best restarants with views in Victoria?

We'll be there in a few days. Any advice???

The Blue Crab at the Coast Hotel is a great restaurant - fine dining, but not as expensive as many other locations. Lunches are very reasonable. Walking distance on the outer fringe of the Inner Harbour, Parliament Bldgs side. You can also take the little passenger ferry (about 10 people max) to get there.

Well, my wife and I just got back from two weeks in Vancouver. We took an overnight trip to Victoria. We ate the local restaurants but didn't go to ones that had great views.

BUT, here's something that's for you to try. We took a guided tour of the Parliament Building which is in Victoria Harbor. While there we discovered we could obtain a pass to dine in their legislature's dining room. The menu was posted outside of the building so we could easily figure out what was being served. The day we were there my wife and I both had wild salmon for about $8.95 each. An apricot cheese cake or something also. The clam chowder was delicious. I think it was either $3 or $4 for a bowl.

If the meal had been served at a public restaurant it would have been priced at easily double to triple the price.

AND here's the clincher. The chef who prepared our meals had all his credentials plastered on the restaurant wall. This guy went to the right chef's training and his meal was absolutely delicious!!! This meal easily rated a 4 star, out of five.

Oh, sorry, the view from the basement of the legislative dining room was horrible!!! The food was excellent.

Now, if you are going to be in Vancouver, here's something you might want to try. The "restaurant" has a great view, but the cooking is just below excellent.

Right off Granville Island, which is a small island converted to house touristy stores and a design school, is the Pacific Culinary Institute. The students cook daily meals for diners in their dining room. I believe if you are a senior there's a 50% discount on their menu pricing during the week. We went to a lunch buffet on a Saturday. Price was about $25 per person. Deserts and appetizers were buffet. Diners could pick two of three entrees as their main course. Great view of the harbor and great pricing for excellent service and cooking. The deserts were delicious. The appetizers were out of this world.

And, yes the view was great!

How can one get from Victoria to Vancouver without a car for a dinner? Possible?
THANKS

Getting from Vancouver to Victoria by the Vancouver Transit System is fairly simple though it takes some time, which includes a 1 hour and 40 minute ferry ride each way. Go to the following link for details on the transit system, on this page they have a number to call where they'll give you directions on how to get from A to B.

http://www.translink.bc.ca/About_TransLink/Contact_Us/default.asp

If you get over to Victoria, 35 km west of the city there's a town called Sooke, where you'll find one of the world's top resorts, Sooke Harbour House, great cuisine. If you're in the area drop by and visit Buffy's Pub (my joint) if you like. Let me know if you need more info on the area.

Go and have afternoon tea in a lovely garden setting in Butchart Gardens. We did that a few weeks ago and it was marvelous!