To go to B.C. and not have fresh seafood should be considered a sin. Without a doubt, I indulged in seafood daily during my trip, but it mostly consisted of fish and shrimp. It wasn’t until I went to Finn's Seafood, Chops & Cocktails that a crab made its way across the table.
I couldn’t go to the B.C. and not sample their local Dungeness crab ($78; seasonal price). Yet, when they are prepared fresh and whole, a feeling of dread flows over me as I can’t stomach the thought of an animal being cooked alive. Hence, when placing my order, I asked our server whether the chef could do anything to kill the crab prior to putting it into the steam oven. Imagine my delight when she noted that Finn’s always humanely kills their seafood prior to its preparation.
A note for diners: what this means is the gooey yellow stuff (I recently learnt is called hepatopancreas) and any roe (if the crab is female) will not be found under the shell. Personally, I’m fine with this as the hepatopancreas is slimy, doesn’t taste the greatest, and is really an organ that filters impurities for the crab and not the healthiest to eat in the first place – you can learn more about it from Crabbing Hub.
The sizeable crab arrived in its full glory, covering a couple of boiled baby potatoes and rapini, served with melted butter for dipping into. A shell cracker in hand, I went to town on the thing and was greeted with sweet succulent meat bursting through the shells – not like the poor starving crabs we find in Ontario. What a treat to have it fresh and locally caught.
Even though the crab (and my friend’s lobster) were fairly large, you’ll likely still want something to nibble on while the seafood is prepared as it can take a while. We shared the house smoked rockfish croquettes ($15) and they were a great starter to munch on while looking into the ocean – crispy nuggets of mashed potatoes mixed with smoked fish and a lovely citrusy tartar sauce for an extra punch of flavour.
Finn’s little touches were great as well – such as providing small ice buckets for individual pours of wine to ensure they are kept cool as well.
Narrowing down where I wanted to have crab took a bit of research given B.C. is a known producer of the crustacean. Ultimately, I landed on Finn’s due to their amazing location and views of the Victoria Harbour and the restaurant’s comfortable environment - eating crab is a messy affair, something I wouldn’t want to do on a picnic table with seagulls above me and flimsy paper towels threatening to blow into the wind. But what really sealed the deal was that Finn’s is a partner of the Ocean Wise program, which means their seafood is caught with sustainability in mind.
Thank you Finn’s for building in humane and sustainable practices into your operations. Guilt free dining is definitely the way to go.
Overall mark - 8 out of 10
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How To Find Them
Location: Victoria, Canada
Address: 1208 Wharf Street
Address: 1208 Wharf Street
Website: https://www.finnsvictoria.com/
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Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
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