Sunshine Coast Restaurants

[Chef Metcalf]

Can anyone give us any recommendations for places to eat on the Sunshine Coast?

Or is it a wasteland of Mom and Pop restaurants and Denny's?

Anyone been to the Wharf Ichiban in the Bella Inn?

Friday we are in Sechelt, Saturday near Egmont.

Any input would be greatly appeciated!

CM

[Daddy-A]

Found this site on dining in Sechelt. I've only been to the Blue Heron ... not bad, not great. Seafood was very fresh, and the wine list was decent. Again, not great.

Molly's Reach in Gibson's is good for a greasy breakfast. I'm sure the whole Beachcomber's thing is now lost on anyone under 30 ... although they still show re-runs of it in Norway & Dennmark.

Arne

[stovetop]

Molly's Reach in Gibson's is good for a greasy breakfast. I'm sure the whole Beachcomber's thing is now lost on anyone under 30 ... although they still show re-runs of it in Norway & Dennmark

It is one of the most syndicated shows around along with Degrasi /high, Canadian shows are doing well these days in syndication.

steve

[Sam Salmon]

You Must Try This Place

[forever_young_ca]

I live on the Sunshine Coast and here would be my picks:

Blue Heron Inn - on Porpoise Bay, just outside of Sechelt. Great views, great food.

Creehouse Restaurant - Roberts Creek. Great food, run by a French chef and his wife. Probably the best food the SC. Atmosphere of dining room only OK.

Ruby Lake Resort - Italian food on Ruby Lake. Wonderful food and setting.

Opa Restaurant - Gibsons - for Japanese food and a wonderful view over Gibsons harbour.

New Orleans Restaurant - newly opened up in Lower Gibsons. Only ate there once - last Friday. You can sit out on the balcony and have a view over Howe Sound and the Mountains. I had the crab cake starter and the catfish main. They were fabulous.

Enjoy your stay. The Sunshine Coast is a very special place and I feel lucky to be able to live here.

[Daddy-A]

Chef,

Let us know where you went and what you liked after your trip. My wife & I are staying at a little hideaway in Tuwanek for New Year's ... probably best to make reservations early

Arne

[forever_young_ca]

Just a bit more info. I was really rushed when I did my earlier post.

If you are staying in Egmont the Ruby Lake Resort is probably the best bet for dinner Saturday night as it is the closest.

The Blue Heron Inn is probably the best restaurant iin Sechelt. When it is good, it is very good. However, my experience is sometimes it does quite fire on all cylinders. If you get the chef on a good night you will be happy with your esperience, if you get a bad night, you will be wondering why you went.

However, the distance between Sechelt, Roberts Creek and Gibsons is not great, so you can really choose whichever one you want.

Also in Egmont there is a wonderful knife maker. Any local can give you directions. He has a shop where he makes custom knives to order. He ships them all over the world, and has about a one year waiting list. He is great for sharpening knives your knives as well. Very reasonable prices - $2 - $3 per knife and the sharpest knives I have ever worked with.

Enjoy your weekend

[Chef Metcalf]

Thanks to every one for the great info on where to dine on the Sunshine Coast.

It's much appreciated and we will definitely post notes when we return.

The first night we are staying in Sechelt and Saturday, very close to Ruby Lake as they was no availability at Ruby Lake.

Sp my advice so far is to book way in advance in high season.

This was a last minute business trip so we have had to take what we can get.

We are pretty sure that it will be the Ruby Lake Resort on Saturday night, and perhaps the Blue Heron on Friday if we aren't too bagged (read middle-aged boring people).

This is such a great website forum...instant gratification on food related questions and a great resource for learning. I have been reading through the baking forum trying to pick up all the info that my training lacks, and it's really helpful.

Chef M

PS I get my knives sharpened by Knifex. They come to me at whatever location I am at, do a great job and only charge about $17.00 for five knives. My current fav is a cheapo I picked up in Europe last year called Durol Gummo (stop laughing ). Only available in Europe unfortunately. I far prefer it over my Tridents. Time to go knife shopping I think, so you never know, maybe my next set will be from Sechelt...lol

[Chef Metcalf]

Chef,

Let us know where you went and what you liked after your trip.  My wife & I are staying at a little hideaway in Tuwanek for New Year's ... probably best to make reservations early 

Arne

←

Sunshine Coast Restaurants

Food critic,yes...restaurant reviewer and writer, no...but as promised, here are my notes from the Sunshine Coast.

The Blue Heron, phoned ahead, tried to get a reservation but they were fully booked for a rehearsal dinner.

Then off to the Creekhouse...closed down as the place is up for sale....strike two.

Getting pretty hungry by this point and settled for the Wharf Ichiban for sushi which was close to our accommodation.

If you like fruit fly's swarming your sushi, this is the place to go!

Actually that isn't entirely true....I think they were hovering around the sake more then the sushi, but the constant swatting really puts you off your food....which we got to go after too many swats.

Note to owners.......could it be all those grapevines outside?

Managed to get a late reservation for the Ruby Lake Resort on Saturday night and we're escorted by the friendly owner to a lovely table outside looking over the lake.

I ordered one of the night's specials "Penne con Funghi" with an assortment of fresh wild BC mushrooms in a light cream sauce.

Nice mushroom flavour, but as the mushrooms were minced I had no idea what types they were (my memory had waned from when the waiter had described the dish to me 30 minutes earlier).

H enjoyed his Veal Scaloppini which was one piece encompassing the entire plate except for a small garnish.

The entrees ranged from $14.95-$22.95, friendly service and a nice view over the lake on the vine covered porch (sans fruit fly's I might add).

While I wouldn't call it outstanding by any Vancouver measures, it was a pleasant night and we would definitely go back.

Met up with friends after that at the Garden Bay Hotel pub and were still full from our Italian at the Ruby Lake resort so we didn't order any food.

I talked to several people who had dinner in the restaurant (separate from the pub) and they all claimed it was the best food around.

I took a peak at one of their restaurant menus with entrees ranging from $18.00 for Tiger Prawns in Coconut Curry Sauce to $32.00 for the Rack of Lamb with Rosemary and Garlic served with a Jack Daniels Portabella Mushroom Sauce.

Desserts looked interesting too and they also had the best wine list we had seen in our travels.

Next time we go, this is where I will make reservations (604-883-9919) and hope that it lives up to the rave reviews.

Daddy-A, if you get the time to check this one out, let us know. Or vice versa if we get back there before New Years.

We hiked to Skookumchuck Rapids Provincial Park the next day. Don't miss this one, the hike in is easy and the old growth forest is astounding Skookumchuck Info.

Remember to check the tides before you go though for the best viewing times.

Just as we were entering the park on the road/trail, we came across a bakery, although the name escapes me you won't have any trouble finding it as it's the only one on the trail. The organic coffee and baked goods were varied, fresh from the oven and the Dutch Indonesian owner very friendly. A great way to start the hike and end our weekend.

Please ignore all typos, appalling grammar and spelling mistakes.

CM

[taryn]

I'm going to Sechelt this weekend.....are there any good restaurants I should check out?

[rm_blizzard]

The Blue Heron at Porpoise Bay in Sechelt is definitely worth a visit and has long been considered one of the best restaurants on the Sunshine Coast. Beautiful setting and excellent seafood. The chicken and prawn satay is a perennial favourite.

Another memorable meal our family had about a year ago was at the Upper Deck at Secret Cove Marina (20 minutes north of Sechelt). This very fine restaurant is situated in a floating building at the end of the marina. On a nice day the view is unbeatable. I had rice noodles with prawns and scallops in a sweet chili sauce; my wife had something from the fresh sheet. There was no kids menu, but our son got the best ever chicken fingers made for him. We were raiding the dip - wonderful. It was also fun watching the gin palaces coming and going.

Further north the Ruby Lake Resort is the place to go if you're heading that far. It would be advisable to make reservations in advance at any of these places this time of year.

We're heading up to the Coast on the 23rd for our annual visit. We hope to visit all of the three I've mentioned.

Edited July 13, 2005 by rm_blizzard (log)

[Daddy-A]

I've merged taryn's thread with an earlier version of the same question. Most of the rec's worthy of a visit on the Sunshine Coast are mentioned.

A recent addition my son & I discovered recently is the Green Rosette Bake Shop, located at the entrance to the Skookumchuck Narrows trail near Egmont. I detail it in this thread about our camping excursion to Sechelt last weekend. CLICK

A.