Last evening, Tasting Plates Vancouver celebrated 10 years of helping food lovers discover amazing food finds across the City. Vancouver Foodster curated another superb selection of savoury and sweet sensations for patrons to enjoy.
From funky Filipino inspired food at Shameless Buns, peppery flame grilled chicken at The Peri Peri Shack, sneak peaks at new menu treats from Cold Tea Restaurant, familiar Famiglia favourites from Caserecchio Foods gelato selection, to Wicked Cafe’s plethora of picture perfect pleasures, it was a food tour for everyone to love.
As the many Tasting Platers crossed paths and met up at the various stops on the tour, it was evident they’d missed experiencing the camaraderie of collectively discovering great new bites or sampling past favourites. Notes were compared, hints were given, and doggy bags were shown off as the restaurants and cafes satisfied everyone’s hearts and bellies.
Our Tasting Plates experience started off at Shameless Buns, on Fraser Street (near 41st). The small and funky bricks & mortar location of the famed Jeepney Filipino Food Truck, is less than a year old, but judging by the steady turn around of food app delivery people, take-out guests as well as Tasting Platers, it certainly has made a mark on the neighbourhood.
The Tasting Plate offered a choice of either a mini version of Not Your Lola’s Chicken Adobo Bun, Tapa Dat Bun (Beef), or Jacked up Coconut Bun (Jackfruit) served along crispy fries. Even though they were small in stature, the buns packed in the taste and satisfaction. Taking home a tub of the house-made Chicharron for some savoury satisfaction was definitely the right thing to do, too.
Not far away on Kingsway at Fraser, The Peri Peri Shack was a hive of activity as patrons were presented with a bounty of food from their flame-grilled chicken menu. Their tasting plate included Chicken & Rice, Chicken Wings, Leg Thigh with Peri Fries and Onion Rings, served with their Peri, Spicy, Mango and Citrus sauce selection to customize the heat and flavour of each bite. The Kingsway location is normally a take-out / food app kitchen with just a couple of tables for locals to eat in, but the steady stream of Tasting Plate patrons were treated to a special one-night-only Chef’s Table in the actual kitchen. Cheesecake lovers will also be happy to know the Peri Peri Shack has recently partnered with The Cheesecake Factory to off their famed cheesecakes to Vancouver patrons, and a full-service restaurant is coming soon to Hastings Street in Burnaby.
The last of the savoury dishes on the Tasting Plates 10th Anniversary came from Cold Tea Restaurant in downtown Vancouver (Granville & Davie). Preparing for a menu update later this spring, guest were treated to a choice of either Steamed Arctic Char with Ginger Romesco (nut free), Pea Shoots, Scallion or a Miso-torched Eggplant, Cilantro, Scallion, Crispy Rice Paper. Both items were flavourful and stylishly presented, matching the beautiful, modern space.
Our sweet treats started with a palate cleansing, refreshing Gelato tasting from Casereccio Foods, the exclusive west side home of Gelato Maestro James Coleridge (formerly Bella Gelateria). The Vine Street cafe serves a menu of family-style Italian favourites as well as the sweet and creamy treats like the double-flavoured tasting cup with Sour Cherry and Stracciatella Gelatos. We all favoured the sweet but tart Sour Cherry especially after some of the spicy bites we’d tasted earlier.
Lastly, the quaint West 7th Wicked Cafe really went all out to celebrate Tasting Plates 10th Anniversary with a selection of their most popular, and probably most photographed, desserts. Their tasting tray included the Wicked Cafe signature Tom & Jerry Cheesecake a gluten-friendly lemon souffle cheesecake, the Wicked Igloo, an adorable penguin-adorned white chocolate mousse with peach coulis, a warm and hearty Apple Cinnamon Bun with juicy apples, sweet raisins and maple cream cheese icing. A gooey S’mores Cookie with marshmallow, chocolate chips and almonds rounded out the bites, and the Wicked Cafe’s signature Moon Latte, a chilled blend of 5 black teas with cream and brown sugar was the sweet sip we needed after a filling Tasting Plates evening.
The evening was a highlight of what has made Tasting Plates a mainstay of the food scene over the last 10 years; foodie camaraderie, super service, the opportunity to talk to some of the city’s chefs and creators, and of course a host of tremendous tastes.
If Tasting Plates 10th Anniversary menu whet your appetite, take yourself on Vancouver Foodsters next amazing food tour, Dumpling Fest taking place May 4, 2022. Ticket are on sale now at Eventbrite