This past weekend, my partner planned a trip out to the Sunshine Coast, and I heard about all of the breweries and cideries to enjoy, the hikes to be walked, and the cute towns to check out.
When I travel, I usually just show up and see what’s happening, but my partner loves to scope out the scene and pick up on what’s hot!
If you live in West or North Vancouver, it’s a pretty sweet deal to get to the Sunshine coast; you just take HWY 1 to Horseshoe Bay (20 minutes from home and no bridges with which to deal) and grab a 40-minute ferry to Langdale, which is just outside Gibsons.
If you grew up in the 70’s in Canada, you may have watched The Beachcombers on CBC, which was centered in Gibsons, BC.
So, it was pretty cool to see the Persephone sitting on the corner of the downtown core.
Day One:
Before we even checked into our place, we decided to head down to the dock in Gibsons to see what was up.
We saw a little place called Smitty’s Oyster House and thought best to check it out. We kept it simple; a dozen oysters, a couple of grilled scallops, prosecco for the lady and a local IPA (from Tapworks) for me.
All-in-all, we had very good service, really nice food, and good drinks. It also didn’t hurt that the sun was shining warmly on the outdoor patio.
We also did a quick stop in Sechelt – a small village with some cool spots to eat and shop. We did grab some fried pickles and french fries from PKLS – and they were pretty good! Next time, I’m going to try their Black Bean or Crispy Portobello Burger.
Next – we decided to check-in to our B&B, Shades of Jade Inn & Spa in Roberts Creek. Our host Sylvie was amazing. She made sure that we had everything we needed throughout our stay, including a nice, healthy, light breakfast and super-delicious coffee from Straight Coffee to get our days started. We also visited Straight Coffee to grab an espresso and an Americano, and it was very good!
The Inn is in a nice quiet spot – lots of Douglas Firs and Cedar Trees around – and our room reminded me of being in a Japanese Buddhist monastery (like something you see in the movies). We had a massive spa bathroom, with a steam-room shower and a modern, self-cleaning jacuzzi tub (not like those bacteria-ridden jets you see in most spa tubs).
Our first dinner was a bit of a bust. We went to Leo’s Tapas & Grill on the downtown strip in Gibsons – best to sum it up as a mistake. Nice folks, but I guess my Toronto experience (which is fueled by a strong Greek community) gives me higher expectations for something a little more authentic. The baseline for me is the horiatiki; or the Village Greek Salad … I expect it as simple as possible – coarsely chopped tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cucumbers – a brick of feta, kalamata olives, some oregano, dressed in olive oil and red wine vinegar. Just get that right, and most other things will follow.
Day Two:
The next day we had a couple of hikes, one in Smuggler’s Cove, and the other in Skookumchuk Narrows, where they have three streams of water converging, which causes quite the ruckus (whirlpools and waves) at a couple of points throughout the day.
Lunch was really good, but a comedy of errors at Aquí es Mexico in Madera Park. The drinks came well after the appetizer was served – a missed opportunity on their part. The guacamole was good, but at $12, was a very small portion with about twice as many chips as needed. Although I requested salad from two different servers, it never arrived … and only did the spicy salsa arrive after two requests. For an authentic Mexican joint, I’d expect a salsa selection to be provided. All that said, it’s a nice looking place, with good tacos (my partner had fish and I had shrimp), quite popular with the locals, and the server gave me a take-home jar of her homemade spicy salsa!
Dinner was homemade on Day Two – with some nice cheese selections from Plethora Fine Foods in Sechelt, along with some green salad from the grocery store. I was surprised to see Idiazabal (a Spanish sheep cheese) at Plethora, as well as a great Dutch cheese called Old Amsterdam. Both were very good. We washed it down with a nice Sancerre that we brought with us.
Day Three:
There were a lot things to hit up in Sechelt.
We started at the Lone Wolf Provisions – and sampled a few of their wares. The amoretti cookies were off-the-charts good … great job! We also picked up an olive/cherry tomato focaccia, which was excellent. The only miss was the croissant, which didn’t have the density and crispiness I expect. If you’re in North Vancouver, check out the plain, butter croissants at Nemesis Coffee or Thomas Haas Chocolatiers … they are the real deal. We also picked up some cheeses at Lone Wolf, which we haven’t tried yet.
Next, we hit the Saturday Farmer’s Market in Sechelt, where we picked up some pottery, jams, and mushrooms – there were a lot of great vendors and if we were cooking, we would have picked up a lot more stuff.
For lunch, we were able to secure a table at Batch 44 in Sechelt to try the goods at an actual brewery. The service was good and the food (Caprese Salad and a Tofu Bowl) was decent, but the beer really fell short of my expectations. We ordered a couple of flight so that we could try it all – and nothing piqued my interest.
Hiking was enjoyed at the Hidden Grove Trail – and if you love trees, there are some big beautiful trees to take in, including The Lonely Giant, The Twister, and The Leaning Giant.
We also went to Brickers Cider in Sechelt to sample a couple of flights, and I was equally let down by the flavours exhibited in their selection as I was at Batch 44.
Reservations for dinner were made for Lunitas, a cute place we saw beside Smitty’s Oyster House in Gibsons. Nothing fancy – just good food and service. I thought their prawns were quite well done, and the tacos were pretty tasty. The charred avocado in the guacamole and in the taco was pretty nice.
Day Four:
We packed our breakfast from the Inn to go, and headed over to Sechelt, at The Basted Baker for breakfast. We ordered the Breakfast Salad and Huevos Rancheros; both were good, but I was kind of jonesing to go to Gourmet Girl, which I thought had a more interesting menu … but, there’s always a next time!
We decided on two small hikes – Cliff Gilker Park, which had a couple of cool little waterfalls, and Soames Hill, which has a lovely vista at the top!
To cap off our trip, we visited Sunday Cider, Persephone, and Tapworks; all in Gibsons.
Let’s start with Sunday Cider – while they didn’t have flights and easier options to try their entire selection (i.e. smaller vessels) we were able to get a cup of their traditional dry cider, which I believe is their Sunday Wild, which, unfortunately, wasn’t in stock to purchase to take home. It was very flavourful, dry, and crisp. Right up my alley. We also picked up bottles of their Stone Fruit Sour, Cherry Cascara, and the Twice As Nice, which is fermented with Merlot grape skins for two weeks. I can’t wait to try them!
Persephone, I knew about, as I purchased some of their brew in North Vancouver. So I had a good feeling that I would enjoy their stuff; and I was right.
We selected a couple of flights and it was all quite good! I tried some of the classics – the regular Pale Ale, the IPA, the Dry Irish Stout, to name a few, and the flavours were spot on. They had a significant number of options to purchase – including some interesting looking sours.
The farm is a nice spot to enjoy the brew – and they have some food options (including a pizza oven). I’d like to head here for lunch one day in the (not-so-distant) future!
Tapworks has a new facility in downtown Gibsons, with lots of outdoor seating, small food menu, and some tasty brew. I selected one flight (half cider, as my partner doesn’t like beer). I tried their Hazy Pale Ale and the Blonde Ale, both were quite good. I had their IPA at Smitty’s on Day One, so I knew what I was getting myself into.
Last, but not least, a couple of weeks back, I heard from a colleague that Spot Prawns are in season in BC, so, as we were on the dock in Gibsons, we picked up some Spot Prawns from a vendor on the dock and took them home to barbeque. It was a great end to a long-weekend trip to the Sunshine Coast!
Vikas Sharma 
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