What is a good, moderately priced, place to eat in Sooke? We especially like seafood, but a couple of the seafood places I've read about sound upscale and since we will be in the area to salmon fish, dressy won't work. We need more of a jeans and sneakers place.

What are the best places to explore or maybe take a short hike?

Thanks in advance.

We love Stone Pipe Landing for casual dining. The food is consistently good and it's definitely not what you'd call upscale. The menu is very eclectic; I wouldn't say they specialize in seafood necessarily but there's a halibut dish on the menu right now that's really good. We live in Sooke and go there about once a week. It's right in the centre of town.

We also like the Fish Trap for fish and chips, and they have other stuff as well. They're about half a block away from Stone Pipe. I think they probably have the best fish and chips in the area.

For an interesting variation, there's Sushi on the Sea. They're only open on Friday and Saturday evenings. The owner (he calls himself Captain Ralph) runs a Bed & Breakfast just up the hill from the restaurant - and the restaurant itself is a fishing boat. You dine in the cabin of the boat - there's only enough room for about 6 people at a time. Jeans and sneakers would be just fine, and it's not expensive at all. If you don't want sushi, I suggest you let the owner know when you make your reservation, and obviously reservations are a necessity because the place is so tiny. The sushi is extremely good - I don't know about other things. Their menu is posted on their website.

For exploring, you could walk along Whiffen Spit - it's quite a short hike, more of a walk really, but lovely. There are also some great hikes in East Sooke Regional Park - lots of info on that website. Also, right now it's blackberry season - you'll see lots of them that are ripe for picking. Blackberries are weeds in this part of the world and they pop up everywhere!

Are you going to be here next weekend? There's a great country fair going on in Saanich, about an hour away.

Correction - the restaurant is actually called Stone Pipe Grill. It used to be called Stone Pipe Landing when it was in a different location on the waterfront.

The restaurant that took over that location is called Fuse, incidentally, and it's not that great. But Stone Pipe Grill is wonderful.

Meesthare - Thank you so much for all the information. I looked at Stone Pipe Grill's website and this place sounds wonderful. I don't know if I've ever seen seafood, steak and pad tai on the same menu.

Is 17 Mile House also a fun place to grab a drink or bite to eat?

Will we be able to find places to buy fresh seafood (especially crab) to snack on or take home? Will bringing a crab trap be worthwhile? We will have a kitchen while in Victoria (Friday & Saturday) and while in Sooke.

We will be in Sooke next Sunday and Monday so we will miss out on Sushi on the Sea.

The fair sounds like a good idea. We will keep that in mind.

17 Mile House is basically a pub, and has nice pub food. They have an outdoor patio that's really pleasant.

There is a dock in Sooke where you can buy fresh seafood to cook in your kitchen - and there are also two good supermarkets in town. If you go to the Village Market, in the centre of town, in late afternoon, you'll find the freshest salmon - I think it's right off the dock, so it's about as fresh as you can get it. I'd do that on Monday, though - I don't think they get a delivery on Sunday. Where are you staying in Sooke?

I have heard (we haven't done this ourselves) that crabbing here is pretty easy. So, yes, if you can conveniently bring a crab trap you can probably put it to good use.

The Saanich Fair is absolutely wonderful. Do get there if you can - great food, real old-fashioned country fair competitions - I think there's an ice-cream eating competition on Monday! We go quite early in the morning, otherwise you'll have a long walk from their parking lot.

Welcome to Sooke! We've lived here for 3 years and we love it. I work in Victoria, which is a delightful city, but I'm always happy to get home. And do drive carefully on the Sooke Road; it has some twists and turns that you need to be ready for.

Is the dock you refer to known as the government dock? That is where we are suppose to meet our boat captain to go out salmon fishing on Monday. We figured we would check things out when we get there Sunday afternoon. I see a couple of marinas on the map I printed but neither is identified as the government dock.

We are staying at a nice little beach front cottage on West Coast Road. I'm hoping the weather will improve before the weekend. It is raining here right now (Vancouver, Washington) which is unusual for us for this time of year.

The fish place is at a dock called "Jock's Dock" and it's on West Coast Road right near Whiffen Spit. We actually live very near there, on West Coast Road. Not sure about the Government Dock - I'll see what I can figure out and get back to you.

At the moment, the weather forecast (not known for its infallibility, by any means) is showing clear sunny weather for the weekend. It was quite rainy today but it's supposed to clear up by tomorrow.

Hi, Linda - we really aren't sure about the Government Dock, but it looks like it's probably at the foot of Maple Avenue. Easy to find, if that's the right place. Your cottage isn't far from there.

Yes, it is. I did some more research late last night and found out that the government dock is at the foot of Maple Road.

We read that there is suppose to be a fishing tournament (salmon I believe) in Sooke over the weekend. If that is the case, they better leave some for us on Monday.

Is there? We usually see signs up about the tournaments, but I haven't seen any this week. However, they might be posting them later on.

I suspect there will be a fish or two waiting for you! My son and I went salmon fishing around this time two years ago and caught our limit. It was absolutely exhilarating! My son had travelled out from Toronto with his family and was going to be staying in Vancouver for a few days, so he couldn't take his catch home with him. We decided to freeze it so we would have some nice salmon on hand for a while. Here's a suggestion: cut the salmon into portions BEFORE you freeze it. LOL! Ever try to saw a frozen 17-pound salmon?

Just asked the man of the house for clarification and apparently there is a salmon tournament in Victoria. Not sure if he mis-spoke or if I was half listening.

When I'm preparing to smoke salmon, I sometimes use an electric knife on partially frozen fillets but certainly not a kitchen knife on a frozen fish. I think you needed a chainsaw.

Actually my SO just used his regular wood saw (having cleaned it thoroughly). Several friends who had made the same mistake suggested doing it that way - and they cautioned that we shouldn't try this in the garage because the "salmon sawdust" would attract critters. It worked out fine; we had lots of good salmon for quite a while.

Have a great trip and I hope you catch some nice big ones.