I like things that sparkle.

It was after brunch and too early for a craft cocktail (as if that could be true). But a champagne-style cocktail, well that’s another kettle of fish. I also like a lovely view and so it seemed a perfect convergence of delights to head off to Sidney and visit Haro’s.

As my luck would have it, while sunny in Victoria it was all fog on the Sidney waters and overhead was a murmuration of starlings and no, we were not quaffing outside. These lovelies were ensconced above the bar, branches and all and while quite whimsical it always elicits a shudder in memory of Hitchcock’s The Birds.

Onto the less dramatic, I ordered up a French 75. A classic with freshly squeezed lemon, gin and sparkling. Created in 1915 at a bar in Paris by then culty barman Harry MacElhone, it didn’t turn up in print until 1930 in The Savoy Cocktail Book. The version at Haro’s was pleasant.

Next up was a house concoction, the Pier Royal. Advertised with Elephant Island Cassis and fresh lime, I was looking forward to getting my first taste of this BC liquid. When I asked about the product I was told they didn’t have any and so the bartender had substituted the French L’Héritier-Guyot. Tsk, tsk.

The sparkling was overwhelmed by the black currant and I was left wondering if the Elephant Island would have done the trick but by then it was time to leave the birds and fly south.