Vancouver Island’s Gastro Havens

Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

“Local Bounty off the Continent’s Coast”

With its diversity of the Pacific seafood, generous rainfall, and mild coastal climate creating some of the best growing conditions in North America, Vancouver Island was a culinary revolution waiting to happen.

So it’s no surprise to find internationally acclaimed restaurants, inns and resorts in this corner of Canada, Minutes from Victoria, BC’s intimate, very British capital.

… Continue west, along the winding, ever-wilder coastline to reach Point-No-Point Resort, another outpost of fine dining and gracious hospitality. Perched above a rocky, wave-crashed headland, it offers 22 delightfully woodsy cabins with hot tubs and fireplaces on 40 forested acres. The restaurant serves excellent meals focused on seafood (don’t miss the local wild salmon, halibut, and spot prowns) and organic produce, and the views from the dining room can’t be beat — just pick up the binoculars on your table to watch orcas, otters, dolphins, and bald eagles.

The region’s top restaurants procure much of their local produce and delicacies from the nearby Cowichan Valley, a burgeoning center for cheese- and sine-making, organic farming, and ranching. Drive the lovely back roads to visit wineries, and be sure to stop at Merridale Estate Cidery, a charming farm with orchards of centuries-old apple varieties, for a tasting and marvelous bistro lunch.