A Garlic Rose for Every Occasion

Langford, BC is fast becoming a hot bed for some of Victoria’s and BC’s best restaurants.  This discovery can longer be kept from you my fellow resto lovers. Let me stress and reinforce that this maybe one of the most beautiful and majestic restaurants in the world. Let me introduce you to the Garlic Rose.

Where else can you find a dining room that has a fire place in every corner, a total of 4. As soon as the weather changes to sunshine they have two retractable roofs, that when opened, transforms this already stunningly presented dining room , into a room right out of a dream. Bask in the sunshine during the day, star gaze at night. The dinning room has candles lit everywhere you look. And the most stunningly designed candelabras scattered through out. The restaurant is covered in beautiful hand crafted hard wood, and Mexican tile. To top it off their is an old growth tree that grows live in the corner of the room. Looking for a location of a life time for a wedding or very special occasion, your search is over, trust me.

Meet owner Chef Rudy. A culinary force to be reckoned with and true genius of the kitchen. Chef razzles and dazzles like very few. His Chilean and Italian heritage and old world influences tell only a small part of his story.

Chef being traditional and true to his roots draws from his past while continuously modernizing and refining his creations. He has an ongoing love affair with reinventing old recipes and transforming them into his vision of what they could become while never compromising his respect for the old ways.

General Manager Taryn is incredibly personable, respectful courteous hostess master of the dining room. You will never leave Garlic Rose feeling not taken care of. The food is so good; I find myself dreaming about their food on a regular basis.

On this night we were treated to 3 of Chefs signature dishes. Each one is better than the next. We started with the Steamed Mussels steamed in a tomato and chipotle aju, served with garlic toast, which paired beautifully with 2008 Gewürztraminer from Back Yard, Okanagan Valley, BC.

Next we moved into the Lamb Osso bucco, which was simply splendiferously delicious. Incredible flavours release with every bite. This dish paired exquisitely with the 2006 Syrah Select from Desert Hills, Oliver, BC.

And finally the Paella, a delightful Spanish dish with grilled chicken, chorizo sausage and seafood cooked in a saffron risotto. Simply fantastique, and paired beautifully with the 2008 Gamay from Desert Hills.

For desert we devoured a deep fried ball of ice cream in corn flakes, decadent, delightful and amazing.  Hope you enjoy.

Everything on the menu is worth trying. Next time a steak, as Chef does all his own cuts and aging and serves only triple A premium Alberta Beef.

2800 Jacklin Road
Victoria, BC
(250) 391-1122
www.thegarlicrose.ca