This morning we are touring the Naramata bench in search of some of the Okanagan’s finest vintages.

Deep Roots is our second stop of the day. Last year we were all blown away by the 2021 Merlot. For $30 I thought it was one of the best value bottles of wine I’ve ever had in the 27 years I’ve been coming to the Okanagan for wine. We enjoyed it so much we actually sat on the patio here for a couple hours and drank a couple bottles between the five of us.

Unfortunately this year I didn’t find the Merlot, or any other bottle here worth buying. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t bad. I just look for something that really speaks to me and I didn’t find that this trip.

What I did find however was this barbecue trailer.

Yes I know it’s only 11:00 a.m.. Yes I know I only finished breakfast an hour ago. But it’s barbecue. I can’t pass that up.

So I’ll just get a slider, just to tide me over till lunch.

Man that’s some good brisket. Douse some sauce all over that and I’ve got some barbecue here that as good as I’ve had anywhere.

It’s a 14-hour brisket, moist and tender accompanied with some amazing slaw and a nice fresh bun.

Did we end up taking a wrong turn to Houston somewhere? Could swear we are in Texas.

Too bad we just ate. I could use more of that brisket.

Hopefully they are here next year.

10/10 for the BBQ.

5/10 for this year’s wines.

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A favorite here in Penticton and a yearly trip for us. The Bench is an un-assuming little spot in the middle of a residential area on the road up to the Naramata Bench.

They serve breakfast all day, lunch, take away meals and offer local, artisanal products for sale in their small market.

I’ve always had good food here in the past, and didn’t really pay attention to what I was ordering this year. I wish I had.

Not that it was bad. But I wouldn’t have ordered the Benedict if I had know about the baguette.

The eggs were cooked well, the Capicollo was really nice and the Hollandaise was good. Even the yam potato was pretty tasty. But that big baguette just ruined it for me.

It just sops up all the sauce and runny yolk, spoiling the experience for me.

I’m sure some people enjoy that, but not me.

I’ll be more careful next time I’m here.

Regardless, a really lovely breakfast spot here in Penticton.

6/10

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After researching a couple of taxi driver recommendations and rejecting both of them I hopped on to Google and found the Hooded Merganser.

It’s a restaurant at the Lakeshore Hotel with a fantastic view of Lake Okanogan. Well I’m pretty sure anyways. We couldn’t get in as the Young Guns tournament was in town and the place was booked until 8:30.

As we were all hungry and didn’t want to wait no matter how good the menu looked we decided to check on down the road 10 minutes to another one on our list that we had seen called The Black Antler.

However there was a 30 to 45 minute wait.

Well there is a pasta place around the corner.

Another 30 to 45 minute wait.

Is everyone in Penticton eating dinner at all the restaurants that we go want to go to at this moment?

Fortunately just across the street there is another establishment we saw with some empty tables. So like it or not we are going there.

How many microbreweries are there in this town anyways?

At any rate the beer was cold.

This is their Sunshine City Passionfruit Wheaten Ale.

I don’t remember seeing any passion fruit trees in Penticton on any of my journeys.

After some research apparently the plant can be grown in BC but I don’t think they get the yield they’d require for making large amounts but if anybody can correct me on that please, do. And if nothing else you can close your eyes and pretend you’re in more exotic climes.

Regardless it was great. The fruit flavor was very prominent and not too sour. A very nice ale.

Unfortunately nothing on the menu particularly excited me. For some reason this is the Mexican place in town?

No burrito ever excites me so went with a Street Corn Dip.

It was fine. Those tortilla chips look suspiciously like La Cucina brand though. Yes those are very good tortilla chips but in a restaurant is it really that hard to fry your own?

The more than necessary crema was a tad too sour for the amount of corn that they give you and it definitely was missing an avocado dip with it.

Earls does it better.

The restaurant itself is a nice spot. However when busy like it was tonight it was extremely loud in there.

The service was very good. The food came out fast. And the prices reasonable.

So if for some reason your first three choices for dinner in Penticton don’t work out you could probably head over to Neighborhood Brewing and grab yourself a table.

6/10

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Tonight’s story finds 5 young men (ages 67, 60, 54, 53 and 50) let loose on the sleepy streets of Penticton.

There’s gonna be trouble.

Unfortunately not in the way that you think.

All we want really is to find a cool place to chill for a while, drink some beer and maybe watch the game.

Easier said than done I’m afraid.

Google says the best sports bar in Penticton is Clancy’s

Walked in.

Google must be high on drugs.

That’s one of the dive-iest bars I’ve ever seen. And I’ve worked at The Cambie.

Walked out.

Walked down the street.

Found Wildflower distilling.

Walked in, Hmm no beer.

Walked out.

Found The Hub next door. Looks promising.

Walked in. The male stripper show starts in 10.

Walked out quickly.

Kept walking down the street and found Slackwater Brewing.

So long as there’s no dudes taking their clothes off I think this will do.

It’s a nice environment inside. Pretty typical of the microbrewery experience. Seats inside, seats outside. Beer tanks in the background and a mild smell of must.

The beer was good, well at least to me.

First one I had was Shenanigans.

It’s a dry Irish Nitro Stout. It had the typical stout type characteristic but was very light. I really enjoyed it. My Irish buddy did not. He is a seasoned Guinness drinker though.

Me and Tom shared a pizza and Wagyu Beef Gyoza.

The Gyoza were quite good. Fried to perfection, but I’ll bet that’s not true Wagyu inside. Not at $17 anyways. Maybe some A1 Peruvian Beef Wagyu?  No one in their right mind would waste some A5 on Gyoza. That would be a crime against humanity.

As for the pizza, Dave Portney wouldn’t rate this one very high. Nor did I for that matter. But when you’re drinking and just need something to put in your belly it’s fine.  Call it a 6.1.

Finished off with a glass of Nautical Nonsense. A very refreshing, tart pineapple Gose with pink sea salt. You do have to watch out for those Gose sometimes, they can be extremely tart. This one was just the right amount of tart though. If I didn’t live 5 hours away I could drink this one a lot.

So Slackwater turned out ok.  Good vibe. Good beer. Good food. Good company.

We didn’t hang around too long though. The single guys want to go mop up the mess down the road at the male stripper show. Like shooting fish in a barrel……

8/10

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