For those that are unfamiliar with Tasting Plates, here is a little background. 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, bar, or cafe.
Truffles Fine Foods:
First up, we tried out a selection of bites from Truffles, a cafe-style restaurant that started out as a catering service. Truffles recently opened up two new locations in Vancouver: one on Davie St in Downtown and one inside the Anvil Centre in New West. The New West locale is actually still under construction so for the Tasting Plates Event, the team set up a pop-up stand to deliver us some fresh concoctions.
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| Truffles Fine Foods |
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| Amazing White Chocolate dessert from Truffles. |
Next up, we ventured to what is known as the best Italian bakery in town. With another location on Commercial Drive, Fratelli serves up freshly baked Italian pastries such as cannolis and biscottis.
The bakery had a beautiful display set up and we each took away a box filled with some of their bestsellers.
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| A selection of goods from Fratelli. |
This is a funky pub style eatery that offered us some savory bites. We tried the bruschetta, chicken quesadilla, stuffed mushroom, steak bites, and mini crab tostadas. There were some big inconsistencies between each plate as my steak bites were cold and tough while my friend's was warm and tender. My stuffed mushrooms were creamy and bouncy while my friend's were dry and shriveled up. Although I'm not sold on the food. I quite enjoyed the atmosphere. There was even a live band playing some folksy music that night!
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| The Heritage Grill |
Up next is an earthy, hip cafe located right next to the rail track. The place is absolutely adorable and we tried the affogato and macchiato. I'm not a coffee connoisseur but even with ice cream mixed in, the espresso inside the affogato was way too bitter and acrid. The macchiato, on the other hand, is nice and foamy.
The cafe itself had a nice vibe, but I think we were all a bit thrown off by the service. I don't know if there were some sort of miscommunication, but the servers only offered to serve us one drink each. Only when we asked if we were in fact allowed to taste two drinks (as listed on the tasting menu), did they reluctantly and dismissively agree to make us more.
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| Old Crow's Coffee Co. |
Now this next place made me wish I liked beer. With a hip and relaxed atmosphere (the servers were all super friendly), Steel & Oak serves up a large variety of house-brewed beers. We were treated with a generous sampling of the Royal City Ale, Red Pilsner, Dry Hopped ESB, and Smoked Hefeweizen.
My companions that enjoy beer really liked the selections we tried; I was told that the Smoked Hefeweizen actually has a very smoky taste.
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| Steel & Oak Brewing Co. |
Last up for the night, we visited quite a spacious pub called Frankie G's. We tried the chorizo slider and the crispy fried bocconcini. The chorizo was super tasty and juicy while the bocconcini is melty and crispy at the same time. Do be careful when cutting open the bocconcini as mine exploded all over my jacket and hair!
This pub also offers shuttle service to help its patrons get home safely.
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| Frankie G's Pub |
The next Tasting Plates event will be happening on June 10th from 6-10pm in the Cambie Village neighborhood, get your tickets now before they run out!
