The Best Pemberton Food & Drink
No trip to Pemberton is complete without trying out the local food and drink. After all, how could there not be fantastic farm fresh food and craft beer on offer in a place dubbed 'Spud Valley'?
Restaurants
Mile One Eating House
Taking its name from the nearby lake, Mile One Eating House has become a Pemberton institution. The menu is essentially comfort food, but with a creative twist. Instead of your standard burgers, Mile One burgers are served with unique toppings such as Fraser Valley smoked ham, Natural Pastures Comox brie, and red wine soaked apple. With the ‘grown-up's Mac 'n’ Cheese’, the filling salads, and craft beer there’s something on the menu to please everyone. The restaurant is informal and spacious, while the patio is the best place to be on a warm summer day.
The Pony
The Pony is a Pemberton original. The iconic building has been in the heart of Pemberton for as long as people can remember. Owners and chefs, Alexander Stoll and Neal Harrison, have been running The Pony since 2009 and have been utilizing their proximity to farm fresh food for their menu. You’ll find an extensive burger and salad menu for lunch, with the dinner menu including mains from all over the world. What better way to finish off a great meal than washing it down with a local craft beer. Let the bar staff at The Pony talk you through their selection of craft beers on tap.
Barn Nork Thai
Barn Nork Thai is a Thai restaurant in Mt. Currie, just five minutes north of Pemberton. The Thai owners and chefs, Janice Sriwantan and Jay Nutamarn, trained at the five-star Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Bangkok and serve aromatic, fresh food that smells just as good as it tastes. Highlights from the menu here are the Barn Nork Pad Thai, Stir-fried Cod in Dried Chili Paste and the Vegan Massama.
Backcountry Pizza
Backcountry Pizza only sells one size of pizza – large because they know that their pizza is so good you're going to want more. Each of their eleven specialty pizzas boasts big flavour on a unique crust that is not deep dish and not thin crust but somewhere deliciously in the middle. You have to try it to know. Eat in on their licensed patio or grab a pie for take out for wherever you find yourself on your Pemberton Adventure.
Slow Food Cycle
Pemberton's Slow Food Cycle is a truly unique dining experience. When founders Anna Helmer and Lisa Richardson heard that people wanted to build housing on the ‘inactive’ farmland, they wanted to connect with people and show them how active the farmland really is. They created Slow Food Cycle, a cycle tour of the Pemberton Meadows, in 2005 that makes stops at farms all along its 45km route. Each farm turns in to a pop-up farmers market, showcasing the best of their food and letting the public really meet the farmers and try their produce.
It’s the complete opposite of modern fast-food. Food doesn’t get more local than buying it directly from the farmer. You can leisurely take in as much, or as little, of the course as you like. The road is closed for 5 hours, so you can cycle with friends and take in all the atmosphere. If you’re in Pemberton when the Slow Food Cycle is on, you simply have to go.
Breweries and Distilleries
Pemberton Distillery
Pemberton Distillery produces potato vodka, whiskey, gin, and even absinthe. They have won numerous awards for their efforts to date. They use potatoes that are grown in ‘Spud Valley’ and all their spirits are certified organic. Pemberton Distillery is also a BC Certified Craft Distillery, which means that everything is made on-site from 100% British Columbia grown raw materials.
The distillery is owned and run by the Schramm family, who give their name to their most popular spirit - Schramm Organic Gin. This gin has won plaudits from the London International Spirits Competition and The Globe & Mail. Stop by and pick up a bottle of a local spirit, or book a tour and let Master Distiller Tyler Schramm show you around.
The Beer Farmers
Or if craft beer is more your thing, make sure you sample some of The Beer Farmers creations. This family-run farm has been operating for four generations, and nowadays their main focus is on growing barley and hops to use in their craft beer, which is brewed on the farm. They have a selection of lager, stout, ales, and IPAs which can all be tried at their tasting room at the farm.
Posted: Thursday, April 15, 2021
