The essence of a city can be discovered through it’s food and there can be no better proponent of the same other than the city of Vancouver in Canada. Being a port city, it has seen the influx of a large group of people resulting in a bustling metropolis teeming with flavours from all over the world. So we decided to take a culinary trip known as the Gastown Tasting Tour with Taste Vancouver Food Tours and discover some food, drink and history along the way. Our guide Tia from the Taste Vancouver Food Tours met us at the historic Waterfront Station. When Canada was formed 150 years ago, this station connected the Western Coast with the Eastern one all for the princely sum of 1CAD. The station also boasts the first International location of Starbucks outside the United States of America.
Starting with Vancouver’s Bustling Craft Beer Scene
As soon as we headed out into the sunny Vancouver weather (which was a rarity on our trip ;)), Tia had us heading off to the Steam Works Brewing Company. One of the oldest breweries in town, the Steam Works Brewing Company holds the flag aloft for the bustling craft beer revolution that is sweeping the city. Steam works is a throwback to the timber age of Vancouver with beams constructed out of single Douglas Fir trees holding the place up. Their beer, known as the Winter Lager is still brewed with the help of the steam pipes heading under the city and is one of the remaining breweries to do so. Our next stop is Brioche, an interesting name for a restaurant which serves homely Italian food. The Chef piques our taste buds with a classic Tortellini that we absolutely fall in love with before heading off for a different cuisine. The area around Gastown is the most historic one’s that you can find as we head over to the place that Gassy Jack started his business from. In the mid 19th century, the Okanagan valley had become a new detonation for gold diggers after the California Gold Rush.
Canadian Whiskey and Carolina Style Barbeque
Although the gold rush did not peter out as expected, one person did make a fortune. It was Gassy Jack who started up his bar with a barrel of whiskey. When he landed in Vancouver, he asked the loggers to build him the salon in exchange for some whiskey and boy did they work fast or what. The wooden Salon was constructed in 24 hours and Jack started his business. Although his Bar burnt down in a fire that engulfed the whole of Gastown, in it’s place stand PeckinPaw, a Bar serving out some Carolina Style Barbeque and a whole lot of whiskey. The Bar stays true to it’s roots and serves up an array of Whiskey flights which are quite an experience. We decided to try out the Pulled Pork Sandwich which incidentally features products which have been locally sourced. Although the pork has been pulled, more in a Texan style rather than the California Style, it still retains its uber juicy flavours as we dig in.
Asian and Desserts
With it’s multicultural metropolis, Vancouver has quite a distinctly Asian flavour with nearly half of it’s population being from there. Tia headed us off to an Asian restaurant Bao Down which is mixing Asian flavours to create a hit on the palate. Their Bao is stuffed with Chicken and all other Asian condiments and it truly impressed us with flavours of sweet, sour and tang. The latter half of the afternoon, Tia dedicated to desserts the first of which was at the Soft Peaks Ice Cream parlour which is bringing back the flavour of milk into ice creams. We try out their chocolate based flavour which is filled with super rich, thick creamy milk and quite a hit from the bitter chocolate. A visit to Canada is not complete without experiencing the magic of maple syrup and we headed to Delices Erable & Cie to stash up on our maple syrup as we head back home. It was quite an interesting note to discover that maple syrup is found in three different avatars: Golden, Amber and Dark. These three ranges from light and spicy to smoky and dense flavours. There is also a taffy that is made from dehydrating maple syrup until it becomes thick and sticky.
Why Taste Vancouver Food Tours?
The Taste Vancouver Food Tours is one of the most interesting tours in Vancouver that only allows you to try out not only quite a few different cuisines but also know quite a bit of history about the old Gastown. Their Gastown Food Tour costs CAD 69 (INR 3500).
