Small-Batch Scoops at Parachute Ice Cream

A charming independent village cafe in the heart of Brentwood Bay, with award-winning coffee, fresh house baking, and board games.

A tiny from-scratch bake shop and ice cream counter at the top of Beacon Avenue, with outdoor seats a few minutes from the pier.

A plain little counter in Esquimalt Plaza whose jam donuts and thick Scottish shortbread people cross town for.

The Fort Street bakery's Uptown counter, putting proper French pastry and real espresso in the middle of Saanich.

The 130-year-old tea house where choosing between a hundred loose-leaf options and the pastry case somehow becomes the whole, happy date.

A working single-malt distillery and craft brewery under one roof, where a 45-minute tour ends in a tasting flight.

Down Trounce Alley in Victoria, a snug tapas bar where the sherry list is one of the biggest in Canada.

The Chateau Victoria's hotel bar, Canada-nominated, with rare vintage spirits and leather banquettes built for slow, low-lit evenings.

Climb above a Victoria bar to find Spanish tapas since 2014 and a happy hour with 50% off the wine list.

A tiny face-to-face bouchon in Oak Bay where the wine list has won awards and the elbow room has been intentionally omitted.

A neighbourhood pub on the Saanichton corner that has been an inn since 1859, and the only room out here that runs to midnight.

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.

Vancouver Island's best-known brewery pours its whole range in a bright sixty-seat lounge with a patio the same size again.

The quieter, candlelit alternative to the Empress: Victorian afternoon tea in an 1890s mansion, five minutes from the Inner Harbour.