Hyper-Local Dinner at Atelier by Matt Jackson

Victoria's Chinatown tasting menu that critics keep whispering 'Michelin' about, with just enough seats to feel like a genuine secret.

Modern Pacific Northwest tasting menus with fresh Fanny Bay oysters, in a Magnolia Hotel room that genuinely glows.

The hotel restaurant exception: Chef Peter Kim's seafood-forward Inner Harbour room where locals actually fight for a table.

Sidney's teal boothed diner on Beacon Avenue, turning out stuffed Belgian waffles and five different hashes three blocks from the sea.

Dinner inside the Butchart family's own house, conservatory glass onto the gardens, served only through high summer.

Walk-in BC oysters shucked to order on Blanshard Street, with all-day Sunday happy hour and a 4.8 you can actually trust.

Fort Street's Italian-leaning West Coast institution: house salumi, 300 bottles of wine and a room that makes three hours vanish.

An 1889 heritage house in James Bay where the cooking is vegetable forward, the light is good and nothing is in a hurry.

A tiny room at the far end of Sidney's pier where the halibut is worth the money and the Mount Baker view is free.

The West Shore branch of Victoria's pink diner, where you can hand the menu back, say Mahoney, and let the kitchen decide for you.

A brand-new marina room in Sidney where nearly every table looks out over the boats, wild BC seafood and an award-list of wine.

Fort Street's beloved all day breakfast room since 1991, with art crammed onto every wall and a benny list that runs to double digits.

A deaf owned cafe on the West Bay Marina boardwalk, serving waffles, smoked salmon toast and an ocean view from 7am.

The Oak Bay brunch where the chefs also own a Saanich farm, and the farm writes the menu.