Vancouver Foodster Tasting Plates East Village: Part II

Hey all, happy Saturday, I hope you are doing well! Today I am sharing with y'all the second part of my Tasting Plates Vancouver experience hosted by Vancouver Foodster. During this event, I had the chance to visit seven different eateries in the East Village neighborhood. My first half of the review (read it here) covered all the hip cafes we visited and in this post I'll be talking about an olive oil tasting bar, a distillery, a butcher shop, and a quirky bar. To read on, click.......
If you aren't familiar, Tasting Plates Vancouver are tasting events held at various neighborhoods in Vancouver. During each event, you get a map and a guide and visit various pre-set locales to try out a sampler menu that best showcases the restaurant.

Di Oliva:
A unique tasting bar full of quality olive oils and special-flavored balsamic vinegar, Di Oliva carries its own brand of oils and vinegar that you can taste before buying. We tried an incredible variety of oils and vinegar with bread (Tuscan Herb Oil and Fig Balsamic anyone?). The store carries some really unique flavors and almost everyone who visited were charmed by the special plates designed especially for combining oil and vinegar. The plates have various designs that take advantage of the density difference between the liquids, making a very pretty pattern.

Di Oliva carries some very unique olive oils and balsamic vinegar

The oil/vinegar pairings were kept in plates that beautifully presented the oil/vinegar mixture

Jackalope's Neighborhood Dive:
The next place is a super quirky and eclectic bar. The interior is decorated with animal wall mounts, knick knacks and one-of-a-kind salt and pepper shakers. We were treated to a mini dish of smoked ham with mash and a small piece of cornbread. Everything is delicious, but the portion is pretty tiny (even for a tasting plate).
The place was quite busy with regular customers, even on a Wednesday night so the service was pretty slow.

House Smoked Ham with Chive Whipped Potatoes, Asparagus, and Cornbread

Jackalope's Neighborhood Dive

Windsor Meat:
Never in a million years would I have thought that a butcher shop made delicious meatballs in curry! The house made Biryani Meatball are made of chicken, pork, basmati, spices and various vegetables. Mixed with a delicious butter chicken sauce and topped with cilantro and an edible flower (name of which I have forgotten), the meatballs were super delicious and fulfilling and the curry base is very flavorful as well!

House Made Biryani Meatball with Butter Chicken Sauce

The Windsor Meats team busy assembling the meatball dish

Odd Society Spirits:
Last but certainly not least, we visited a funky distillery bar that concocts all kinds of unique alcoholic drinks. We got a taste of their signature East Van Vodka, Wallflower Gin, Vermouth, and Creme de Cassis. The vodka here was rather flavorful and the Creme de Cassis was incredibly rich and sweet. I don't really drink, but I feel that for those that do appreciate a sip, this is a great place to check out as the liquor they sell are quite unique and artisanal.