Category: Dining Reviews

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Gina’s Mexican Restaurant, Nanaimo

Need a colourful perk-up and a little spice? Try Gina’s Mexican Restaurant at the top of the bluff, downtown Nanaimo. My son and I went there a couple of weeks ago for a late lunch after doing some packing and taking a load to Value Village.

Warm and cheery, it was just the thing. In a little old house, you can choose a room or deck to sit in, inside or out. Funky and homey, it’s a feel-good change from franchise hamburger joints.

Our table was adjacent to the kitchen. Staff chatted and bustled to and fro with orders, but as long as you don’t mind that, the room was cozy and bright. Rooms overlooking the city had been reserved. Good thing we hadn’t arrived during lunch hour or we would have had to wait outside due to covid restrictions. Mind you, if you come in your car you can wait there and they’ll call your cell when your table is ready.

Our meals came to $28 before the tip. We stuck with water, but there is a nice selection of drinks available.

I’d like to go for supper sometime and sit by a window overlooking the lights. See you there, maybe?

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The Wheatsheaf Pub, Hemer, Canada

  • perogies and pizza
  • The Wheatsheaf Pub
Hearty Home Cooking

Just a twenty minute drive south of Nanaimo in the small country town of Hemer is one of our favourite places to go for an afternoon outing and early dinner. The Wheatsheaf Pub is quiet in the mid afternoon, cozy inside with a fireplace, or nice outside on the deck when the weather’s warm.

My current favourite is a half order of potato and cheese perogies–four large home made perogies loaded down with fried bacon and onions and served with a side of sour cream and a little salad. $9.75C. Sid likes the meat eater’s pizza ($14.25)–too big for one person to eat but great to take home the rest of for another meal for the two of us. We always get a Grower’s Peach cooler each, which is a nice cool taste of summer all year ($6 X 2).

Appies here are yummy too. They mostly come with carrot and celery sticks on the side. We like the prawns.

We’ve never tried the burgers because they look too huge for our senior appetites but I’ve noticed young working men scarfing them down.

The atmosphere is friendly, the décor is old and homey, there’s a bookcase to borrow from and a pool table to play at. Even live music some evenings. Next time you’re out for a country drive in the vicinity perhaps you’d like to stop in!

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Shanghai City Restaurant, Nanaimo

noodles and tofu hot pot

This weekend was Chinese New Year, so my son and I celebrated by eating at the Shanghai Restaurant yesterday. Located at the back of Brooks Landing Mall, it is an old favourite.

We missed the lunch and dinner crowds by going mid-afternoon. The dim sum menu ends at 2 pm but at 2:30 we could still order a small dish of those flat rice noodles that we like. We also ordered the mixed meat and tofu hot pot from the regular menu, which is a delicious sizzling stew in a clay pot. There are plenty of fresh-tasting vegetables in it and a flavourful gravy. You eat it by putting a scoop of rice in a small bowl and spooning some hot pot over it so that the gravy goes down into the rice. Mmm, yum!

Hard to stop eating when it’s so good, but the dishes were large enough that we even had a box-full left over to take home. It came to $28.25 including tax and before the tip.

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Pizza Mia, Nanaimo, mmm, yum!

Create your own taste combination .

I gave my son a Vancouver Island coupon book for Christmas. Last week we tried Pizza Mia. We got 2 four-topping pizzas for $25; yummy, not bad! I phoned in the order and they were ready by the time we got there to pick them up. Not busy on a Sunday afternoon. I imagine it would be busy on a school day at the North Nanaimo branch, as it’s right near a High School. It’s a small take-out venue but there are a few little tables if you want to eat in. You can even buy a ready-made slice for $2.50.

My husband and son still prefer their long-time favourite, Pizza Hut, but we will go back to Pizza Mia at least to use the other coupon in the book. It made a pretty good meal for a lazy Sunday afternoon!

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Cinnamon Bun and Tea near UBC

When we make the occasional trip to Vancouver my husband loves to visit his favourite little guitar shop, Rufus music, on Alma down towards UBC.  They have all kinds of guitars and ukuleles, and Sid can easily spend an hour trying out different ones in a little sound room.  I hang out in there with him for a bit, but after a while I go for a walk with the dog through the beautiful residential area, admiring the big old trees and houses.  Eventually I put Bear back in the car and I meander down the street a block to a funky little cafe with delicious aromas of coffee and freshly baked cinnamon buns wafting out the door.

Amazing cinnamon buns with cream cheese icing!

Grounds for Coffee is the name of the shop, and  their coffee smells great, but I like the specialty herbal tea in the afternoon when I have already had enough coffee for the day.  Sharable as a snack, or filling enough to do for lunch, those buns are to die for!  The texture is excellent; soft inside and slightly crunchy around the outside.  Lots of cinnamon, and I thought I detected a slight flavour of coconut oil rather than butter, making them lighter on the stomach.  The cream cheese icing is not overly sweet, and tops them off perfectly!

By the time my husband comes to join me I have read an article or two in the newspapers and caught up on cell phone notifications as well as indulging in a satisfying amount of people-watching while slowly savouring my bun and tea.  He eats whatever is left of it while I tell him the latest news, and we go on our way.

Definitely worth the $7 to treat yourself if you are in that part of Vancouver!

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White Spot, South Nanaimo

Vegan cauliflower curry at White Spot

My son and I decided to go out for a nice dinner last week, and we chose the White Spot across the street from his condo here in Nanaimo.  It’s an upscale family restaurant. 

The original White Spot was in Vancouver.  In the 1960s my father would sometimes take us there for Sunday dinner after church.  It was a drive-in restaurant at that time.  You parked in the parking lot facing the wall, which featured a giant mural of an outdoor Canadian scene.  To order, you turned your headlights on high beam and a waitress came to the car.  When your order was ready she brought it to the car on a long tray which fitted into the car, attached to the rolled down windows.  My mother always ordered a piece of boysenberry pie or strawberry cheesecake and a cup of tea, and the rest of us usually had a hamburger and an orange crush.  Sadly that favourite Vancouver-in-the-60s tradition is now just a lovely memory, as times have changed.

Now there are White Spots in several cities in BC.  Nanaimo has two of them.  The one we went to is near downtown and the seawall.  It has a pleasant ambience and friendly service.  We arrived just before 5 o’clock, beating the supper-time influx of patrons as the appy-hour patrons were leaving.  Good time to come, as our order arrived much quicker than the last time we came, when the place was already full of customers. 

Nathaniel ordered a burger and fries with a blueberry milkshake, while I had the cauliflower and chickpea curry with a glass of rosé.  The curry  comes  with mango chutney and naan bread.  So delicious  and satisfying! 

Our bill came to $50 Canadian altogether; about $25 each.  We can’t afford to do this often, but it was a memorable  way to start our evening  before going to the African Children’s Choir, always so lively and inspiring.

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Jake’s Pub, Cowichan Lake

Next to pretty Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island in Canada, this classy pub is a great place for a good substantial meal and a refreshing drink.  My husband and I went there for a sunny afternoon drive about an hour south of our hometown of Nanaimo.20190320_154047.jpg20190320_160143.jpgStarting with battered and seared shrimp as an appy, we then shared a smoked salmon wrap. 20190320_162033.jpg20190320_162757.jpgThe wrap came with our choice of a side, so we took the asian coleslaw.  I had a glass of Merridale cider on tap and we also had fresh pure ice water, so refreshing!

My favourite item was the pan-seared shrimp with aioli dipping sauce.  Sid found the sauce too hot.  His favourite was the crunchy asian coleslaw.

The wrap was okay, but had a rather doughy texture, as the salmon was as raw as sushi and the goat cheese turned out to be cream cheese.  It also contained yams which added an interesting touch to the flavour but were soft-textured too, and then there was the large doughy whole wheat tortilla wrapped around it all.

It was lovely sitting out on the covered deck overlooking the lake and listening to the 60s music.20190320_162105.jpg

The service was good, and the bill came to about $35 Canadian.

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Dining Reviews

We are not extravagant diners but we do enjoy eating out from time to time.  It’s fun to try new places to go for lunch or dinner or a drink and snack.  On this page I will write reviews of places we try.