Chef and restaurateur Sam Chalmers must have a full plate, pun intended, between his very popular Bistro 28 in Oak Bay and this his second venture, The Black Hat in downtown Victoria.  Both restaurants offer the same signature classics, along with the cozy "neighbourhood feel".  However, we were given advance warning that as of November 16th, 2013, the restaurant would undergo a rebrand to be North 48 with a new and improved menu.

I have to give them kudos for the Tuna Tataki served on a Himalayan salt plate with spicy mango sauce.  The dish contained two things that I am really fussy about: uncooked fish and mango.  And yet, after having my fair share I fought for the last piece.  The meat seemed to just melt in my mouth as I chewed it, and being so fresh, there was none of the unpleasant "fishy" flavour that often turns me off such raw dishes.  The spicy mango sauce complimented the flavour without tasting too strongly of the fruit itself.

Following that were the main dishes.  I tried the Steak Frites, which was a grilled 8oz strip loin on a bed of truffled frites and mayo.  Steve ordered off the specials menu and tried the Chicken & Waffles, made with fried buttermilk marinated chicken breast on a corn, green onion and cheddar waffle, and drizzled with chili honey.  Our host stuck with his personal favorite, the Miso Marinated Sablefish with Soba noodle salad, pickled mushrooms and cucumber, and roasted yam tempura.  All of us enjoyed our dishes, although after so much Tuna Tataki, I struggled to finish the ample helping of frites (aka. fries).

To drink, Steve had the Rootbeer Fizz, and I had the Emerald City – both very tasty, and not overly sweet.  We had a sampling of several desserts: a scoop of their house made sorbet, the Chocolate Pate with vanilla yoghurt and fennel sponge toffee, and Ricotta Zeppole with lemon and raspberry fluid gels.  I only had enough room left in my stomach to try a bite of each one, though you couldn’t go wrong with any of them!