Our venue for a late-lunch/early-dinner during a recent stay in Victoria. I had researched the reviews, and checked it out on a drive-by earlier in our stay -- it sounded and looked like our kind of place, and it sure did not disappoint.
The Cozy Place is a small Chinese restaurant, clean, neat, and tidy, with very friendly, and welcoming husband and wife owners. We sat at a table near the door, which provided a great view of the restaurant's interior, and cooking of our order in the kitchen. We arrived about 3 pm, and were given the option of ordering from either the lunch or dinner menus, we opted for the lunch menu (it had a good number of selections, with small descriptions and pictures of the fare offered). We enjoyed the first glass of tea while making up our minds on what to order.
What we (a threesome) ordered, and listed in the order received: Note: the dishes were prepared one at a time, and each brought to our table piping hot from the kitchen as prepared, allowing us to fully-savour the distinctive spicing and flavours of each dish.
-- #07 - deep-fried chicken wings -- cooked perfectly - light-crispy outside, soft inside, spicy (not overly so), and tasty.
-- #25 - cozy place chow mein -- the 'house' chow mein - vermicelli noodles, bean sprouts, broccoli, carrots, onions, chicken, shrimp, and octopus (and I may have missed something). Good preparation, lightly-spiced, and very flavourful.
-- #09 - beef brisket & tendon, w/large rice noodles -- served in a large bowl - a chicken stock base, with large rice noodles (cooked so well, not overcooked, the noodles had well-absorbed the flavours of the stock and additional spices added to the preparation), large pieces of tender brisket/tendon (melt in your mouth tender goodness!), and pieces of baby bok choy. So good!! colourful, aromatic, and very distinctively flavoured. Tasty, and very much-enjoyed.
-- #06 - dumplings -- steamed and then lightly stir-fried, large, the wraps thin and tender, the insides crammed full of a meat (chicken and pork?) and veggie mix. Another perfect preparation, flavourful, and tasty.
-- #12 - beef tomato rice -- slices of beef, pieces of tomato and onion, on a bed of rice - it looked good, and tasted the same - yum! The beef was tender, and the spicing was perfect to our liking. Another very flavourful and tasty dish.
The Cozy Place -- wow, what a delightful and much-enjoyed dining experience! Wonderfully-prepared food, with such distinctive and flavourful spicing - colourful presentations - welcoming, friendly hosts and service. From the outside, it looked like it might be our kind of place - from the inside, after enjoying such a great meal, we definitely found out it 'was' our kind of place!
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