Food and drink on Vancouver Island

Spot prawns arrive for a few weeks in spring and vanish. Oysters are at their best in the cold months. Salmon follows the runs. Halibut runs through spring and summer. Anything on a blackboard rather than the printed menu is the thing that arrived this morning, and it is almost always the right order.

On land the pattern repeats: asparagus and greens in spring, berries and stone fruit through summer, squash and mushrooms in autumn. Kitchens on the island that name their farms usually mean it — the farms are close enough that the chef has been there.

The good small rooms have twenty to forty covers and take reservations weeks ahead in summer. Many close one or two days a week, and a significant number close entirely for part of the winter. In smaller towns the kitchen may stop at eight.

Always check hours the same day. Out of season, "open" on a listing and "open this Tuesday in February" are different claims — call ahead if you have driven for it.

Prices are metropolitan even in small towns, because the ingredients are good and the seasons are short. Tipping is customary at fifteen to twenty per cent. Many rooms are cash-and-card but a few of the smallest are card-only or cash-only — worth a glance at the door.

The best value is rarely dinner. Lunch menus, bakery counters and pub kitchens deliver most of the same sourcing at half the price, and the harbour fish-and-chip shops are frequently the honest highlight of a trip.