My friend Richard Wolak, known as the Vancouver Foodster, just celebrated the 7th Anniversary of his Tasting Plates Vancouver series. This is quite the achievement considering how many food lovers have been benefited with awesome culinary experiences over the years. And I was very honoured to be part of the special celebration tasting event by visiting 5 different restaurants in Downtown Vancouver.
The adventure began at Bonus Bakery & Coffee in the midst of busy finance district, where we found all the baked goods 100% plant-based. We sampled the Blueberry Muffin, the Walnut Brownie, and the Bonus Cookie. All exceptionally delicious, these great coffee companions have proved that, without butter, baked goods could be just as decadent.
Next stop was at Davie Dosa Company on Davie, where we had a taste of South Indian cuisine. Dosa has become very popular the last couple years. I tried it for the first time at another Vancouer Foodster event, the Pizza Palooza, also at the same restaurant. Today the type of dosa offered here was the Adai, made with sprouted lentil, along with a few condiments including the Avial, a coconut vegetable curry, the Chettinad Kara Paniyaram, a savoury muffin, and Kesari, a Indian sweet also know as semolina halwa.
The exotic Indian flavour trail continues as the next stop was just down the street, Mumbai Local, although, rather offering a different approach by showcasing different cuisines from different Indian regions. Despite the diversity, the dishes here are created to give the same impression with bright colours, fragrant spices and distinct flavours. We did receive such impression on our tasting plate, as the Chev Puri, the Prawn Rava, the Chicken Lollipop, and the Shrikhand, all very vibrant in taste and appearance. I need to come back here for the fried chicken lollipop.
Next we visited one of Pacific Poke‘s new locations right at the corner of Robson and Denman, where they feature quality main ingredients such as sockeye salmon, ahi tuna, and organic tofu in the popular Hawaiian raw bowls. We tried the Main, with a mix of sockeye, spicy ahi, crab & shrimp, all the add-ons, and dressed with citrus mayo and sesame dressing, and the Keefer, featuring main ahi tuna, with all the add-ons and wasabi mayo. I’m always a fan of the poke places where the chef designs the different combinations of flavours instead of offering the DIY option only.
We ended the crawl at Donnellan’s Chipper, a Irish fast food joint in the heart of entertainment district, Granville Street. The establishment was started with Donnellan Irish Pub, located only 2 blocks away, and they decided to open a separate food joint for the club-going crowd to sober up with some after-party eats. On the tasting menu, we get the rough idea of what they offer here, the Taco Fries, the DC Burger, the Breakfast Roll, the Battered Sausage, and the Spice Bag (chips). I found the patty on the DC Burger quite interesting, as it reminded me of the softer texture of the burger that I had in Hakodate.
The next tasting plates events are:
