Bistro 161

Bistro 161 is a cute little restaurant nestled in downtown Duncan. It offers various soups, salads, sandwiches & entree options, as well as a large selection of wines. This past Thursday I had the pleasure of dining out for lunch with my friend Lauren, and man was it ever delicious!

The inside of the restaurant housed many paintings created by locals. There were also comfortable arm chairs, couches, and further towards the back was a chic bar and more seating.

The lovely Lauren! It's nice having her home!

Lauren and I actually ordered the same thing. Sure, everything else on the menu sounded to die for, but this... This was exceptional! Butternut carrot ginger soup with a roasted veggie sandwich on ciabatta bread. Red peppers, zucchini, brie cheese... Heaven on carbs.

Hope your weekend was fabulous and the sun was shining! It finally feels like summer here on the "Wet Coast!"

Holland Creek Trail

Action shot!

The leaf that looks like it's attached to my headband is a illusion, I swear!

The path had lots of little wooden bridges throughout it. It kind of gave the area a Snow White-ish feeling to it, minus the gnomes.

This past Tuesday Brandon and I enjoyed our afternoon hiking the Holland Creek Trail and having lunch at a cute little cafe called In the Bean Time. We got to the trail parking lot just before noon, and it took us a little over an hour & 15 minutes to complete the loop. We did a 5.8K loop - could've completed 6.4K if we had found the other trail that lead up to another look out - and there was tons to look at! We climbed rolling hills & could hear the crash of the waterfall throughout the entire hike. Eventually, we came to a look out that had a rocky edge and a spectacular view of the waterfall! Note: I had uploaded more pictures, but my internet connection has been super sketchy & decided to select it's favourite pictures, so those are the ones you got - the survivors! Anyway, both Brandon and I were glad that the trail had maps posted every few kilometers, otherwise it would be like Mt. Tzouhalem all over again & getting lost! Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating there, but the maps truly did help. Once we were on the home stretch back to the car, we were getting hungry. Lunch time at In the Bean Time!

ITBT was new to the both of us, and I was impressed by their menu. They had a wide selection of sandwiches & wraps - however, I wasn't too thrilled about their side selection. Brandon ordered a BLT sandwich that came with a side of nacho chips (plain, unsalted, scattered on the plate). I debated whether I wanted to add a soup or salad to my veggie wrap, but considering the wrap was already $8.50 and adding soup or salad was three dollars, I decided I would just stick to the veggie sticks that came on the side. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE me some veggies - but five (combined total of) celery/carrot sticks isn't that much. Nevertheless, I honestly enjoyed the actual wrap & the added bit of veggies didn't hurt either. In addition, I also got a fabulous vanilla latte, so that kind of balanced out the bland nacho chips & sparse veggies. All in all: I would come here again, but maybe just for coffee & sharing a dessert with someone. The food is good, but not totally the WOW factor we had been looking for in a new eatery.

Happy Friday to YOU! What are your weekend plans?