Dine Out Vancouver: Street Food City
It was a wet but successful day of the first Street Food City event. For three days, some of the most popular Vancouver street food carts gather at the Art Gallery from 11am – 3pm to feed the downtowners. Since I’m working in downtown now, I took the opportunity, braved the rain, and walked my way to the plaza.
Even though it was rainy and so cold that it reached your bones, people came out in droves and willing to wait to feast on some handheld comfort food. I think the street food cart line up award went to Mom’s Grilled Cheese Truck
I like my comfort food when it comes to warming up these old bones but I had a hankering for tacos; therefore, I went straight to the famous Tacofino Cantina Truck. They made their name in Tofino and after 2 years of success they came down to Vancouver to share their baja inspired tacos. And their bright colourful truck helped make the dreary day a bit more cheerful too.
I took the easy route and went for their signature fish taco
This colourful taco is tempura battered ling cod with chipotle mayo, shredded cabbage and salsa fresca on a fire toasted flour tortilla. They ling cod was crunchy but not heavily battered so with each bite you had a mouthful of the actual fish. The chipotle mayo and salsa fresca added the subtle spice, citrus, and freshness to the taco. I pretty much demolished the two tacos within a few bites.
It’s apparent that street food is here to stay when people are willing to come out in a rain, be outside, and line up for food. Street Food City is another great addition to the Dine Out Vancouver program and hope to see it again next year. There’s one more day left to this event…so you may see me there again ;)
Tacofino Cantina Truck
Howe St & Robson St
Thierry Patisserie
Thierry, a heavenly patisserie and cafe, that opened in the chic area where Tiffany’s is around the block and Hotel Vancouver is down the end of the street. Thierry Busset, who helped make Cin Cin’s dessert menu one of the city’s finest, leveraged his talents, experiences and entrepreneurial skills in opening a cafe that has become a ’sweet’ darling of local food critics (see what I did there ;)
I finally made the trip to the much lauded cafe and for sure I need to make a repeat visit soon!
I only tried a few so this is going to be a short, but delicious, post. I ordered my desserts to go so I pretty much annihilated them when I got home….apologies for no close up pics! One of the items I ordered was their famous macarons.
Guess it was late in the afternoon and items were getting sold out, so the macarons display wasn’t its usual colourful self but doesn’t mean it didn’t taste as good. I ordered coffee, maple, chocolate pistachio, and chocolate caramel. Each macaron was $1.75 so the price wasn’t too bad. I’ve ate my fair share of macarons when I was in Paris so I had high expectations. They tasted lovely and sweet but not quite up to the par with ones I’ve tried. Original Parisian macarons are crispy and light with just a slight chewiness to it. Thierry’s were more chewy and not as airy as I preferred but the flavours were there.
I also grabbed some of the assorted homemade chocolates
For your biting pleasure, there is a selection of fruit ganache, different flavoured ganache, praline, marzipan, and many more. I ordered a couple of the ganaches and praline and they were wonderfully smooth and delicate with each bite.
My affinity for the sweet and tart led me to do a final order of the day…the raspberry fruit tart
This was easily my favourite. It’s a layer of tender nutty sweet crust, light creamy vanilla custard, a bit of raspberry jam, and topped with fresh raspberries. I liked the balance of the flavours where it not too sweet with the berries on top to give it that right amount of punch.
For the chilly weather like this, I want to head over there and order a nice warm cup of coffee, indulge in a sweet or two, and pretend I was in Paris again
Thierry Patisserie
1059 Alberni Street
Pearl Castle
Pearl Castle use to be the king of bubble tea cafes in Richmond. But in the past few years, more bubble tea cafes have popped up and staking their claim in the territory. I’ve been to this Pearl Castle for a few years now and have noticed the shift in popularity. It still gets the crowd for sure but not as much as before. We headed there a few weeks ago just for old times sake before some shopping in Richmond.
The room is still bright, clean, and modern. There was a mix crowd of families and young kids happily eating and chatting away over their pots and cups of teas.
To indulge my craving for fried food, the crunchy deep fried chicken knee was ordered
They do remind me of popcorn chicken but with a bit more cartilage. It’s salty, a bit peppery, and just addictive. With one chopstick pick up, you pop it in your mouth and few a chews it’s gone..and then you go in for more.
To continue with the deep fried them, we then went for the deep fried tofu
The bite size tofu was easy to eat too. The tofu was a medium soft texture and was very crunchy but felt the batter was a tad too much. I favour the deep fried tofu type where the tofu is much softer and when fried the batter comes out more like a crisp rather than a crunch. This particular dish was accompanied with a sweet tangy soy sauce and small serving of kimchi.
Oh and the grease continued. Next we ordered a lunch set to share
This very deep fried piece of sole laid in a sweet and sour sauce topped with green onions. Maybe it was the intention but the fish was so deep fried, you couldn’t really taste the meat. As part of this set, it included a side selection of pickled vegetables and a bowl of rice.
To end your meal, we finally went for something different: the House Special Beef Noodle Soup
The beef, which I’m guessing is beef brisket, was very tender and not too chewy. The broth was very flavourful as it tasted like it was well seasoned beef stock.
There’s a number of Taiwanese / Hong Kong style cafes in Richmond but Pearl Castle has been most people’s standby for lunch. Next time around I’m going to treat myself to one of their many popular milk teas
Pearl Castle
3779 Sexsmith Rd
