One of my favorite activities is dining out! I tried out one of Nanaimo's Dine Out Festival restaurants, Beefeaters Seafood and Steakhouse.
This is Nanaimo's first annual Dine Out Festival which ran this year from January 20th to February 5th, so I made it in just under the wire if you're from Vancouver you'll be familiar with the concept as they've had their dine out experience for 21 years and in Toronto, they have what's called “Dine TOgether”. The idea is simple, to promote local restaurants for tourists and locals to enjoy their menus at a discounted price. Usually, this consists of a set menu and a three-course meal but other variations exist such as take out only options. In Nanaimo this year the price range is $20 to $65 per person. We went out with two other couples so for this reason we chose Beefeaters Seafood and Steakhouse as it had the most variety for more people. From chicken to beef to fish, at only $49 a person for a three-course meal-you can't go wrong with that! The location is also ideal for our visiting friends, as it's located on Nanaimo's Waterfront walkway next to Newcastle Island and has amazing mountainscape and waterfront views. This is the waterfront dining experience I've been waiting for!
Beefeaters was recently acquired by two new owners, Josh and Erralyn Joseph, who have a genuine desire to run the restaurant with the same Integrity as its original owners of 35 years, Petros and Helen Mihilatoes. You can read their full and thoughtful bio on their website where they also give thanks to the legacy of everyone who's made the restaurant a success over the years. What I was most excited about was trying their new menu, which is an integration of Josh and Erralyn’s First Nations culinary background with the original Mediterranean and Canadian-style cuisine that the restaurant is known for.
When we arrived at the restaurant I realized it’s located very near the Departure Bay Ferry terminal. In fact, you drive just past it and can walk to Beefeaters from the terminal if you had a delayed sailing. Unfortunately it was also dark, so the views I was anticipating weren’t visible. From a short stroll around though you can still tell this would be a beautiful spot on a sunny day!
To begin, the menu had cocktail options that they don’t normally offer and I was immediately drawn to their “Beefeater’s Martini” featuring blue cheese stuffed olives. This isn’t my typical choice however I was craving something a bit more savory and this definitely hit the spot!
The Dine Out menu consisted of quite a few options for appetizers and I had a hard time choosing between the french onion soups or the seared scallops with the citrus pork belly. In the end my decision to choose the scallops was a sound one and was the perfect starter to my main choice- The Bison short ribs.
Our food arrived quickly and everyone’s dishes looked amazing. Those of us who had mashed potatoes with our meals found out quickly that they weren’t served as hot as the rest of the food but without missing a beat our server brought a fresh bowl of steaming hot potatoes. Delish!
The final course was a Vanilla creme brulee served with the perfect hard shell and was an amazing way to end the meal. I walked away with a VERY full belly!
Everyone was super attentive which is good, because the restaurant wasn’t very busy. In fact by 8:30pm we were the only diners left. Turns out it’s been a slow return back to normal for this lovely restaurant after Covid - both staffing-wise and patron-wise. If you’re in Nanaimo I would highly recommend you come here for a bite- I’ll certainly be back!
