December is a fun and festive time. Last year I did the 12 Days of Caesars to test the cocktail all over Victoria and celebrate all things Caesar. This year I tried to pack it all into one day with a Birthday Caesar Crawl.
I picked five stops (all previously reviewed Caesars except for Milestones) invited a bunch of people and showed up at the first stop on Saturday morning.
It was snowing when I left the house, so we were all late to get started, but about a dozen people showed up for the fun at each stop.
The tour was very loosely organized. We started at Milestones for their Epic Eats Caesar and I made a reservation for us, but after that I left it all up to the Caesar gods. And they smiled upon us that day.
The plan was to start at Milestones, head to Bart’s for the seafood Caesar, walk up to Fish Hook for their Prawnato Caesar, mosey on down to Sult for that little pierogi garnish and finish the day off at Ferris’ with another seafood Caesar.
I picked five stops (all previously reviewed Caesars except for Milestones) invited a bunch of people and showed up at the first stop on Saturday morning.
It was snowing when I left the house, so we were all late to get started, but about a dozen people showed up for the fun at each stop.
The tour was very loosely organized. We started at Milestones for their Epic Eats Caesar and I made a reservation for us, but after that I left it all up to the Caesar gods. And they smiled upon us that day.
The plan was to start at Milestones, head to Bart’s for the seafood Caesar, walk up to Fish Hook for their Prawnato Caesar, mosey on down to Sult for that little pierogi garnish and finish the day off at Ferris’ with another seafood Caesar.
Stop 1: Milestones
We began, as planned, at Milestones in a chilly restaurant that had just opened. Slowly people began to arrive and we ordered the Caesar that, until that point, had been but a myth to me. It lived up to the pictures and video I had watched earlier this month. (Yeah, I watched a video about it…) It came with four huge skewers of barbequed pineapple, steak and peppers, pickles and olives, and prawns. Some of the drinks had double pineapple skewers instead of an olive/pickle skewer, but no one in our group seemed too put-out by this. The drink itself was mixed and seasoned well and had a healthy dose of horseradish mixed in. It came in a pint glass that was larger than what you’d get a beer in, so even the cocktail was super-sized. The food garnish is basically an appetizer that sets you up for the Caesar. When I was halfway through and the ice was really melting, one of my friends put some of the prawn dipping sauce (tomato, horseradish) into his drink. I did the same and it really boosted the flavour. |
Going into Milestones I tried to temper my expectations about the drink. I’d read a Facebook review from someone who was very disappointed that the skewers of food weren’t hot. This was true, they were all cold, but I don’t think it took away from the experience. Everything still tasted good and some of the skewers (like the pickles) would have to be cold anyway. I think having a mix of hot and cold skewers would have been weirder than serving them all cold.
The over-the-top garnish was a really fun way to start the day and was absolutely a crowd pleaser.
The over-the-top garnish was a really fun way to start the day and was absolutely a crowd pleaser.
Stop 2: Bartholomew's Pub
After we’d all drained our glasses, we left for Bart’s. We took up a big table in the back and ordered a round of seafood Caesars. A new arrival, J, ordered a tequila seafood Caesar and I did the same. We watched as the bartender lined the glasses up on the bar, mixed and garnished our drinks. They arrived with plentiful garnishes, a mussel, prawns and pickled things. The tequila was a tasty addition. |
Stop 3: Sult Pierogi Bar
I doubted our ability to find enough seats in FishHook, so we decided to head to a larger spot and went straight to Sult. Honestly, I was ok with shortening the tour since I doubted our ability to hit up 5 spots for Caesars; in my experience, humans can only drink so much clam nectar and tomato. A blog reader tipped me off to changes to the Sult Caesar, and when we got there our server explained they make their mix in-house now. He told us it would be about twice as thick as Clamato and we ordered a round. The Sult Caesar comes with a tiny, deep fried pierogi as a garnish. V pointed out that it was also lightly sugared which made it taste a bit like a tiny pierogi donut. In short, it was delicious. We did eat the restaurant’s entire supply of “squeakers” and when it came for a second round, J settled for extra beans instead of a tiny, delicious pierogi. |
Stop 4: Fiamo Italian Kitchen
Things started to deviate from the not-so-careful plans I’d made when we got to stop 4. We headed to Ferris’ and crammed into the curtained doorway. A server we knew rolled her eyes at us and said she’d see if there was seating for 9-12 people together. After almost accidentally taking a reservation for a child’s birthday party, it was apparent there was not enough space for us. She directed us across the street to Fiamo. (Apologies to the lady at Ferris’ who kept pulling her cardigan tighter as the door opened and closed, blowing frigid air over her table while we negotiated with the server and made room for seven incredibly excited kids to go past us.) |
We made our way back across Yates Street to Fiamo, where the host found us a booth. We crammed in and some of the die-hards ordered Caesars, others ordered cocktails and wine. My estimate for the limits of human Caesar consumption was correct.
The Caesars arrived with a prosciutto garnish, which tasted so good. It could have been the fact that we’d been drinking Caesars all day, but I distinctly remember declaring that the meat curl was the highlight of my day when C pointed out how tasty it was.
The picture of the Fiamo Caesars is pretty hazy because my phone fogged up in the restaurant when we came in from the cold. It’s a pretty accurate depiction of our mental state at that point in the day.
The Fiamo Caesar was classic and tasty, but it was also the limit of Caesar consumption so this is where we ended the tour and everyone went their separate way. Two hungry tour members headed to Agrius, where they managed to squeeze in due to a cancellation. Most of us headed home to bed.
The Caesars arrived with a prosciutto garnish, which tasted so good. It could have been the fact that we’d been drinking Caesars all day, but I distinctly remember declaring that the meat curl was the highlight of my day when C pointed out how tasty it was.
The picture of the Fiamo Caesars is pretty hazy because my phone fogged up in the restaurant when we came in from the cold. It’s a pretty accurate depiction of our mental state at that point in the day.
The Fiamo Caesar was classic and tasty, but it was also the limit of Caesar consumption so this is where we ended the tour and everyone went their separate way. Two hungry tour members headed to Agrius, where they managed to squeeze in due to a cancellation. Most of us headed home to bed.
Conclusion
All in all, it turned into a really fun tour of Victoria restaurants. I was surprised and pleased at the number of friends who wanted to come out and do a Caesar tour with me. I’d like to say the memories will last a lifetime, but we drank a lot of Caesars… The Sult Caesar was my favourite of the day – go try one! |