Being in Victoria, B.C. on the day after Christmas this year, I woke up craving a serious breakfast. I could have eaten leftovers in the hotel room or grabbed a bagel or scone at a coffee shop, but I was looking for a SERIOUS breakfast. Something tremendous. So we decided to walk around until we found the perfect place. One thing I'll tell you, Canadians take their holidays a lot more serious than a lot of people here in the States. Why? Because there were many businesses closed for a SOLID WEEK after Christmas. On one hand I was surprised because of how busy that entire downtown area was with shoppers and so many shops were closed. Aren't these business owners worried about missing all these sales? Apparently they care more about spending time with their loved ones and I think that's a lesson we can all learn from them. But luckily the Clay Pigeon were open, because when we strolled by and saw this door...
That's about all it took to convince us. Well, that and I saw that they had a breakfast sandwich made on an apple fritter!
The Clay Pigeon is a cozy little spot on a corner. The people working were very inviting and they sat us in a great spot by the window that had a nice heater below it. I always dig it when a restaurant runs with their gimmick. This place had some excellent pigeon art.
Of course I ordered the Frittwich. For a moment I wanted the Captain Cruncher. Chicken battered with Cap'n Crunch? Sounds awesome. But the Frittwich was calling my name. So I ordered that with a large orange juice because THAT'S HOW YOU DO BREAKFAST.
The food came out pretty quick and from the second they put the plate down I was impressed. This thing looked tremendous! Egg, maple bacon, smoked cheddar, arugula, and a homemade apple fritter. Potatoes on the side. I've made some pretty wild breakfast sandwiches before, but never on an apple fritter. Could it be as awesome as I was hoping?
From the looks of it, they took the fritter, sliced it clean in half and then grilled one side of each. One of my favorite parts of this is how the fritter itself couldn't hold in half of these ingredients. They are spilling out in every direction with the top of the fritter perched on it like a delicious little hat.
The Frittwich was beyond delicious. I was a little worried once I started eating it because I usually prefer my bacon to be a little more on the crispy (burned) side. But I forgot to ask. But since this thing was made with such premium stuff, I didn't even skip a beat, the bacon was still delicious. Plentiful amounts of cheese, and the fritter itself was soft and buttery with a blast of sweetness. Not only that but there were chunks of apple in it every so often too. This sandwich was one of those ones where you have to talk about it after every bite you take. It was that good.
But let's take a moment to give a shout out to these potatoes too. Perfectly crisped on the outside so you aren't dealing with any of that raw potato crap that some restaurants try to pawn off on you with your breakfast. My favorite part was the big pieces of sea salt on them. Each one burst with flavor each time you crunched one. These potatoes were top notch.
I was quite full by the time I got this far in, but fear not, I finished it. A sandwich this good demands to be finished no matter how full you are. If I had keeled over in my seat from a heart attack and was laying on the floor, I would be reaching for that last bite while the paramedics were trying to load me onto a gurney.
I also had a chance to try their Fromage Trois, which is basically a grilled cheese with smoked Cheddar, gruyere, and brie on sourdough bread. It came with a side of tots. Fear not, I didn't get two meals, my lady got this and she is always nice enough to share in the name of Fatguyfoodblog. Tots were perfectly cooked and the sandwich was VERY good.
I've never had a grilled cheese with that blend of cheeses so it was quite interesting. Not to mention on sourdough bread. Great, but no Frittwich!
In the end, if I lived in Victoria I feel like the Clay Pigeon would be seeing a lot of me. It's a great little spot with friendly waitstaff, and awesome food. You can't go wrong with any of those things. All the food I tried was spectacular and honestly if I tried to come up with one bad thing about the place it would be that the orange juice was awful. I don't know if it was the kind that you make from a frozen can, or just some cheap brand, but it wasn't great. But after them introducing me to the wonders of the Frittwich, I wasn't even about to sweat it.
If you find yourself in Victoria anytime soon, stop in and tell them FATGUYFOODBLOG sent ya!
For more information on the Clay Pigeon, check out their website: http://claypigeonrestaurant.com/
Don't forget, Canada Week is still going strong so stop by again later this week for more!
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Review by Rich Brunelle. He lives in Seattle, WA with a lady and cat and a plant named John Coffey. Like the drink, but spelled different.
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