Dining in Parksville at Kalvas Restaurant

Parksville
Quite a bit out of our comfort zone we spent two nights last week in the metropolis of Parksville, BC on Vancouver Island. Jeff gave a social media talk to the National Golf Course Owners BC and we visited several golf courses and Swinkey Golf between Nanaimo and Courtney. The area itself is beautiful and we chose to travel on the Island Highway during the trip to get the best views. However, be prepared for a that feeling of life slowing down completely – Island Time is like Mexican Time – not that this is a bad thing. Our challenge was decided where to eat.

Kalvas Restaurant
Our motel was located right on the Island Highway and there were a few dining options within walking distance. We did some searches on Yelp and UrbanSpoon but neither were very helpful for the area. We also could not find websites or menus online for most of the restaurants. We asked a few locals and in the end chose Kalvas (aka The Log House). The building is quite unique – a log cabin with very high arched ceiling and a stone fireplace. The decor was a combination of cozy and fine dining with white linens offsetting all of the cedar wood. The restaurant was not overly busy but our server seemed to know everyone in the place.

Menu and Food
The menu consisted of mostly seafood and steaks. We had be given a recommendation from a local that the steaks were very good but there was also fresh dungeness crab, fresh halibut and fresh coho salmon available as well as a selection of fresh oysters so it seemed that seafood was a great choice. The special of the day was a Mediterranean Sole but I asked for the Halibut in the Mediterranean sauce instead. A good choice. Jeff ordered the seafood sampler which included a 3-4 ounce pieces of halibut, sole, salmon, scallops and prawns. Also very good. Our friend ordered the 10oz New York and was also happy with his choice. All of the meals were served with garlic mashed potatoes which were a bit bland and not garlicky enough for our taste and a strange mix of vegetables – carrots, kale and beets.

The wine list was not large but the prices were very reasonable. A litre of Hester Creek Merlot (not Reserve) was only $34. Jeff also tried a local Piper’s Pale ale which he enjoyed.

Overall the experience was better than we expected. The food was good and the atmosphere pleasant. Our server was a bit outspoken but OK and turned out to have been involved in the golf industry across Canada building bunkers and shaping new golf courses – small world!