For a little town out west, past the Arboretum, Victoria has always been one of my favorite nosh stops. First there's Floyd's, a great town bar with killer bloodies and a swingin' patio, plus cute School of the Wise, Victoria House, and The Social ice cream shop, not to mention Enki Brewing. Well now, they have craft cocktails and frites with The Noble Lion.
Opened this last weekend in a small space on the end corner of a newish building, The Noble Lion is a smart and stylish little eatery with a Belgian flair. Owner Marc Huebner has a German mother and spent part of his youth in Belgium, and has always wanted to open a place where he could share his favorite frites along with some mussels and maybe a tall Duvel.
The space is small, maybe 40 some seats, but there is a full bar and patio seating. Though it's open and bright, it feels posh with all the navy blue accents, gold touches, and blue washed wooden floors. "Look, we know we aren't in the city, but I think there's room for something like this out here. People have been craving a spot like this in Victoria. We just want to bring a little bit of an elevated experience out here, while still embracing our meat-and-potatoes side," Huebner told me.
The kitchen is very small, which means the menu is very brief, but they are cooking from scratch, even cutting their frites in-house, "We don't have a giant walk-in cooler, so you know that our food isn't sitting around for days." Huebner brought on former Blue Point chef Patrick Donelan who has come up with a mix of small, medium, and larger plates that are seasonal and locally sourced when possible.
Asparagus toast with a perfectly poached egg and bacon. The frites came with three sauces: traditional curry ketchup, lemon aioli, and spicy mayo.
This scallops and bacon dish seems to be one of the big sellers, and it feels like a fresh value at $16.
A lovely surprise, a side of risotto with spring vegetables came with ramps, fiddlehead ferns, and morels for $8.
Though not fancy, the boned Wild Acres chicken was juicy and would be a great plate for kids as there's no kids menu. There is also a French onion burger on brioche, fyi.
Happily, this blood orange Manhattan made with Far North Roknar Rye hit the spot. Apparently the crowd nearly drained the small bar of cocktails last weekend, so they've already started to amp up the specialty drinks with a few more options. And the wine list is no slouch, to be honest.
For now The Noble Lion is dinner only, while they figure out all the kinks, but Huebner thinks that he'll do weekend lunch by summer if everything goes well. You know, the Lake Minnetonka LRT (where bikers roam) runs right into town, so this might be a good end stop if you feel like you've earned your frites.
