Brasserie L'Ecole, Victoria

This restaurant, which has won all kinds of awards since arriving on the Victoria scene less than 3 years ago, serves great French food without making you feel like an uncultured slob if you don't know what something is. They also don't present you with a plate with more white space showing than is covered with food. The portions are generous and the prices quite reasonable for what you are getting.

It's a small intimate place with a dark, rich interior that is welcoming and comfortable without being too casual. They have invested in a leading-edge wine system that allows them to offer you any wine they have by the glass as long as you buy two glasses (you don't have to buy the bottle).

Service is excellent - efficient without being obsequious.

Favorite Dish: The steak and frites was wonderful. It was simply succulent, tender and flavourful. I enjoyed the Roquefort butter served with the steak and the frites were crispy and perfect (and very generously portioned). The braised watercress was good but seemed rather bland in comparison to my childhood memories of it. We accepted a small dish of aioli which was not garlicky but rather lemon-zested - it was not particularly popular with either of us as a dip for our fries.