Visiting one new eatery in a day is a thrill, so how about visiting 5? Vancouver Foodster's Tasting Plates YVR events offer just that with an eclectic mix of food/drink venues, all within a reasonable distance and duration. A couple weeks ago I was at Tasting Plates Lonsdale and checked out a few eateries, some new and some old.

Disclosure: I was given a complimentary media ticket to experience this event. All opinions are my own.

Tasting Plates YVR Lower Lonsdale

Tasting Plates Passport:

Team Tastic took on a tasting plates passport and visited the following:

  • Butter Lane Bake Shop
  • Cafe by Tao
  • Coconama
  • Albarello Pizzeria
  • Welcome Parlour Collaboration w/ Bad Dog Bread

At Butter Lane, we enjoyed a plate of earl grey donut, scone with clotted cream, and gluten-free carrot cake. The earl grey donut was the big standout for me here as the glaze was quite fragrant and the donut had some good pull.

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Butter Lane Bake Shop

Next up was Cafe by Tao, one of the healthiest menus I've ever tasted. Here we had a sample platter of mango salsa quinoa bowl, falafel, sauerkraut, rawkin' pizza, rawsagna, kale chip, and lucuma parfait. Everything was plant-based so that rawsagna was vegan-friendly. The quinoa bowl packed a ton of flavour and I could totally see myself stopping by to grab a bowl on my way to work if I lived in the area.

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Cafe by Tao - Sampler Platter

Third on our itinerary was Coconama. Here we enjoyed a short introduction to their full production workflow and tasted samples of their various chocolates and famous ganaches (I would buy these all the time in college).

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Coconama Demo

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Coconama Bean

My favourite stop of the night was Albarello Pizzeria. I'm basic for pizza and I am proud to share the love. Here we had a sampler platter of their verde noce pizza (pesto, walnut, roasted peppers, mushrooms, onion, goat cheese, and basil), salsiccia pizza (tomato sauce, home-made fennel sausage, mozzarella, caramelized onion, and roasted red pepper), and home-made meatball. Anyone who's been a participant of Vancouver Foodster's Pizza Challenge will recognize Albarello Pizzeria for winning the competition back in 2015. The winning pizza remains on the menu to this day. If you like a bit of crunch to your crust, you'll enjoy the thin crust here.

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Albarello Pizzeria - Pizza and Meatball Platter

Last but not least, we stopped by Welcome Parlour for dessert. These folks partnered with Bad Dog Bread, another North Shore business, to produce a cinnamon bun ice cream sandwich. The cinnamon bun was chewy with a satisfying classic flavour. Couple this with a dollop of specialty vanilla ice cream and this was the perfect end to our tasting crawl.

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Welcome Parlour x Bad Dog Bread - Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream Sandwich

Final Thoughts:

All in all, Tasting Plates is a fantastic way for the average foodie to get to know a neighbourhood. Generally, the servings are just the right size so you can get a taste before moving on. The restaurants/eateries are all on the ball with serving you promptly so you can be in and out to your next destination almost as quick as you like.

One-liner: A fun taste of Lower Lonsdale, North Vancouver's foodiest neighbourhood
Highlight: Welcome Parlour x Bad Dog Bread Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream Sandwich
Price per person: $29+
Would I go back? Yes.