Recap: Tasting Plates Stadium District

The Stadium District around BC Place and Rogers Arena, is known as the sports-and-entertaining quarter of Downtown Vancouver. The area has been booming with residential and commercial buildings the last 20 years, and new cafes, restaurants or bars are opening doors here every week.

I was glad that Vancouver Foodster created the Tasting Plate Stadium District adventure for food lovers to explore this area, especially after he had organized events in the neighbouring districts like Gastown, Yaletown and Robson.

The sunny weather could not be any better for a walking restaurant tour like this. We got our tour map at Pappa Roti, and we had a taste of their specialty beverages and signature sweet buns.

I tried their Signature Iced Karak Tea, essentially an iced black tea with a touch of cardamon for the exotic aroma and flavour. The Iced Blended Signature Chocolate and the Freshly Brewed Coffee by JJ Bean were also the choices on the tasting menu. I also enjoyed the Coconut Rollie – a sweet bun with fresh young coconut filling, and the Signature Original Bun, with the coffee caramel coating that reminded me of pineapple bun found at any Cantonese bakery.

Next, we visited Stretch Roman Pizza, where they brought the concept of “pizza al tagilio” (which means “pizza by the slice” in Italian) from Rome to Vancouver. Besides that you could try different types of pizzas by 4″ x 7″ rectangular slices, you can get them by 12″, 24″ or meter-long 36″ rectangle.

We sampled 3 of their popular pizzas. The Primavera was topped with mozzarella, roasted red peppers, artichokes, roasted mushrooms, kalamata olives, red onions and Pecorino Romano. I appreciated the earthiness of this pizza especially from the taste of artichoke and mushrooms. The Trevigiana was topped with radicchio, pears, gorgonzola, and prosciutto, sounding like a perfect choice for a wine party. The chicken was finely diced in the Paprika Chicken Pesto, and the smokiness of paprika made the pesto flavour more sophisticated.

We headed down to The Poke Guy next. This was actually the very first poke place I visited before the poke eateries taking the city by storm.

As mentioned in my previous post, I prefer the chef ‘s creations instead of DIY when it comes to ordering a poke bowl. The tasting buy modafinil online india bowl here today was exactly what I hoped for. The chef’s creation provided some fine-tuned flavours on the poke mini-bowl with a trio of seafood: Ahi Tuna, Sockeye Salmon, and “Sassy” Shrimp. I could taste soy sauce… I could taste citrus… And I could taste sesame oil… All perfectly complemental to the super fresh seafood. I quite enjoyed the “sassiness” in the shrimp poke, which gave me such spicy sassy kicks!

Elements Diner was next on the tasting map, where they offer a heck of a tasting plate. It was a lot of food! On the plate we found

the Roasted Beet Salad with Preserved Lemon,
the Warmed Salmon Avocado Salad,
the Chinese Golden Egg French Fries, and
the Thai Chicken Pineapple Rice Flour Pizza, finished with a glass of
the Lemongrass Bubble Tea with Grass Jelly.

The food definitely showcased their East-Meets-West concept of the diner, and their striving to serve good looking dishes with fresh ingredients, natural seasonings, and unique flavours. I found the Gold Egg French Fries very different yet delicious.

Last but not least, we arrived at Hendricks Resto-Lounge at the Westin Grand. Besides the elegant and layback ambiance of a west coast lounge, we also enjoyed a incredible view of this part of Downtown Vancouver around Library Square.

The food menu here features classic dishes with a modern twist.

I savoured both tasting bites: the Ginger Beer Braised Short Rib, on top of a celeriac croquette, super tender and full of flavors, and the Crispy Chicken Slider, where the chicken was fried to perfection.

The resto-lounge also offers a list of classic and original cocktails, and live music in the evening on Thursday – Saturday. With our tasty cocktails, we cheered to having completed another fun and satisfying food adventure.