This place is all about amazing bread. We discovered it on a Kelowna food tour, and whenever we’re in town, we stop by to sample their baked goods or get a great sandwich. It’s counter service, but they’ll bring your food to the table outside, which is a pleasant spot to eat on a nice day.
This is a stunningly beautiful restaurant with creative appetizers and an excellent selection of different beef cuts. We went on a Wednesday and were hoping for their Wednesday special of Beef Wellington, but they were already sold out, so we settled for prime rib, which was some of the best I’ve had. It’s served with traditional Anju and horseradish and some delicious mashed potatoes.
For a starter, I had the seared scallops, which were perfectly done without being overcooked, but with a nice sear on the outside. The wine list has some extremely thoughtful selections, and it’s fun the way that every wine includes a listing of how far the winery is from the restaurant.
Of course, there are plenty of selections from the Okanagan, but we couldn’t resist a bottle of Molly Duke or Blue Eyed Boy, an Australian wine that you don’t see around here too often.
Service was excellent.
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
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.
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.
This is a lovely spot for a well-crafted meal. The grilled sourdough with smoked dill spread was particularly noteworthy, and we also enjoyed the cherry tomato salad and the mushroom pate. Service was friendly, and the setting is delightful. We weren’t fans of any of their wines.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-bistro-at-hillside-winery-penticton-7
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
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.
What a great little deli this is. Very friendly service and a wonderful menu of both cold and hot sandwiches. This was literally the best BLT that either I or my daughter ever had, and the split pea soup was also delicious. Such friendly service, too!
I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting much, since revolving restaurants seem to be mostly tourist attractions and the food is not the main focus, but I was really pleasantly surprised by the lunch that we had at Sky 360. The service was great, and the hamburger was one of the best smash burgers I’ve ever had, with a delightful crust and lots of tasty ingredients. The salad and the sauteed mushrooms were excellent, and of course the view can’t be beat.