El Taquero – Tacos and Tequila

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We came here on the Taste of Kelowna Food Tour and loved it so much that the next year we came back on our own. This place has the best Mexican food I’ve had in Canada, and that is high praise considering that I grew up in Southern California and live in Vancouver now.

The street tacos are absolutely authentic. My favorites were the vegetarian Rajas Poblanas with poblano chilies, the pork Cochinitas Pibil, and the fish Pescado Veracruz. The chilaquiles were also the best I’ve had, with half green and half red sauce to make them even more interesting. Margaritas here are great, too.

By complete coincidence, we ran into Andrew, the wonderful guide from our Taste of Kelowna tour last year, who was escorting another group around and happened to arrive as we were eating. He even remembered my name, and was so kind that, after he left, we discovered he had comped us a delicious order of churros served with a wonderful chilled caramel sauce.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/el-taquero-tacos-and-tequila-kelowna

Old Vines Restaurant at Quails’ Gate Winery

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This is a beautiful setting overlooking the Quails’ Gate vineyards, and if the weather is agreeable, you definitely will want to sit outside.

We had a lovely lunch here, and the service was excellent.

For me, the highlight of my meal was the rib eye steak, which was perfectly grilled and one of the best pieces of meat I’ve had in Canada, and priced very reasonably. The trout and bison carpaccio were also excellent.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/old-vines-restaurant-kelowna

Miradoro at Tin Horn Creek Winery

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Miradoro has perhaps the most miraculous view in all of the south Okanagan. They also have some of the most professional service that we encountered.

Both at lunch and dinner, the focus is on Italian, with offerings of pizzas and pastas.

We went for dinner and enjoyed the duck pate appetizer and their interesting take on savory donuts as appetizers.

For our main courses, we had the Cornish game hen, the venison pasta, and the flank steak. All of them were good, with the flank steak being the standout for me.

I always enjoy a place that has interesting gelato and sorbet flavors, and the blueberry cranberry sorbet was particularly unique.

We enjoyed the 2011 Tin Horn Creek Syrah, which was fully mature and reminded me in many ways of an older Burgundy.

There’s also a full bar program.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/miradoro-at-tinhorn-creek-oliver-2

Terrafina Restaurant at Hester Creek Winery

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Terrafina is a great choice for dinner near Oliver. We stayed at the Hester Creek Villas, so it was an easy decision for us, but it was good enough that in four days we decided to go there twice. The menu is mostly Italian, but with enough variety that there’s plenty to explore. Of course, being able to order Hester Creek wines from the library list is an added plus.

We started with the handcrafted crackers and assorted dips and the cheeses, which was a great way to savor a 2017 Hester Creek Garland Cabernet Sauvignon. The Rock Star cheddar cheese was perhaps the best cheddar I’ve had, and a Boursin-like cream cheese with garlic and herbs really brought out the flavors in the wine too.

The three of us shared a Caesar salad, which was also excellent and plenty for three people as a salad course.

For entrees, we had the strip loin steak, the cioppino, and the cannelloni. They were all excellent. I think the cioppino was among the best I’ve had.

Service was delightful, and the atmosphere is not too noisy, even when the restaurant is packed, as it was Saturday night. We were lucky to get a table with a last-minute reservation.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/terrafina-restaurant-at-hester-creek-oliver-2

Bisou Bake House

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It seems like there is a nearly endless appetite for coffee and pastries on Robson, and Bisou is yet another entry in this competition. If it were the only place around, it would stand out, but there is substantial competition up the street from La Duree, Paul, Le Belisse Cafe (my favorite) and others.

I didn’t try the sweet croissants, but the plain croissant was perfectly good. The bread, however, was a disappointment. The barista claimed that “all our breads are sourdough.” But there’s more to sourdough than just the technique. There’s also the flavor. And what looked like a wonderful French boule turned out to basically just be a big hunk of white bread.

I didn’t have their coffee, so it might be great, but with so many choices around, I think I would probably go up the street.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/bisou-bake-house-vancouver

Nightingale

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Nightingale is from the owners of Hawksworth, which I thought was a very good but not necessarily great restaurant, but I really like Nightingale. It’s a two-story space off of Hastings with a bar downstairs that has table seating and a somewhat quieter upstairs dining area where the kitchen is. I prefer the upstairs area, but both are fine. Don’t be misled by the fact that reservations for the bar don’t mean that you have to sit at the bar. It could mean anywhere in the downstairs area.

The menu is a combination of surprisingly upscale food and straightforward dishes such as pizza, but the pizza is just not ordinary pizza, even though it’s reasonably priced. In fact, it’s one of the best pizzas in Vancouver.

The appetizers are varied and extraordinary. We had the hamachi, which let the fish shine through, and the kanpachi, which was a complex preparation that we particularly enjoyed.

Another surprise was the cauliflower hummus, which was much more layered and intricate than you might expect.

Service was excellent, and there is a thoughtful wine list plus an enormous selection of liquors such as whiskies and even Amaro. In fact, they have tasting flights of different whiskies and Amaro, which I always particularly appreciate.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/nightingale-vancouver

Dip n Drool

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If Dip N Drool is not the worst name for a restaurant in the world, I don’t know what is. That and the fact that the location has almost no visibility are not good harbingers, but the food is actually really good.

The menu is ambitious, with foods not only from India but also the rest of Asia and even Italy. However, the Indian food is the way to go. All of the sauces are sublime, and the papadums, which I don’t think are even on the menu, are perhaps the best I’ve ever had.

The lunch combos are a good deal, and the chicken tikka masala and lamb korma were both delicious. On our second visit, we explored the appetizer menu.

The Dahi Puri, crispy semolina shells filled with potatoes, chickpeas and yogurt, finished with sweet tamarind chutney and mint chutney, were the best I’ve had.

Vegetable Pakoda was also excellent. The nachos were a swing and a miss.

The chef is really doing everything he can to make this a great restaurant, and I encourage you to try it. I just hope that they can overcome the name and the location because they really deserve success.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/dip-n-drool-vancouver

TacoRiendo

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TacoRiendo serves traditional Mexican food ranging from tacos and enchiladas to burritos and chile rellenos. The nachos and guacamole are quite incredible, and the red sauce is appropriately spicy on all of their main dishes. I particularly like the fish tacos with the green sauce. The margaritas are excellent, and the price for a pitcher is quite reasonable. You can get quite busy, especially on Friday nights, so don’t go when you’re in a hurry; enjoy it.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/tacoriendo-oliver