 In the Beantime Cafe, Jeff Bateman photo
Cafes and Bakeries Breakfasts and lunches are the specialty at In the Beantime Café, a lively, art-filled gathering place in an 1899 heritage building (18 High Street). Wraps, barista drinks and generous sandwiches are on the blackboard menu. Good healthy soups, salads and lunches are also served at the Old Town Bakery (510 1st Avenue). The most popular items here, however, are its award-winning cinnamon buns – doorstop-sized and available in frosted, almond, blueberry, and other varieties. Another fine coffeeshop/lunch spot: The Printingdun Beanery (341 1st Avenue).
Ethnic Options The Royal Dar serves upscale east Indian and Mediterranean cuisine in a lovely blue-roofed house on Roberts Street a half-block up the hill from 1st Avenue. Greek dishes, seafood, and spectacular baklava prepared by owner/chef George Liaros are specialties of the Transfer Beach Grill, located mere feet from the Trans Canada but delivering a relaxed Aegean vibe within its whitewashed walls. Other ethnic options include The Wigwam (Vietnamese) and Dragon City Restaurant (Chinese).
Just Outside Town Across the harbour from Transfer Beach Park is Page Point Inn and its restaurant, Jimmy O's (4760 Brenton Page Road), a popular spot for boaters who've tied up at the nearby marina. Esquires Coffee House in the Coronation Mall (east end of town at the Saltair/Chemainus turnoff from the Trans Canada Highway) showcases local artists on its walls.
Restaurants in Cedar Roadtrippers in the area surrounding Cedar often build their itineraries around a stop at the Crow & Gate (2313 Yellow Point Road). This Tudor-style landmark – the province's first neighborhood pub when it opened in 1972 – specializes in English pub fare served both indoors and in its landscaped garden. Nor far away at 2104 Hemer Road is the Mahle House Restaurant, a century-old house known for its steaks and organic greens (supplied by local growers like the neighboring Hazelwood Herb Farm).
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