Sherman's Food Adventures: Tasting Plates Cambie Village (presented by Vanfoodster)

Tasting Plates Cambie Village (presented by Vanfoodster)

After a few forays into the burbs, I was invited to participate in another Tasting Plates.  This time around it was in the familiar Cambie Village.  With most restaurants located in a concentrated area, it meant less driving and more time eating!  Seeing how I haven't connected with Sexi Mexi in awhile, she was my plus one for the night.  Good thing too as she added some legitimacy as she spoke flawless Spanish with the owner of Las Tortas.

The tasting plates started right away at the registration point of U & I Thai complete with a show featuring Thai dancers.  We were presented with a plate consisting of a Fish Taco with Thai sauce (whatever that is) and Green Curry with Chicken and rice noodle (but I got tofu for some reason).  With dense and chewy flatbread, the taco was not really that appealing texturally.  In fact, the fish was a bit mushy and devoid of any flakiness.  However, the green curry made up for everything being creamy and spicy.  There was definite flavours including coconut, galangal, shrimp paste and the aforementioned spice.  Strategically, we decided to hop on over to the farthest 2 restaurants to avoid the crowds.  We hit up Solly's Bagelry where they generously presented us with a platter of goodies including Cheese Danish, Apple Honey Rogoleh, Cinnamon Bun, Chocolate Babka, Potato Knish, Feta Cheese Boureka, Lavash, Sesame Bagel and Wild Sockeye Lox Shmear.  My favourite of the bunch was the potato knish as it was soft, warm and comforting.

We then strolled over to the nearby Edge Cafe for a collection of bites starting with the Cherry Tomato Stix with cream cheese.  We then moved onto a trio of items including West Coast Seafood Chowder, Butter Chicken and Pesto Chicken Sandwich. By far our favourite was the chowder as it was creamy without being thickened.  There was a significant amount of wild salmon which added a certain natural sweetness and appealing fishiness.  The butter chicken was a bit too mild for our tastes but the cilantro did add some aromatics.  As we were leaving, they sent us on our way with a White Chocolate Chunk Cookie.  Heading back to the start, we endured a short lineup for Pronto.  We ended up sitting outside to enjoy the trio of Baked Polenta with wild mushroom ragu, Meatball with pomodoro sauce and Crostini with gorgonzola walnut pesto.  Of the 3, I thought the meatball was the best where it was moist while still meaty.  The sauce was nicely tart and acidic that helped add both flavour and brightness.

Moseying down to Las Tortas, we were served a Tamataco consisting of slow roasted pulled pork filled tamal, chipotle salsa and cactus pico salad in a soft corn taco shell.  I enjoyed the tamale as it was moist while sporting a good amount of tender meat.  The combination of toppings added a certain brightness that was a little on the mild side.  Sexy Mexi thought it was okay despite not being served in the proper manner.  After this, we crossed the street and ended with dessert at the new location of Rain or Shine Ice Cream.  We had one each of the Blueberry Balsamic with seasonal berry compote and waffle cone pieces and Coconut Chocolate Chunk with vegan chocolate sauce.  Once again, the blueberry balsamic did its thing being sweet but nicely balanced by the impactful balsamic.  I thought the coconut chunk was good with mild aromatics, but it didn't stand a chance against the blueberry.  This was a nice end to a well-balanced Tasting Plates with enough savoury items to go with the sweet.

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