
Special French Toast with Bananas in Rum Caramel Sauce, with awesome grilled ham on the side
I don’t know why this place isn’t more popular. I guess it’s because it’s a bit far from downtown, but it’s definitely a better alternative to waiting in line for a mediocre breakfast in a crowded restaurant. The service is great, the coffee is good, and the prices are comparable to any other breakfast place – for the food you’re getting, it’s a steal. If you live in Victoria, Dish should be your next breakfast destination!
