Road Trip to Prince Rupert

[ja_rtw]

Hi all,

I'll be making a road trip from Vancouver to Prince Rupert, stopping by at Prince George along the way and possibly othe towns like Quesnel, Smithers, Vanderhoof.

Any advice for interesting eats along the way? Dining experiences, food products - any suggestions much appreciated !

Thanks in advance !

[Jaymes]

When are you going? The last time we drove back south from Prince Rupert the cherries were in season. It's a wonder we didn't make ourselves sick from all the cherries we ate.

And then, as if that weren't enough, we bought an additional big bag right before we crossed the border into the US. And discovered we couldn't bring fresh produce with us.

So we sat by the side of the road and ate that entire bag in another half-hour.

Smithers is one of the most beautiful towns on Earth.

[ja_rtw]

Jaymes, I'll be heading there around the first week of August, planning to take 6 or 7 days - I can't wait to sample all the fresh produce ! I love BC cherries

[Daddy-A]

HERE is a short report on a trip I took to Smithers last year. Not a tonne to go one, but a start nonetheless.

eG member Viola da Gamba lives up that way as well .. perhaps she'll check in ...

A.

[sushi boy]

Go to Smiles Cafe and have a crabhouse sandwich. Like a traditional club sandwich, only instead of roasted turkey, it has fresh crab meat. Absolutely brilliant.

[Viola da gamba]

Oh man - good food on Highway 16 - I'll do my best ...

South of Prince George - there's nowhere to eat in Williams Lake apart from the Laughing Loon, and that's nothing to write home about (standard pub fare). In Quesnel, same problem - although the coffee at the place that looks as though it's ripping off Starbucks' logo isn't bad. I haven't tried the steakhouse across the river in Quesnel - we're usually too busy trying to get home. Load up on stuff in Vancouver, and head for highway 16 - or stop at pubs and know that at least it's safe.

Prince George - haven't eaten there for ages, but apparently the people who used to own the Italian restaurant that is now Rare (help me someone) have moved back up to PG, and have re-opened a restaurant there - might be worth checking out.

Vanderhoof, Fraser Lake, Fort Fraser - you're on your own, sorry.

Burns Lake - there's a new-ish pub - I think called the Grapevine - just down the street from the 7-11 - it's not bad. About on a par with the Lennox for food, not much in the way of beer selection. The gas prices in Burns Lake are generally the cheapest of anywhere on Highway 16 (Fort Fraser has occasionally been cheaper) - fill up.

Houston, Topley, Granisle - nowhere to eat - move along.

Telkwa - Bridges is, much to my amazement, still open - and some people give it rave reviews - might be worth checking out for lunch. Otherwise, the Green House does a not bad ginger beef.

Take a detour up the Telkwa High Road (just before the One Stop, on the right as you're heading west, after you're through Telkwa - if you get to the gas station, you've gone too far) - the Foxhole Bakery (4490 Fox Road - off the Telkwa High Road on the left after you pass the turnoff for Tyhee Lake & the cemetary) is worth checking out - they do good bread, nice granola, and they carry local honey which, probably due to the prevalence of dandelions, is quite peppery. Continue along the Telkwa High Road, turn left on Old Babine Road (i.e. at the stop sign) and turn right back onto the highway.

Smithers. Sigh. Still not a great culinary mecca. The Iron Horse is still good, although service is dreadfully slow - nice soups, really good breakfasts, and half the town seems to swear by their sandwiches. Schimmel's (on Main Street) has re-opened under new owners, now accepts credit cards and debit - the coffee ain't great, but the pastries, bread, sandwiches & schnitzel (Thursdays only) are first-rate. The Logpile Lodge is still an option for dinner if you can plan ahead - see my response to Daddy-A's post, slightly lower down on the link. The Alpenhorn has gone downhill, but the beer's still okay, and they have Strongbow cider on tap. The golf club (west of town, on the right) has improved their food hugely, and is open to the public - that's not saying it's great, but it's now an option - and the view is fabulous. Don't eat at the Hudson's Bay Lodge - restaurant, pub or cafe - it's changed hands, and they don't even fake-make their salad dressings any more - you get little packets of Kraft. Java's is still reliable for coffee. Avoid Kokopelli's - their coffee sucks and the service is worse. DO NOT eat at the Aspen. Blue Fin Sushi gets their fish from Rupert, and is the best sushi on Highway 16 - they only use wild sockeye for salmon, and if the halibut is fresh there's nowhere better. Not a huge selection, but they do what they do well. Farmers' market Saturdays, and we're about 6 - 8 weeks behind Vancouver - strawberries & raspberries are about in the middle of their season right now, and saskatoon berries are just starting to ripen. Saskatoon berry jam should be available at the farmers' market.

Heading west - there's a new cafe opening in Moricetown opposite the canyon - haven't tried it (it's not open yet), but it looks like it should be heavy on the fish - so good news there. Slightly cheaper gas here than in Smithers usually.

The Hazeltons, Kitwanga - nothing to eat, keep going - although the K'San village (in Old Hazelton) is worth a detour, as is Hagwilget Canyon, if you're sightseeing. If you have to stop, Mercedes Beanz in Old Hazelton does very good coffee & tea. The Trading Post does good crab cakes, but the service is execrable and the rest of the food below-average - sadly. Neat building, some great historical photos.

After Kitwanga, there's a yellow cafe on the left (still heading west) - it's supposed to be good in a hippy kind of way - haven't been, so can't recommend. It is VERY yellow, so hard to miss!

Kitimat - if you detour off the highway before Terrace - there's a new cafe in Kitimaat village (first left after the tourist info place) that does fabulous fish for very reasonable prices (primarily for dinner - but you can stay at the hotsprings just south of Lakelse Lake - rundown hotel, but kind of a cool place in a very '70s kind of way) - availability depending on the catch. Not much else to see unless you're fascinated by aluminum smelters. It's wet here.

Terrace - if you buy stuff at Safeway, any purchase of $35 or more will get you 0.07 off gas at the Safeway gas bar provided you have/use a Safeway club card - they will give you one on the spot. Fill up. The only place to eat in Terrace is Don Diego's - a sort of Mexican place (no, this isn't as frightening as it sounds - the food is actually good) that posts its menu on a chalkboard, which makes recommending anything there tough, as we've not had the same food twice. If they've got them, the salmon/rice/corn cakes were wonderful, as was the chocolate chipotle cake. Dos Equis Amber in bottles, a surprising selection of wine. Coming into Terrace, go over the overpass, turn right at the lights, left at the 4-way, it's on the right. Nowhere else to eat. Sad.

Prince Rupert - fish, glorious fish. Dolly's Seafood in Cow Bay does EXCELLENT chowder and is a good place to buy fish. Smiles Cafe does okay sandwiches, but I can't get past the smell of frying. The beer & wine store across the parking lot from Dolly's has a reasonable selection. Don't eat at the Crest - overpriced, and not very good - for preference, eat at the Breakers pub, again in Cow Bay - food as good as the lounge at the Crest & about 1/3 cheaper. View of the harbour from both places. Excellent halibut cheek burgers (but then I'd crawl over broken glass using my lips for halibut cheeks). For a "nice" meal, try the Cow Bay Cafe - great food, again very dependent upon what's fresh, which makes it hard to recommend anything in particular - neat room, right on the water. If you're fed up with seafood, Zorba's does v. good Sri Lankan food, and La Cucina (sorry) is the local standby for Italian. Don't eat Chinese in Rupert. Mr. VdaG swears by the Pho at Herby's - I've never had it (on 3rd opposite/near Tim Horton's) - close to the Coast. I have not had good sushi in Rupert EVER - which is weird - but the sushi place in Cow Bay is your best bet if you're desperate, and the cockles were good. Very good coffee at either the Cowpuccino's (again, sorry) in Cow Bay, or okay coffee at Javadot.cup (on 3rd - also a B&B). Be warned - nearly everywhere in Rupert stops serving food at about 9:00 during the week, except for the Lounge at the Crest (10:00) or the restaurant there (9:30).

Hope this is some help - sorry it's so long. Have a good trip!

Edited July 29, 2006 by Viola da gamba (log)

[ja_rtw]

wow, what a fabulous reply ! thanks so much for all the suggestions, i'll be sure to report back if i uncover any gems out there..

[newbie]

Prince George - haven't eaten there for ages, but apparently the people who used to own the Italian restaurant that is now Rare (help me someone) have moved back up to PG, and have re-opened a restaurant there - might be worth checking out.

The new restaurant that Viola da gamba mentions is the White Goose Bistro that is owned by Chef Moreno who had Bis Moreno while he was in Vancouver. Definitely worth checking out.

Another restaurant worth visiting is Cimo's Mediterranean Grill. Their pastas are homemade and they've got a great menu.

If you like a good steak, Ric's Grill never fails to please and Winston's Restaurant located in the Coast Inn of the North is pretty good. I was there recently and had their table d'hote for $39, good deal and tasty to boot.

Tandoori Restaurant is another option if you like East Indian food. I've had their Vegetarian Special Dinner for 2 which included Eggplant Bharta, Vegetable Jalfrazie, Aloo Matta, Dal Maharani, Vegetable Samosas and Naan bread. I'm no expert but it was quite tasty and I'm looking forward to going back to try some of the meat dishes.

We've also got a few good greek restaurants.

Unfortunately we don't have the restaurant selection that they have in the Vancouver area, but we've got a few good restaurants so you shouldn't have a hard time finding a decent meal while you are here.

Have a great trip and I'll look forward to reading the trip report!

[ja_rtw]

Hi all ! I'm back from my trip up to Prince Rupert - it was a very pleasant week, beautiful scenery, a relaxing drive, and lots of deer wandering around !

Here's my food report:

Prince George - Cimo's Mediterranean Grill - One of the busier looking restaurants in town, has a casual fine dining feel to it. Fairly varied menu, rather slow service. I'd say their pastas are their strong point. I had ravioli with a tasty portobello filing in a tomato sauce. Also had chicken stuffed with proscuitto and oyster mushrooms, a ribeye steak that was a bit dry, and a roasted red pepper soup with pesto cream - a bit too oily for my tastes.

White Goose Bistro - Chef Bis Moreno's restaurant! What a lovely discovery - I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. For about the same price as a meal at Cimo's, we had seared foie gras with a pear puree, ravioli stuffed with lobster in a tomao basil sauce, lamb ossobucco braised with mustard, white wine, and artichokes, mussels in a white wine and leek sauce and frites. Wish I'd been in town for another meal here.

Prince Rupert:

Smiles Cafe - So many locals recommended this place, we had to try it. Way too greasy for my liking. Fish and chips is their crowning glory here, I wouldn't recommend straying from the menu otherwise. Bland and dry filets of salmon, sole, and halibut. They didn't have the crab sandwich available when I was there unfortunately.

Dolly's Seafood Market - Their white chowder is fantastic! A different take on the classic fish chowder, more thin & peppery with scallops, halibut, white wine. Good value for their sandwiches, fresh dungeness crab on a kaiser + a chowder was $10.95

Stardust Against our better judgement, we did try Chinese in Prince Rupert. After peeking into some other frightening establishments, we wandered into Stardust. Half diner, half Chinese restaurant joint. Definitely exceeded my expectations! It's not Richmond-class, but it's perfectly passable filling Chinese fare. We didn't order off the menu, just asked the nice owner (Mrs Chen) what to eat and she came up with a steamed rock cod with soy sauce & green onions, tofu hot pot with veggies, 'champagne chicken' (lemon honey cream sauce), and beef with gai lan.

Crest Hotel - Had to go for the view, enjoyed a nice if overpriced lunch - dungeness crab and shrimp omelette, and a terriyaki salmon burger with wasabi dressing.

Also stopped by Smithers and picked up some muskox, venison, and buffalo jerky from their meat & deli store (forgot what it was called) and stopped into Schimmel's Cafe for a squash and ginger soup, and a foccacia sandwich with ham & cheese.

Overall, not the most exciting trip food-wise, but pleasant nonetheless. Oh, and we picked up some gorgeous cherries at the farmer's market on Saturdays in Prince George! That provided the necessary fuel for the drive over to Rupert along with many many stops at Tim Horton's along the way. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions, and hope this helps anyone else planning a trip up north.

[annanstee]

Thanks for the report ja_rtw! I have to go to PG a couple of times a year for work and usually end of ordering roomservice cause I am scared of everything else. Can't wait to try White Goose.

[newbie]

Thanks for the food report, I've only been to the White Goose Bistro once and have been meaning to go back. My work is located on the other end of town so it is a little out of my way for lunch and I tend to spend my evenings at home cooking for friends and family. Now I know what items I need to try on the menu when I make it back.

When Chef Moreno had Da Moreno's in town (prior to moving down to Vancouver) his ravioli stuffed with lobster was "the dish" to have and I was happy to see it revived on his new menu.

I've been to Cimo's a few times but must admit that I have not strayed too far from the pastas. The only other items I have had is their Calamari with a garlic aioli and their soups. I haven't had their roasted red pepper but have had their Fresh Tomato Soup and enjoyed it. Then again, most restaurants around don't serve homemade soups....Their calamari may be a bit salty for some but growing up on the east coast, they remind me of my beloved fried clams that I soooo love.

I try to get to the Farmer's Market every Saturday, not quite as large as the one I'm used to, but still has an adequate selection of fresh fruits, veggies and homemade breads. Was nibbling on some mighty tasty cherries last night while cooking dinner for the in-laws.