Shelter Restaurant Tofino

• Author: WantsToTravelMore
• Accommodation: Vancouver Island

March Break 2011:  When restaurant hunting there’s an issue of finding boring enough fare for children that has something the big people will want.  Also it’s tougher when you have no idea what any restaurant in a town is like.

Upon entering Shelter Restaurant in Tofino, we were greeted by good looking people who were the 20-somethings that you expect in a downtown Vancouver restaurant (think Earl’s or Cactus Club).  So, I was forced to ask if the place was kid-friendly.  “We love kids,” said the hostess and she produced a kids menu and crayons.  All the staff were great with our two kids who were accepted as any other customer would be.

What I enjoy when travelling is the chance to try local products.  I had a lingcod burger and it was great.  The beer was from Vancouver Island Brewery and there were other choices that were from other parts of BC.

My wife is a vegetarian and I always make a point . when there isn’t a wide vegetarian selection at a restaurant . of asking “what do you do for vegetarians?”  My wife very much enjoyed a dish of stir fried rice, vegetables, bean sprouts and tofu which was not a boring taste, which is a problem that is often encountered when vegetarians travel.

Normally I don’t mention bathrooms when writing, but in the style of the big city, there was a video playing on the wall.  It was a picture of a crazy Canadian surfer, taking to the waves on Long Beach, in the snow.

One thing about travelling in the Tofino–Ucluelet stretch of road is that all the folks working there are interesting characters with stories.  Our server, for example, was a Quebecer who came out this way 8 years ago and stayed.

Food and culture and family friendly all mixed together.  That sounds like the Pacific Rim to me.

Shelter Restaurant
601 Campbell Street
Tofino, BC V0R 2Z0
(250) 725-3353
www.shelterrestaurant.com