Gulf Islands, BC food report! Warning! L-O-N-G post....

C

cheezz

Well-known member
We started in Vancouver, then ferried through some of the Gulf Islands - Saturna > Pender > Galiano > Vancouver Island > Newcastle Island.

Calabash Bistro, Vancouver:

http://calabashbistro.com/

Wow – the best Caribbean food I have EVER eaten! Of course, it could be colored by the fact that I had my first poutine and roti…I could not stop eating either one! We shared around: Mango & goat cheese salad with tamarind dressing, mussels, jerk chicken, and of course the poutine and roti. Five stars in my book!

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Saturna Winery, Saturna:

We stopped here for a wine tasting and snacks. They were one week delayed in opening their café so we got what they had – a fresh tomato soup and bread. The manager was waiting for his chef to arrive the following week, but in the meantime was trying out a focaccia recipe made with fermented grapes as the levening– we were lucky enough to get to try that, which was delicious! The star, of course, was their wine. This is a small winery and you won’t find it anywhere else but direct from the winery. Their wild ferment reisling was absolutely fabulous and a bottle came home in my luggage.

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Café at Hope Bay, Pender:

http://thecafeathopebay.com/

Really fabulous food! This was one of our best meals with a creative chef and fresh, organic ingredients. Dill cream linguine with scallops and shrimp; apricot glazed turkey with preserved lemon quinoa and pumpkin seeds with roasted veggies. We shared a salad with hazelnuts and strawberry mint basil dressing TDF!!! Sorry, no food pics smileys/frown.gif

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Corbett House B&B, Pender:

This was our first B&B and our hostess, Eve, served up a lovely breakfast with omelets (range-free eggs), fresh locally grown fruit and tomatoes. She had woken up late or we would have gotten her home made cinnamon rolls…darn!

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Pender Island Bakery Café, Pender:

We grabbed a slice of apple pie to take on the ferry. If I had known how good it was, I would’ve bought the whole pie, and I’m pretty picky about my pie. The crust was perfect, the thinly sliced apples were not too sweet. It relied solely on the delicious apples and I almost licked the take-out box.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/Finer_Kitchens/cheezz%20pics/PenderIslandBakeryCafe.jpg~original

Rocky Ridge B&B, Galiano:

galianorockyridge.com

Full breakfasts here by the husband/wife team of Chuck & Judy Garland. Chuck makes the best omelets (one of his specialties is pecan pie) and Judy makes everything else…and boy, does she! She bakes her own fresh bread every morning (French toast one morning), cans her own jam, homemade granola – when she served bacon, I was looking around the yard for the pigs! She does it all and with such care – it was absolutely delicious and we left stuffed every morning. No food pics - but I highly recommend staying there!

Café Boheme, Galiano:

The La Berengerie near Montague Harbor is a prix fix menu - $35. If you walk around back, there is a little Bohemian restaurant called Café Boheme where you sit outside and have 4 dinner choices plus a dessert. Dinner runs about $12 and items change according to what the chef wants to make. BTW, it’s the same chef that is cooking for La Berengerie – they share the same kitchen! We had the Indian chicken tali with dal, pappadum and roasted veggies; Thai green curry with saffron rice; caramel custard.

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Hummingbird Pub, Galiano:

hummingbirdpub.com

What can you say about a pub – it is about what you would expect, but the food was actually a notch up from what I expected. Crispy fish & chips with fresh fish.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/Finer_Kitchens/cheezz%20pics/Galiano-HummingbirdPub.jpg~original

Galiano Grand Central Emporium, Galiano:

www.grandcentral.ca

We had lunch here that was pretty good – sandwiches, burgers.

Sea Blush (used to be Harbor Grill) on Montague Rd, Galiano:

We were told the food is very good, but it was never open when we tried twice to go.

Galiano Inn & Spa – Syrene’s Café, Galiano:

We had lunch here – it was just ok so I wouldn’t recommend it. Burger and fries, sandwich, pretty standard but more expensive than other places.

Max & Mortiz food truck, at the ferry in Galiano:

Seems funny to review a food truck, but this food was awesome! Judging by the line and the smells, we had to try this truck. After all, how can you pass up an Indonesian German menu?! We had the rasi goring (fried rice with veggies) and bami goring (stir-fried noodles with chicken and peanut sauce). Honestly, we couldn’t shovel it in fast enough….a big thumbs-up for this landmark.

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The Roost Farm Bakery, North Saanich, Vancouver Island:

roostfarmcentre.com

Really good pizza. You can sit outside and watch the ‘free range’ chickens running around. They are very friendly. Sorry, we were so hungry that the pizza never got photographed ☺

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/Finer_Kitchens/cheezz%20pics/VI-farmbakery.jpg~original

free-range chicken:

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/Finer_Kitchens/cheezz%20pics/VI-farmbakery2.jpg~original

Merridale Cidery, Sea Cider Restaurant, Cobble Hill, Vancouver Island:

www.seacider.ca

Cute place – pretty grounds to walk around. We lunched at the Sea Cider – chicken pot pie which was very good with lots of chicken and a nice salad, and Pemberton Meadows strip loin in red wine sauce with fries. I was disappointed as I’m really picky about my beef and the loin was a little too tough for me. Fries were not crisp enough, either. Other items on the menu looked good so I would not order the single most expensive item next time.

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Providence Farm, Duncan, Vancouver Island:

http://providence.bc.ca/

This is an old working farm that now employs and trains disabled people. They have a little store that sells the crafts made, as well as a dinner restaurant served by those learning kitchen skills. You must book at least 3 weeks in advance during the slow season!! I could not find any info about it at their website, so you need to call if interested.

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MacMillan Provincial Park, Nanaimo, Vancouver Island:

We had an alfresco lunch at the lake. It included fabulous homemade bread (they mill their own flours) from True Grain Bakery in Cowichan, brie and onion jam from Little Qualicum Cheeseworks, and raspberries from the Old Farm Market in Duncan.

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First: I LOVE your post. It's almost like being there - and the food looks delicious.

I am also impressed by the food you were served at the B&B. My experience here is that a lot of B&B's serve poor breakfast. It's great to see that many B&B owners take such pride in how they accomodate their customers.

As for the rest of the food, it looks so delicious you made me hungry - and I just had a big lunch! smileys/smile.gif

 
That was a fun way to start my morning! Thx for sharing! Looks and sounds like a trip to remember

 
Fabulous trip! Fun to enjoy with my morning coffee. smileys/smile.gif Thanks! Also, gorgeous family!

 
Looks great! A couple of questions: is that you sitting in front of the fireplace with fork raised?

You look so sweet and prim and proper. Next, how many freaking lunches did you eat in a day??

This was really fun.

 
clappiing!!! My goodness...Canada should just hire you for PR! Into the Great Threads!!!

Now...sit back and realize that how good that food tasted to you--and YOU'RE from CA where food actually tastes like food. Imagine what our 3-week Vancouver Island trip was like when we're used to Florida food.

I still weep for the handmade breakfast sandwiches on whole grain bread we used to get at the...GROCERY STORE!

 
Yes, Michael, that was me? Shows how looks can fool, huh?! I think we ate 6 times a day smileys/irritated.gif

My young un believes in eating snacks often thru the day instead of a heavy meal. We pretty much ate snacks AND one big meal...I still managed to lose 4 more pounds from all the hiking.

 
They really know how to do food...I think every single person on every island

Is at least required to know how to make their own jam!

 
Jiminy, it's like a nonstop eating orgy. I hope you got to enjoy the spectacular scenery. Glad you

enjoyed it all. And I think the weather improved a bit near the end of your trip?

 
Improved as in got warmer, yes, but when you're hiking to the tops of mountains...

cooler is better! I LOVED hiking through the rainforest with a light mist all around. Besides, it was nice to be the only people everywhere we hiked. Being from southern CA, rain is a welcome change...it was never heavy during the day. Loved, loved the gorgeous scenery. If anyone wants to see the other 430 pictures with NO food, I'll be glad to post the links smileys/smile.gif

 
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