Dining in Steveston – Shady Island Seafood

Biking in Steveston
If you are looking for an easy bike ride (outside of downtown) with no inclines and the reward of a meal afterward, Steveston is a good place to go. We just got a new skookum bike rack from Rack Attack and wanted to try it out. So after reading a blog “Let’s go Biking” we headed to Garry Point Park. It is a good spot to park and you can bike both north towards the airport (12 km each way) or East through Steveston Village and beyond (8 km each way) on wide, paved and gravel pathways. We did both. It does not offer the same thrill as trail riding in Whistler but it is a good way to start the bike season and there are some good views. We even saw striped cows which I later found out are called “Belted Galloways“. Learned something new in Steveston! 

Dining in Steveston
Steveston Village offers may casual dining options (good for those in bike gear) and a few fine dining ones. We chose Shady Island Seafood Bar & Grill which is open 7 days a week at 11:30 am and has served over 2 million visitors since it opened in 1990. There is a nice big patio with a wharf view and lots of indoor seating. The building is a bit old and run down but was clean. The service was slow but the nice ‘older gentleman’ who greeted and sat us was very friendly and kept checking on us to tell us a server was coming.

 The meal started out very good with “Mama’s Seafood Chowder” ($6.99 small). The color was a bit surprising at first but the mixture of both a cream base and a tomato base was absolutely delicious! The presentation was unique as well. We would have voted it “#1” too!

If we decide to bike in the area again I will go back and just order a Chowder Breadbowl because the Chowder was the best part of the meal. 

 The “Fish & Chips” is available with cod, halibut or salmon and as one piece or two.  The salmon ($15.99) for one piece was a bit pricey. The fish was good but the batter was a bit overdone and some of the fries were soggy – average at best.

 I have no idea what possessed me to order this dish! No idea at all and it was awful! The Seafood Provencal Bake ($16.99) was baked in in such a heavy layer of cheese that I could barley find the seafood and it so overpowered the taste I could barley distinguish between the scallops, prawns and other seafood. The scallops were WAY over cooked – like they had been cooked first and then stuck under a broiler until the whole dish was beyond done. On a positive note, I did like the bread.  

There is a nice big patio for warm weather days. The chowder was excellent but they should stick to just that. Chowder from the window on a nice day would be a great idea. If you are downtown, for good fish and chips and better prices we recommend Fish Shack for indoor dining and Raincity Grill for the beach.

Jeff & Tara Ciecko of CK Golf Solutions write two blogs on their website, one is their 19th Hole Blog where they share personal experiences and the Biz Blog where they share business best practices and golf industry related opinions. They have owned CK Golf Solutions for 5 years and provide marketing, social media and business services to the golf and other industries.