Last night, a hoard of hungry foodies and friends descended upon Cambie Village for the latest edition of Tasting Plates.
The Tasting Platers started off at U & I Thai to collect their Tasting Plates cards and then were off on their way to experience the neighbourhood.
U & I Thai brought out the colours and culture of Thailand with their plate of Thai Fish Taco (their entry in Vancouver Foodster’s Taco Challenge) as well as Rice Noodles with green curry and chicken. The pair of dishes were both flavourful, the curry had a nice sweet heat offset by the chilled rice noodles. Tradional Thai dancers added an entertaining touch to the meal, something U & I Thai offers every Saturday.
Across the street at Las Tortas Gourmet Mexican Sandwiches, the friendly staff offered a welcoming Tasting Cup of Horchata, a sweet cinnamon, vanilla, milk and rice drink. For their Tasting Plate we were served a Tamataco; a tamal filled with pulled pork, topped in cactus pico salad and chipotle salsa in a soft corn taco.
On the next block, Pronto Caffe served up classic Italian fare of a hearty meatball in pomodoro sauce, crunchy crostini topped with gorgonzola and walnut pesto and a square of baked polenta covered in a rich wild mushroom ragu.
Completing the quartet of eateries on the 3300 blocks, Rain Or Shine Ice Cream offered a choice of Tasting Cups. Either a dish of light and bright Blueberry Balsamic ice cream with berry compote and crunchy waffle cone pieces or a non-dairy vegan version of Coconut Chocolate Chunk topped with vegan chocolate sauce.
Down on Yukon Street, The Edge Cafe & EdgeCeptional Catering presented a selection of their excellent catering menu. Tomato Stix; cherry tomatoes halved and filled with savoury cream cheese. Edge Signature Butter Chicken is flavourful and creamy without too much heat. A Mini Pesto Chicken Sandwich was perfect for dipping in Lentil Soup.
Last but certainly not least, more like the ‘most’, Solly’s Bagelry brought out a huge Tasting Tray of sweet and savoury items from the Jewish deli’s menu. Solly’s Lavash, Mini Potato Knish, Mini Sesame Bagel, Salmon Cream Cheese Schmear, Cheese Boureka, Cheese Danish, Apple Honey Rugoleh, Chocolate Babka and Solly’s renowned Cinnamon Bun. Owner Leah kept us entertained with conversation while she watched over the deli to make sure we tried everything and enjoyed ourselves. A nice way to linger over the tray and bring an end to our Cambie Village Tasting Plates adventure.
Tasting Plates Cambie Village showed off the diversity of the area’s shops and eateries.
If this sounded good to you, join in the next Tasting Plates – Olympic Village on July 8, 2015.
And help find the best Calamari with Vancouver Foodster’s Calamari Challenge starting today, running until July 5, 2015, all around the city. Then quench your thirst with the Sangria Challenge next month, July 8 – 30, 2015.