YAM magazine’s Best Restaurant Awards 2023 celebrates Greater Victoria, B.C.’s exciting food scene and are judged by an independent panel of chefs and food experts.
BY CINDA CHAVICH | PHOTOS BY JEFFREY BOSDET
Best Cocktail Bar or Lounge – Clive’s Classic Lounge
740 Burdett Avenue | clivesclassiclounge.com
Clive’s Classic Lounge in the Chateau Victoria hotel is everything that a classic cocktail bar should be — dark, clubby, comfortable and with a team of brilliant mixologists behind the bar.
It’s one of the city’s original cocktail lounges, where Victorians were first introduced to Shawn Soole, an Aussie import and arguably the guy who birthed our local cocktail culture here. Soole is back at Clive’s, managing a great team of creative young bartenders that continues to win awards, recently listed among Canada’s top 10 bar teams and hotel bars, and named World Whisky Hotel Bar of the Year.
Chef Josh Chilton’s food matches the top-drawer cocktails at Clive’s, from grilled tuna tartare and Roman gnocchi, to charcuterie and cheese boards, and a monthly Supper Club featuring cocktail-paired dinners.
Runners-up
For beautiful tropical drinks in a very stylish space, our judges singled out Citrus & Cane; They also love Wind Cries Mary for their creative house cocktails featuring Island spirits.