Tasting Plates YVR: Gastown Edition

Having lived in Vancouver all my life, I was surprised that I've never been thought of going on a food tour here before. Curtis (foodobyte) recently started bringing me along to Tasting Plates YVR which is a food tour put on my Vanfoodster and it literally is like a pub crawl, but for food!

The tasting plate adventure this time around was in the Gastown area. Yay!

Our registration check-in was at Catch 122. I previously visited this place before (post here) and had a subpar experience. However, these three tasting bites were impressive. In the front is this delicious and juicy pressed confit pork shoulder with smoked potato and pork crackling. 

Another outstanding item is the house-made tortellini with Quebec cheese curd, house-smoked bacon, and soubise sauce. To say it was smokey is an understatement. This tortellini bursted with flavour inside my mouth and I would gladly eat a whole plate of this.

Next up was the Hastings Urban Farm which promoted Hives for Humanity's raw honey served on the comb and Martin's Marvelous rosemary lavendar and chocolate mole crisps. 

If you are ever on Hastings, you should go check this farm out! When it's bright out, you'll even see the bees working in their little hive!

Honey comb is unlike anything I've ever tasted and is certainly a special treat. The crisps were also delicious and reminded me of the local Lesley Stowe crisps I get all the time.

I've never heard of Burgundy Restaurant before so I was excited to try out some of their offerings. 

The Goat Cheese Fondue was a little more pungent than the usual Swiss or Gruyere but I quite enjoyed it. Especially with the seemingly odd pairings of grape and apple.

They also had a sample of Beef Bourguignon and it was delish. A nice baguette would have been perfect to soak up all the leftover rich gravy.

Last but not least is the (dollop :P) of Chocolate Mousse. Light, rich, delicious.

My only disappointment on the food tour was the Bitter Tasting Room. Not only was the food mediocre, when I asked for a cup of hot water (I had a sore throat at the time), they just gave me hot tap water. Not boiled... I didn't end up touching it.

Their barbecue pulled pork taco was quite bland and dry with no hint of barbecue taste.

At the Salt Tasting Room, we were given two meats, one cheese, three condiments, and crackers.

I am in no way a sophisticated person when it comes to food so meat, cheese, and bread like this are just not my cup of tea. However, all the ingredients were undoubtedly fresh and quite delicious on their own.

Milano Coffee is apparently a very well known coffee shop with three locations in Vancouver alone.

This is totally a hipster coffee shop (I'll get to it in a sec) with a large variety of healthy, organic, and gluten conscious power bars.

First of all, did I miss the memo when all wooden stir sticks changed to pasta? HIPSTER! :P Anyways, the Espresso La Futura Macchiato is not for the faint of heart. But if you like strong triple shot espressos at Starbucks? You'll probably enjoy this.

The Espresso Nuovo Stovetop was absolutely deicious!!! It was smooth, creamy, and a ton of people on the tour loved it too (yes I eavesdropped :P).

At The Irish Heather, we were given a plate of Steak & Ale Stew on Calcannon. I enjoyed its robust flavour and I wouldn't mind it on a cold windy night.

Our last stop of the day was a coffee and dessert shop called Trees Organic. They are famous for their cheesecakes and amazingly, this was one of our restaurants on the tour!

We got a sample of the New York Cheesecake and the Almond Marzipan Cheesecake. Unlike most cheesecakes, this one was light, fluffy, and not dense in the slightest. I like my cheesecake with a bit more substance so I actually didn't prefer this variety. Curtis on the other hand really enjoyed this.

Tasting Plates tickets are around $40 per ticket and the next one is in the Main Street neighbourhood. You can buy tickets here.

Happy Eating!

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Kawawa Restaurant - Standard AYCE

For some reason, Meta Knight and I decided one day to try out a restaurant we never dare enter... Kawawa Restaurant in Metropolis at Metrotown. 

If you go on Urbanspoon, you know their ratings aren't very positive, but we decided to give it a shot anyways.

We often go to their sister restaurant, Kawawa Ramen and they have really improved over the years!

Their AYCE menu is $21.95 which isn't cheap. However, they do offer sashimi on their menu which is quite rare with AYCE restaurants.

I feel like it would be pointless to describe every single 'dish' because pictures tell a thousand words. So just take a look at the pictures and judge for yourself!

We were surprised by the presentation of the sashimi. We were impressed.

Sashimi was standard and they gave us the proper amount.

Didn't like the roasted corn and grilled mackerel. It was dry and was obviously pre-cooked and left on a heat lamp.

Surprisingly, I liked their mango pudding! Meta Knight said it was meh though.

So all in all, you can tell it's a pretty standard all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant with nothing spectacular and better than its competitors. Just because of location however, I would say its a decent choice if you are starving and just finished a long day of shopping at Metropolis at Metrotown.

Service Rating: 2/5
Food Rating: 2.5/5
Price: $$$

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Happy Eating!

 

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Double Double Restaurant - Legit Housemade Rice Rolls

My mom recently introduced me to this new restaurant called "Double Double Restaurant & Wonton" in Richmond. They specialize in congee, chinese donuts, wontons, noodles and comfort HK food.

 Their parking lot is free and slightly difficult to manoeuvre around. If you can't find parking, there's additional multi-level parking in the building right next to it.

Chinese Donut wrapped in Rice Roll ($4.75) is one of their specialities and my parents loved it. Everything is made in house and you can really taste the difference.

I absolutely adore the Steamed Rice Roll with Mixed Sauce ($3.50) and its one of the best rice rolls I've had in a while. My dad chose the Hong Kong Style Congee ($5.25).

I always get the Preserved Egg and Salted Pork Congee ($4.99) whenever I eat congee and while this congee was flavourful and satisfying, it tasted a bit like msg. I also would've liked to see the pork shredded instead of chunks as it gets a bit chewy.

The Special Cuttlefish Cake Lo Mein ($7.50) was highly anticipated because my mom said their cuttlefish cakes here are housemade and delicious. They were indeed bouncy and fresh. Not mind blowing though.

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 3/5
Price: $-$$

Service Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!

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