Eat Streets: The ever-evolving food scene on White Rock’s Marine Drive

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Exploring the restaurants that bring Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods to life.

The White Rock pier — Canada’s longest at nearly half a kilometre — is well known to Lower Mainlanders, and to some extent globally, for its views, its vibrancy, its mix of nature and people watching on a brilliant summer’s day. The food has always been part of the appeal.

An ice cream or gelato to slurp during a stroll along the two-kilometre seaside promenade? Absolutely. Fish ‘n’ chips for lunch, either on the patio or a bench overlooking the beach? That’s a decades-old Metro Vancouver tradition to warm any anglophile’s heart. A beer and a burger on one of the many patios fronting scenic West Beach and the old train station-turned-museum? Perfect.

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Still, even fans are aware the stretch along Semiahmoo Bay has seen more halcyon days — and then there’s the perennial problem of the whole strip being eerily quiet through much of the winter.

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A White Rock resident wrote to the local paper recently about the ugly state of the former Giraffe restaurant on the little beach city’s popular but pricey Marine Drive.

“Nothing says ‘neglect’ more than the sight of a crumbling, paint peeling facade of an old restaurant, once one of the West Beach’s most popular eateries,” wrote Michael King in the Peace Arch News.

It is true that the restaurant scene around the busy pier has been in flux — some might say decline — for years, and took a big hit during the pandemic, much like everywhere else. Every winter seems to bring another closure or two as owners struggle with increasing rents, higher costs and a lack of foot traffic on the rainy, chilly days between October and March.

Even stalwarts like the half-century-old Moby Dick — over “the hump” on Marine Drive, closer to East Beach — scale back for the off-season, serving its “famous fish & chips” out of half its summer space.

Gone are old European and West Coast cuisine classics like Giraffe and, much more recently, The Boathouse seafood restaurant. (In a sign of the times, Giraffe briefly flashed as a prospective cannabis shop, but that never panned out.)

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Also gone in recent years: Jan’s on the Beach, Pearl Bistro and Oyster Bar and, again over toward East Beach, the long-standing Sandpiper Pub.

It’s all a challenge faced by many a temperate seaside town. But much about the strip endures and thrives, while newcomers are trying to make their mark and offer more diverse cuisines despite challenging economic conditions for dining establishments everywhere. The turnover is by no means a White Rock thing.

Uli’s Restaurant, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this May, is one of those that has endured. Close to the pier, it was opened in 1986 by its late namesake, German-born chef and global adventurer Uli Blume.

“Like Uli himself, we take hospitality pretty seriously,” says longtime manager Jennie Silk. “We buy as good quality product as we can find and do very little to it and serve it to people honestly.

“I think that mantra has been eaten up by the people we put in there and is then been passed on to our guests. They feel happy and welcome, and that’s literally why we get out of bed. That’s it, there’s no gimmicks.”

Uli’s menu has evolved rather than changed wholesale over the decades, and that has a lot to do with a regular clientele that’s become like an extended family, says Silk.

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“Because we have become an institution, there’s not a lot of wiggle room for change,” says Silk. “There’d be complete anarchy if the schnitzel disappeared or the paella disappeared …

“We keep it light and fresh and the seafood we use comes out of the ocean we look at.”

But Silk acknowledges the struggles of some of the neighbours, and even sits on a Marine Drive economic development committee trying to drum up solutions. A huge, eternal stumbling block, in a word: Parking.

“The amount of reservations we lose on a weekend night because they drive around and just can’t find parking and leave, it’s non-stop.”

Silk is close with the owners of The Bund, a Shanghai-focused Chinese restaurant that makes “the best soup dumplings,” she says. But their rent has already doubled since they spent a bunch of money on a renovation, new patio and opening in the midst of the pandemic.

All the more reason to show some support for the establishments and people trying their best to create good food and hospitality on the popular strip. So let’s take a stroll down Marine Drive and look at some of the highlights.

Cosmos Greek Restaurant is a Marine mainstay that, except for flood and fire closures in 1999 and 2017, has been a popular spot for roast lamb, souvlaki and saganaki since the early 1970s. Longtime owners recently sold and retired but the always dependable kitchen is unchanged.

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The casual drinks and pub food scene has always been an anchor on Marine, and West Beach Bar & Grill across the street from Cosmos epitomizes that. It’s got the patio, the happy hour specials, even a small stage for live music on weekend and summer nights.

The big players on the restaurant-pub scene are just a little further east: The Ocean Beach, which has been there in one form or another since 1930, and Charlie Don’t Surf. Both are predictably packed on sunny days and weekend nights, and offer reliable upscale pub fare, like calamari, wings, fish tacos, burgers and poke bowls.

Nearby along West Beach is a run of ethnically diverse offerings, including the aforementioned The Bund Shanghai Cuisine & Bar; Japanese rolls, noodles, tempura, donburi and sake cocktails from Sushi Iwa, complete with a cosy patio out front; South Asian-influenced eats and treats from India Chaat House, Daastan Modern Indian Cafe and Bistro, and the White Rock location of the Chaiiwalla of London street food chain; and perfect walking-around foods like donairs and shawarma from Kababji Grill.

In another sign of evolution on Marine, the lots where Chaat House and Kababji operate are subject to a development application that would include condos atop the storefronts.

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Keep walking along Marine or the promenade closer to the beach and the buzz gives way to the more serene surroundings of East Beach. While quieter and more residential than around the pier, this part of Marine also has its highlights: long-running fish ‘n’ chips spots like Moby Dick, Coney Island and The Fish Boat; several more ice cream shops; and the fine Mexican restaurant Zapoteca, which spotlights the cuisine of Oaxaca and serves excellent cocktails like signature spicy margaritas (they have a location in Kitsilano, too).

The Sandpiper Pub has been gone for a decade but a new venture launched at that corner last year. The Night Owl Kitchen + Bar, which also has locations in Langley and Delta, aims to be both a casual upscale restaurant and nightspot, though for now it closes at 11 p.m. in spite of the name.

On the eastern edge of White Rock stands another perennial favourite, the Washington Avenue Grill, or simply the WAG to regulars.

Partner Jeremy Ellis says he started as a busser at the WAG, which serves Pacific Northwest surf and turf with great views of the bay, not long after it was repurposed from the Old Mill fine dining establishment — remember tableside caesar salad service? — in the 1990s. The charming two-storey building was originally a lumber mill and is said to be haunted by a former caretaker. Fun!

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Ellis credits adaptability, excellent service and consistency for the WAG’s longevity. He isn’t the only longtime staffer; the head chef has been there for two decades. A loyal customer base helps temper the seasonality of business on the beach because many come consistently throughout the year, he says.

“We’ve made ourselves a bit more of a destination spot.”

Silk, for her part, says White Rock needs to get creative if it wants to experience a full revival of Marine Drive’s heyday.

“There are amazing examples of really successful seaside communities from here to Baja,” says Silk. “Why can’t we take a page out of their book and be like, ‘Hey, this is a cool thing we should implement.’”

Oh, and about that parking …

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Eat Streets: What to know about Marine Drive in White Rock

Number of restaurants and food options: More than 30.

What are the options for parking? Paid parking is available on the beachside of Marine Drive from east to west, though it can be a challenge on weekends and during high season. There is a paid parkade at 14935 Victoria Ave., just off Marine a few blocks west of the pier. Transit service is limited, with only the 362 shuttle running from Marine Drive to White Rock Centre.

What are Metro Vancouver’s Eat Streets?

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This article is part one of a series highlighting Metro Vancouver’s must-visit Eat Streets. With the goal of celebrating — and maybe even introducing you to — stretches of community around the region that have a notable concentration of local food businesses. Know of a great Eat Street in your community? Let us know where. Email us at artslife@vancouversun.com.

Read about more of Metro Vancouver’s Eat Streets:

• Eat Streets: A United Nations of cuisine on Vancouver’s Victoria Drive
• Eat Streets: Langley City’s one-way a hub of local food
• Eat Streets: Delta and Surrey unite over food on this stretch of Scott Road
• Eat Streets: Comfort food served Hong Kong-style at Richmond’s Empire Centre
• Eat Streets: There’s now a world of flavours on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive
• Eat Streets: North Vancouver’s Lower Lonsdale reinvented as a foodie destination
• Eat Streets: Where hippies used to gather on West 4th Avenue, foodies now flock for the old and the new
• Eat Streets: New Westminster gets fresh life on Columbia Street (and in a SkyTrain station)
• Eat Streets: Vancouver’s Yaletown a place to eat, drink, and ‘to see and be seen’

Bookmark THIS PAGE to read the latest instalment every Wednesday.

Then and now: White Rock

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