You must eat here when in Osoyoos. I’d been told about how good Campo Marina was during previous visits to my favourite Okanagan town, but hadn’t had the opportunity to visit it until now. We stopped by at about 6:30 on a Wednesday evening in late March and were surprised to see so many cars parked outside. I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get a table. My partner jumped out to check to see if we’d be able to get a seat. Luckily, they can accompany up to 110 people so we were in luck. As soon as we walked into the restaurant, we knew we are in for a treat. It smelled divine. Jovial owner Mike Orans, greeted us and showed us to our table and pointed out how special it was – we could both sit on one side and look out over the whole restaurant.
Our server, Karen, arrived soon after with bread, butter and water and explained the evening’s specials, all of which sounded tempting. I couldn’t pass on the clam chowder and opted for a half portion of a seafood linguini to follow. It had a little bit of everything, clams, mussels, prawns, scallops and white fish served in a light tomato sauce. The pasta was cooked perfectly. My partner chose chicken topped with spinach and a feta white wine cream sauce. This was served with carrots, broccoli and fantastic oven roasted potatoes. She loved it. We ordered a bottle of Moon Curser’s Afraid of the Dark, a highly aromatic blend of Roussanne, Viognier and Marsanne. It was a perfect match.
Karen, originally from Adelaide, South Australia, grew up near some of the best wineries in the Barossa. The girl really knows her Shiraz. Later, while living in Vancouver she worked in several of the city’s best restaurants. Still longing for the warm sunny climate of her native land, she and her husband moved to Osoyoos and quickly fell in love with the area. Besides being an efficient, friendly and professional server, she has a great wealth of wine knowledge. She was a big part of our wonderful evening at Campo Marina.
Feature pic courtesy of Richard Gower Photography
