Merridale

Beautiful orchard, friendly staff and delicious cider… What more could one want? The ciser is our favourite.

Visiting the area and went to the highly recommended Friday pizza night. Salads were ok. Pizza crusts tasted like pie dough, lacked any depth of flavor. Service slow. At one point we had to get up and retrieve our own service plates. Pizza came before we were all finished with our salads. Apple crisp had a raw-​flour residual. Sangria was fruit juice child-​like in strength. On a positive note the waitress was charming; though less than attentive. Would not recommend.

The only thing worse than the food, was the service. The cider was good, the food was terrible. Not sure how anyone who’s eaten here could give it a good review. Take a look at the reviews at tripadvisor, the Merridale Cidery gets good reviews while the Merridale Bistro gets terrible reviews.

Fantastic food! Four of us all had different and each was delish. My roasted salmon with beetroot carpaccio, fresh arugula, shaved fennel & horseradish cream was awesome. My sister in law had the pizza of the day, garlic covered with fresh tomatoe, arugula and mcovered with cheese, excellent. Lamb burger with a side of parsnip/​apple bisque, amazing. Ploughman’s platter, (large platter!!) was again excellent. However what made the experience even better were the staff. Andrea, the hostess, and Kent our waiter were just so friendly and couldn’t do enough for us. All this set in the beautiful grounds of a working Cidery!

Super nice location. Pays to call ahead, quite often the are booked or closed due to a private event. Yurts are super sweaty.

A great place for cider tasting.
When you get seated in the bistro make sure to score a table on the patio. You’ll be enjoying a fantastic view of the orchard while tasting very good cider. The prices are reasonable and the tastings impressed me enough to order another glass and to buy a bottle in the store afterwards.
The food however seems s bit overpriced for the portions. The chicken strips were quite tasty, but the Margherita Pizza was a disappointment. The pizza sauce tasted like cheap canned tomato sauce, and the dough was similar to a Dollar-store’s ready-​to-​use pizza dough.
So come for the cider, stay for the atmosphere, but don’t arrive too hungry.

Good cider, food, and ambIance. Just wish they were open for dinner more often. The grounds were beautiful and fun to walk.

Loved the variety of ciders available! I like dessert wines and was able to find a dessert cider! Berry cider was tasty.

We followed the ‘road of alcohol’ and found this orchard, probably one of our last stops before heading back to the ferry on the way home. How do you rate this, do you rate it just on the drinking, the restaurant, or the whole experience of what I saw, I think I’m going to go with the entire picture. This place is definitely one, if you have a camera, to take pictures of, especially during the time we were here. You don’t really see anything when you park your car. You see a few barn like buildings and a big white water tank with their logo, and an arrow pointing right, saying, «welcome»! We followed the path, and it was like opening up a storybook picture, a vast field of trees filled with apples, the first sense was to just snap away with the camera.
The sights were magnificent, and that’s before even going in to taste any form of liquor. The main bistro/​shop has the tastings (of course) a restaurant (oh wow, there’s food here) and a store selling all their stuff including pies to take home, booze and artwork (yeah, what I saw were hand painted pictures of fruit!). One thing I quickly noticed at the tasting bar was the amount of flies buzzing around, now don’t get me wrong, this place is not DIRTY, it’s just that the flies like the cider that is brewed here, and it took some waving of the arms to get rid of them and sip a few before they would come back.
I’ll admit, I wasn’t too much of a fan of their ciders or their fortified wines, but taste is just that, everyone’s is different, and they have a big selection here, even ending off with their vodka (which was a strong kick). Take in the sights of this place, I know they offer tours here, along with going onto the orchard, enjoy the sights, sounds and tranquility, maybe enjoy the booze and food. Just seeing these red beauties hanging on a tree was spectacular, and coming here just for pictures (not even planning to) was worth. Come take a look if your around here, might as well!

Beautiful grounds, and yummy cider but they need new management in the restaurant. When we arrived the hostess walked past three times before acknowledging us. We weren’t allowed to step five feet over to the bar for a cider tasting while waiting for a table. When we were finally seated it looked a bomb had gone off, dishes and glasses scattered various empty tables. Food was ok, didn’t match the A+ surroundings and cider.

Had a lovely afternoon strolling around the orchid and brewery, the ciders are earthy and delicious with great variety! However, I was disappointed we had to pay extra for the cider flights while enjoying our afternoon tea. Were told we would get a larger sample but this was not the case.

Tables are airy but buggy (lots of flies). Food is good and small flights available for $ 8. Staff was excellent and the store for cider was considerably cheaper than I have experienced in Vancouver, but the catch is that you have to keep it cold (or drink it all fast, I’m not judging).

Went for a tasting — we were charged $ 5 each for a selection of 5 ciders to taste. The confusing part was that the the couple who came behind us weren’t charged…
To say that they were being economical with the tastings was an understatement, barely a mouthful of each variety, you would think they were pouring malt scotch, not cider…

Allan G and I recently returned from a 2-​week trip to BC, mostly Victoria, but Vancouver and Kamloops too.
One of our favorite vacation days was the trip we took to Merridale. On my bucket list, I had wanted to visit several wineries, but when I saw Merridale’s variety and the fact that we could grab a bite there, we decided to see a little more of the island.
For some reason, we had both figured the western part of the island would be flatter, but it isn’t. You head out of Victoria on Highway 1, and follow the (I think…) Mill Bay inlet, so you have a lovely view of mountains out the drivers side and cliffs and water out the passenger window.
I printed a mapquest map before we went, which helped quite a bit. There are signs to Merridale, but one was missing at one of the strategic turns, so we missed the turnoff and had to turn around.
When you begin pulling into the area around the cidery, you see a pen full of goats, which was fun for a look. I can only assume they are providing the goats milk for the cheese they sell at the cidery gift shop. The cidery is not far up the road past that. When you park, you’ll see the little fairy vignettes they have set up around the grounds, which are very charming.
The one at the front is the gatekeeper, and his name is Scrumpy. You learn later during the course of the tour that Scrumpy is also one of their cider names. The name comes from «scrumping,» which was when peasants used to filch apples from land owners’ property, making their own roughly-​made but strong cider of their own.
We skipped the entire orchard tour due to my disability, plus it was pretty warm when we were there. I didn’t think I’d make the whole thing. But we did the self-​guided tour of the main areas to see how they make their cider. Then we entered the main building to have a tasting before our meal at the bistro. They start with the driest variety and then work their way up to the sweetest, which is a winter cider– almost like a port– very syrupy and fruity.
We got a fabulous table on the patio, enjoying the breezes over the orchard and letting the tasting hit us (we didn’t spit… tee hee!).
Allan got a flight of the ciders we’d just tried, and I had a Merri Mimosa, which featured the Merri Berri (my favorite) mixed with one of the drier varieties. Then we ordered a Merridale Platter for the two of us. It was utterly perfect.
The platter was composed of roasted meats (I remember the chicken; can’t remember the other), 2 cheeses, chicken liver pâté’, house chutney, onion marmalade, and olives. They also bake their own bread, so that was served alongside. Al has never been a pâté’ person, but even he was inhaling this stuff.
When we checked out, we left with a 6-​pack of Merri Berri (which we finished before we left BC, thanks to B & Bs with mini fridges!), a bottle of the winter cider, a jar of chutney, and some Merri Berri jelly. You have to be very careful about keeping everything refrigerated, or the cider re-​ferments. So we worked hard to get the chutney home, since they don’t sell in Alberta. They are very scrupulous about keeping the cider micro-​brewed and fresh, so you have to go to the source. They do sell at a few other places in BC.
This was one of the best meals we had on our vacation, and when we ate at places that weren’t as great afterwards, our refrain became «Not everything can be Merridale.» Treat yourself. You won’t be sorry.

Apparently every other person in my family knows the family behind Merridale Ciderworks quite well, and apparently I met them many times years ago, but I have no memory of this! (Were they joking?)
We were checking out the Kinsol Trestle and needed somewhere to eat lunch, so my family suggested the Merridale Ciderworks. I popped into the… rustic… bathrooms and then met the rest of my group at a seat they’d chosen on the patio, which is all wood with sweeping views of the gardens and grounds. Gorgeous scenery, not for those with a phobia of wasps, hornets and bees!
Not having been before I opted for the cider flight along with my lunch. Six mini glasses of their different ciders, arranged with love and a description of each. They were all great, though it was disappointing that when I went inside to the shop, the salesgirl didn’t know anything about the drinks served as part of the sampler (you’d think that would be kind of important for making sales?). She had to go find a menu to educate herself about what I’d had!
My food was fine. I ordered a vegetarian dish of spinach and cheese crepes. They were very spinachy and cheesy, though they’d been baked in their light tomato sauce just a few minutes too long, making them a bit too crunchy for my tastes. Everyone else enjoyed their meals of burgers or salads (we’re a family of carnivores, dieters and vegetarians it would seem).
I’d go back– maybe with a designated driver– for a light lunch on the patio! But only in the summer!

Visit the Merridale Estate Cidery during good weather. Sample every cider and brandy they have to offer before making a selection to pair with an order from the bistro menu. A guided or self-​guided tour around the cidery is very interesting.

A beautiful setting and maybe the cider is great but we never got to taste it.
We arrived with a group of 11 people on Jan 4 after calling to ensure that they were open only to find that they were closed! The doors were open so we went inside and received a lukewarm greeting by a staff member, who responded to the situation only by saying «Oh, I guess someone should change the message on the machine.» I would normally not be so irritated, but the fact that we drove so far with so many people and basically received a rude brush off makes me not want to support this local company. I will not be coming back.

The bistro is a solid average — make sure you snag a place on the patio. Great for watching the sun go down over the orchard.
This place isn’t about the food though — it’s about the cider. Try the flight and then settle on your favorite.
Make sure to save time for shopping in the cidery gift shop.

This place gets my first 5-​star rating!!!
The setting is charming… relaxing… cute!
Four of us made reservations to come up for a Saturday lunch. I love their setup. the garden fairy treehouse is kinda cute and the waterfall outside is a nice touch.
Two of us ordered the daily feature of seafood pot pie, one ordered their scrumpy chicken pot pie, and another ordered the lamb burger. We also tried their cider flights, which lets you try out 6 of their ciders. I liked being able to taste the progression of each… from dry to sweet. The food presentation for each dish was really great. The salad was colorful and simple. the dressing also incorporates apples! At the end of our meal we were full, but couldn’t help ordering a berry crumble dessert for all of us to share. Afterwards, we also couldn’t help buying croissants, croissant sticks, and cinnamon buns for our trip to Tofino –_​_​_​– What a relief to get outta there, away from the tempting food. LOL.
I love La Pommeraie Bistro, I hope they keep doing what their doing. Their price point is perfect. Service was good. I’d like to go back again when they start up their brick-​oven and make pizzas in the summer.

An hour out of Sidney, and tucked behind the main route, is Merridale Ciderworks, a charming Agro-​Tourism destination promising a wide variety of Alcoholic Cider and gourmet food. Having been revitalized in 2000, the Ciderworks features all kinds of features you’d expect at an Agro-​Tourism venue, a pond and veranda for weddings, a barn-​ish structure where the distilling of cider takes place, a gift shop and restaurant, and a pleasant garden.
Touring the property didn’t require too much time and we busied ourselves with picking something for lunch. Four flights of Cider were served, as was a delicious hummus on a whiter softer bread. I settled on a dish I don’t typically order (I don’t recall the entrée but they were all great), though it tasted great. The desserts weren’t to shabby either (mango gelato and apple strudel).
The focal point of our meal were the various flavors of locally brewed Ciders produced at Merridale, everything from what you would expect of a hard apple cider, to something with a campaign like finish. Bring a healthy appetite and appreciation of truly unique and delicious spirits, and stay a while in the garden if you need a bit of time to recoup.
Anyone passing by Merridale on their way towards the coast would be remiss not to stop at this wonderfully unique apple cider estate.