EAT THE SUNSHINE COAST
From a harbour-side fish market to a wilderness lodge with a 5,000-square-foot deck — the best meals on BC's most underrated stretch of coastline.
Field Notes
A short 40-minute ferry ride from Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast's 180-kilometre stretch of trademark BC coastline is home to a thriving — and rapidly growing — culinary scene. As a resident of Gibsons once told us: she's never far from a delicious meal or drink, which comes in handy after a day exploring the coast's beaches, trails, and laid-back communities. We spent a week eating our way through it.
01
SHIFT KITCHEN & BAR, SECHELT — THE ANCHOR
Shift Kitchen & Bar is the #1 restaurant in Sechelt on TripAdvisor, and it earns the position. The Black and Blue cheese burger is the dish that locals bring visitors for — a properly constructed burger with the kind of blue cheese application that doesn't apologize for itself. The cocktail list is solid, the service is attentive, and the room has the energy of a place that knows it's good without being insufferable about it. This is the restaurant you come back to on your second visit to the Sunshine Coast, because the first time you didn't know it existed.
"The Black and Blue cheese burger is the dish that locals bring visitors for. It doesn't apologize for itself."
JUST GERALD SAYS
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Coffee 'til Cocktails — Bottled and Bound
02
SKOOKUMCHUCK BAKERY & CAFÉ — THE MORNING
With a 4.6-star rating across 131 TripAdvisor reviews, Skookumchuck Bakery is the kind of café that makes you reconsider your morning routine. The baking is serious — the kind of pastries that require a moment of silence before you eat them — and the coffee is good enough to justify the drive. Named after the famous tidal rapids nearby, the café has the atmosphere of a place that belongs exactly where it is: a community anchor that happens to make excellent food. Come early. The good stuff goes fast.
"The kind of pastries that require a moment of silence before you eat them."
JUST GERALD SAYS
03
GIBSONS PUBLIC MARKET — THE AFTERNOON
The Gibsons Public Market is the kind of place that makes a Saturday feel like a proper event. Fromagerie De Baie for cheese, the Fisherman's Market for smoked salmon, The Good Acre Market for fruit — this is the infrastructure of a genuinely good picnic, or the foundation of a meal you cook yourself with ingredients that make you look like a better cook than you are. Pair with Sunday Cider (a short drive away) and you have the perfect Sunshine Coast afternoon.
JUST GERALD SAYS
04
INLETS RESTAURANT AT WEST COAST WILDERNESS LODGE — THE OCCASION
Getting to Inlets Restaurant requires a boat trip through Princess Louisa Inlet — a magnificent granite-walled gorge with waterfalls tumbling from heights in excess of 7,000 feet. This is not a restaurant you stumble upon. It's a destination, and it treats itself accordingly. The 5,000-square-foot deck overlooks the water and across to the blue-green mountains. The menu is West Coast-inspired: crispy yam-crusted lingcod, wild Sockeye salmon wellington, BC wine. This is the meal you plan a trip around — the kind of dinner that justifies the journey and then some.
"A 5,000-square-foot deck overlooking the inlet. The kind of dinner that justifies the journey and then some."
JUST GERALD SAYS
THE VERDICT
The Sunshine Coast's food scene rewards the curious and punishes the lazy. The best meals here require a ferry, a boat, or at least a drive — but every one of them is worth it. Start at Skookumchuck in the morning, hit the Gibsons Market at noon, Shift Kitchen for dinner, and Wobbly Canoe for the sunset. That's a Best Day Ever.
