Tag: Restaurants

There are some special places that you only find when relatives invite you.  Nanoose Bay is on Vancouver Island as you head from Nanaimo toward Parksville.  To get there, you exit Highway 19 at NW Bay Road, which you follow until you get to Rocking Horse Place. The horses are real. Vancouver` Island has a thing about placing very English Pubs in off beat locations.  The Black Goose Inn in Parksville (blackgooseinn.com) is another. At the Rocking Horse Pub, we enjoyed the outdoor space, which was covered on a hot day and was peaceful as the road was far away. […]

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We had an invite to dinner at the Kingfisher Resort and Spa, near Courtenay BC.  I am very happy we accepted! If you are driving northbound on the 19A version of the Island Highway, the entrance comes up pretty fast. It’s just before the tiny town of Royston, which is 5 km from Courtenay. The dining room, with the rather intense name “Ocean7 Restaurant | AQUA Bistro & Wine Bar,” is pretty snazzy. I took the opportunity to enjoy bison, which was quite good. Lots too choose from the bar.  And great service. The server handled our mixed bag of […]

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This summer, Vancouver‘s Bard on the Beach’s Shakespeare Festival relaunched after a COVID break and we enjoyed a screamingly funny performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  There’s something fun about being in an open-air theatre for this particular play.  The rustics, a.k.a. Peter Quince’s acting troupe, stole the show by leaning heavily into the silliness of their play within a play. Bard on the Beach Of course, what’s a play without dinner and drinks before?  The Cider House on Yew Street, which is mere metres from Kits Beach provided us with a meal. This is a vegan restaurant specializing in […]

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If you are looking for different flavours for your next meal out, I can suggest Delara on 4th Avenue in the Vancouver neighbourhood of Kitsilano. The restaurant specializes in Iranian/Persian food. I am unfamiliar with it so some willingness to take a chance was required. The appetizer of Grilled Sourdough Flatbread and Seasonal Dips is a good way to orient the tastebuds. They chef varies this all the time so make sure to ask what’s what. I tried the Grilled Beef Short Rib Gheymeh, which was very good and filling. My wife had the Mushrooms, Saffron and Pistachios and enjoyed […]

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It was Canada Day and I did my patriotic duty by sleeping in and then invited my wife to brunch.  Juliet’s Café in the Vancouver neighbourhood of Kitsilano (Kits for short) is at Cornwall and Cypress.  It’s a large place with a dine-in service.  You head to the counter, order, pay and then take a seat.  It’s hugely informal and always seems like the place is just not quite finished in terms of decoration. I like their lamb club sandwich and my wife is fond of the warm goat cheese salad.  I am slightly addicted to the blueberry muffins.  They […]

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Travelling during a pandemic is tough, so when you have a good surprise, it’s wonderful. We were in Sidney, BC between Christmas and New Year’s when a new COVID-19 variant was wreaking havoc Canada-wide. We had done what we could to limit contacts (obviously without full cancellation of the trip). To make things better, a bitter cold snap with snowfall had occurred. The onsite restaurant at our hotel was under renovation. Beckoning across the snowy street was a sign with “all day breakfast” and I was in. It was also close. The restaurant has classic diner décor, but with the […]

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A couple of days before Christmas, my wife and I had the sheer pleasure of free time, together, at the same time.  A series of accidents led us to a date at the Secret Garden Tea Company. This is in the formerly very Anglo neighbourhood of Kerrisdale, which has what the English would call a high street (41st Ave) with shops, bakeries and restaurants.  A block north and right off West Boulevard, the other main street of the neighbourhood. They off a fixed price High Tea, but we opted for the lunch menu.  But tea was the first choice.  We, […]

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It you are planning on dining out in Parksville-Qualicum during a pandemic with its accompanying labour shortage, plan early.  We had a couple of failed attempts at Lefty’s in both Parksville and Qualicum Beach.  In Qualicum Beach we found Giovanni’s Ristorante and Lounge and lucked out with a table for our party of six.  They were working hard in hot temperatures and the demand of being one of the few sit-down restaurants open that hot Thursday nights.  At lot of these places close at 7 PM.  For example, in Coombs, we dined at Cuckoo’s and managed to arrive for 4:30 […]

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Coombs BC is a funky corner of the earth with the Country Market Goats-on-the-Roof and random stores along the highway. It’s not where you’d expect a fine dining Italian restaurant. But here you are in the middle of the market area, across from a big ice cream parlour, and snug next to a Mexican casual outdoor patio. Little Italy. The restaurant is good during a pandemic because they have a lot of patio seating and always have. It’s a little piece of heaven hidden from the world. There were five us in our bubble and we enjoyed a late lunch. […]

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It has been over two years since I last went to Nero Belgian Waffle Bar in Vancouver. Too long in my view, but other obligations put my wife and I right beside the Seymour Street location. We were able to get a seat for two and could enjoy the light waffles. I had the opportunity to try a savoury salmon eggs benny from the brunch section and my wife had a fruit laden waffle from the breakfast menu. Perhaps the best part was the waffle itself, which was light. A lot of waffles leave you feeling heavy. Enjoy the unedited […]

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