Pilgrimme — Restaurant in Southern Gulf Islands Electoral Area

Travelling to a destination restaurant sounds like a plot line in the latest Netflix satire. "We trekked to Antarctic for the perfect ice!"

Then there is Pilgrimme hiding away in the forest of Galiano.

Get comfortable and enjoy the 3 1/2 hour tasting menu.

The courses arrive never too slow never too fast. Each one is carefully explained without pointless nonsense. "What is Koji?" I muttered to myself. The server immediately zoomed to my end of the table and gave me a fascinating example and explained how it's prepared. No big deal you shrug - well for diners being used to "Course Two! More stuff" it was appreciated

Unlike the dishes of Netflix satires - these ones make sense. They are small - packed with diverse ingredients and explode with flavours. And they're not weird. There were no "eeek!" moments across the 12 course tasting menu.

Warning - an insanely great pizza pops up mid way through. Don't overdo it - take some home - otherwise reaching the finish line may be a challenge. My wife's husband can confirm this.

The room is small and rustic accommodating 14 diners in one seating. The music is "arranged around the night and pace and time of year. All things taken into consideration . Darker autumn evenings and longer daylight in spring summer kind of thing . We like to play around with the timing etc." commented the owner when I asked.

It's probably three hours from Vancouver to Galiano by car/ferry. An overnight stay is required. It's totally worth it.

Eating at Pilgrimme is not a parody of adventuresome dining. It's a...

We had tried for three years in a row to come to this restaurant and finally decided to make reservations for our anniversary. The wait was worth it, we were not disappointed by Pilgrimme. The atmosphere is funky yet somehow elegant. The yard is overgrown, the deck is weather beaten and I would have to say that our server, dressed in jeans and t-shirt was knowledgeable if not over enthusiastic. One might criticize the menu as being somewhat limited and that might be fair. The restaurant sources locally and I assume that at times it is hard to be creative with what might be limited resources but staples such as salmon and meat don't seem like that far to stretch. We really enjoyed the yellow pea panisse, the house pickled vegetables and especially the sauces on the duck confit and the humpback prawns. The brined Albacore tuna was disappointing, honestly not much more than what you might get in a premium can of tuna. My biggest surprise was the bull kelp, sliced thin and lightly cooked. It was rich and very flavorful, not fishy, not slimy like I thought it might be. The chocolate truffle for dessert was a perfect small bite for my wife. I ordered one finger of Teeling's Irish for my dessert and I wonder who's tiny finger they used to measure. The BC wine list was limited but we ordered a bottle of Joie Noble White which was so good it got an encore. All in all, very good, expensive but not way over the top and a definite highlight to our anniversary...

Pilgrimme is a unique concept bistro. Its tucked away in a quiet, forested part of the island with a relaxed vibe. The ladies who sat me down were very friendly and explained that they source local ingredients from around the island and their menu changes based around what’s available at the time. It’s also the reason they’re not able to do substitutions for things so expect to order and eat what’s on the menu, it’s perhaps not a friendly dining option for someone with a limited diet or allergies. It was a cool June evening (come early, I reached at 515 pm almost right after they opened) and saw that they warned groups coming in after me that it would be about an hour wait. There isn’t a place to wait and have a few drinks, it’s a smaller restaurant with limited space. They take their time with things so this is not a dine and dash place (and shouldn’t be either because it seems they put alot of love and creativity into their menu). I ordered the tuna and duck egg with arugula and it was very nice. For dessert the vanilla pudding with a mix of a compote , strawberries, some sort of mixed candied nuts was awesome! I appreciated the shawls for outdoor guests. Lovely setting that allows one to relax and slow their pace...