Marilena Cafe & Raw Bar
A downtown restaurant and raw bar for polished seafood dinners.
Vancouver's Toptable group finally crossed the water, and Victoria got the best new restaurant in the country.
The first Victoria room from Toptable, the group behind Vancouver's Blue Water Cafe, and it shows: glass-walled red and white wine rooms, a soft arc of leather banquette, an ocean-blue Hestan cooking suite you can watch from the chef's table. Victoria native Kristian Eligh came home to run the kitchen, and a Japanese raw bar slings nigiri and sashimi a few steps away. It is a special-occasion room that somehow stays warm, built for the anniversary, the closed deal, the parents in town you actually want to impress.
The move
Start at the raw bar: oysters and the kampachi crudo, or go all in on La Tour, the three-tier tower with lobster, sushi and tartare. The crispy-skin striped bass with house XO is the dish Canada's 100 Best calls a masterclass. Sit at the chef's table if you can.
Go when
A real occasion, dinner only, doors at 4pm and dinner from 4:30. Book ahead, weekends go fast. Skip it if you want cheap and casual; this is a spend-money room, and worth it when the night calls for one.
“Marilena was intended to give coastal Victoria the grand modern seafood restaurant that it's theoretically entitled to.”
Canada's 100 Best
Known for
Perfect for