Another tasting plates so soon! Surprised by Adorables, we went as a group this time, and it was in the Lonsdale area of North Van. Never occurred to me there could be interesting food all the way out there, but I was treated to a pleasant surprise this evening!
Registration took place at
Pier 7 Restaurant and we were served in a private dining area upstairs. Their Tasting Plate consisted of
(1) Compressed melon salad with yuzu, (2) Scallop ceviche, and
(3) Prosciutto carpaccio. The melons were
just melon to me. The
scallops were
fresh and pretty good, they placed salt beneath the shell to stabilize it. Finally the
prosciutto was a bit salty for my liking but everyone else said it was good prosciutto-- ah well, what do I know?
Rated at 6 -7/10 by the group, I'd have to lean towards the 6.
Onwards in this rainy weather, we didn't quite beat the crowd but found ourselves a table promptly at the small seating area of
Anatoli Soublaki. Their Tasting Plate arrived with
(1) Grilled Haloumi caprese, (2) Avgolemono soup, (3) Spanakopita, and
(4) Houmus + pita. It was a plate with two portions, and it looked really huge! The
grilled haloumi caprese was
delicious, highlight was the
chewy cheese. I personally
enjoyed the
Avgolemono soup, which was a
chicken rice soup with egg and lemon. Some found it to be
like congee with lemon-- rather
confusing. The
rich chicken flavor fueled this soup.
Spanakopita was
fluffy,
light, and
crispy. Seasoned well.
Houmus and pita. . .
needed more pita. We couldn't finish their
generous portion of houmus because we ran out of pita =( It was
creamy and had a
light hint of garlic-- just perfect.
Moving on just down the street was
Fishworks Restaurant. A rather unique dining experience
standing up and eating, but cool because they just effortlessly made a simple
Halibut poutine beautiful. I mean, how can
four fries, a piece of
halibut,
cheese, some
scallions and
balsamic vinegar be so good? Well they did it. I found the
fish a bit overcooked but the rest was amazing. The
cheese was light, the
balsamic vinegar cut the oily feeling and the
fries were
crispy and
fluffy. DELISH.
Already feeling a bit stuffed, we meandered over to
Two Daughters Bakery. It was a
bit sketchy as we had to go to a
back alley to where their entrance was. Inside it was nice, and luckily they had their
goodies packaged to go, so we could enjoy them later! In the bag was a
(1) Gluten free vegan mini donut, and
(2) Gluten free vegan brownie. I enjoyed the
brownie more as the t
exture and taste were that of a normal brownie. The
mini donut... was
too dense and had an
odd flavor + texture. However the
chocolate on top was normal. I'll just be thankful that I don't have to go gluten-free/vegan for my food =P
Still raining, we march onwards to
Plantoplanto, which was UP (yes, very uphill) the street. A cute little (seemingly, there were more tables in the back) cafe, they offered
(1) Smoked tofu caprese salad, (2) Beets and feta, (3) Wasabi spiced potato salad, and
(4) Sesame soy corn & quinoa. The
smoked tofu was a
dense chewy tofu on a skewer with tomatoes and lettuce.
Average. The
beets and feta were
well liked, the flavors of the beet were present and the
feta added a bit of saltiness to the skewer nicely. I enjoyed the
potato salad a lot,
wasabi wasn't overwhelming and the potatoes were
tender but still had some bite to them. The
corn and quinoa didn't suit my tastes...
bland but the quinoa was cooked well. They also had a
bonus kale salad which most of us
didn't care for as it was an
odd flavor and the kale was
tough.
For a break we decided to travel (now by car) to
The Juicery Co. Their tasting cups were
(1) Strawberry lemonade on tap, (2) Mini raw cocoa acai bowl, and
(3) Vanilla bean & pear almond mylk. I tried the
almond mylk first and it
was like milk with some sediments and vanilla flavor, quite rich in flavor/creaminess but still/light. The
strawberry lemonade was
very tart and I barely tasted the strawberry. However, it was
refreshing-- they said they used
alkaline water, which I forgot the benefits of ^^".
The
mini raw cocoa acai bowl had
ice cream on the bottom which was meant to be partly melted-- this was the highlight for me. I really
liked the granola's sweet crunchiness against the cold creamy ice cream =D (or I'm just a sucker for ice cream overall).
Travelling onwards further away from the core of all the other restaurants, we arrived at
The Little District. Inside it was really homey and they were preparing their tasting plate,
Cod and shrimp fritters with spicy mayo. By this time most of us were stuffed and this was
too filling.
I found I
only tasted the mayo and dough.
Not much cod or shrimp that I could pick out and decipher the flavors. It was too much for me to just chew on deep fried flour at this time of the meal. It was however,
freshly made and nicely "plated".
At our last stop, was a little shop by the name of
Rosemary Rocksalt. As we stepped in, we were greeted by a
delicious aroma of freshly baked goods-- it was stunning. Very little seating, we were super glad we beat the crowd and got some seats. On the platter was
(1) Montreal smoked meat on a rosemary rocksalt bagel, (2) Lox & cream cheese on a bagel, and
(3) Sweet rugelach pastry (we got the
apricot one). Everyone was
super pleased by the flavors of every item.
I
loved the smoked meat, there was
so much meat but it was
delicious. However the
pickle on the side was
too sweet =/ The
lox and cream cheese on bagel was
lovely as well,
creamy and moist the cream cheese with
capers heightened the flavor of the salmon.
Finally, the
sweet rugelach pastry, it was
amazing. Everyone was surprised at how
flakey it was-- just
melted in my mouth. They said they'd return here for more! The little chunks of apricot were really nice.
Afterthoughts:
Pros
- Lots of variety: different types of dining atmospheres
- Portion sizes were reasonable
- Registration was simple and efficient
- Special seating ares were easy to find
- Staff were helpful and friendly at all the restaurants
Cons
- Definitely not walkable to all locations
- (out of their control) perfectly normal Raincouver raining on our party
- The food felt really.... hipster (excuse the lack of a better word) and more vegan than the others I've been to
- Felt a bit rushed as we wanted to get to all 8 locations in the rain
Regardless of how wet we all got, it was still
good fun and delicious food. Also quite the eye-opener for me as I never imagined North Van to have any food worthy of travelling there for. Now I guess I have to give it a second chance! =) Also a lovely new picture (taken at The Juicery Co).
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