Saturday, July 21, 2012

Gastown Walking Food Tour

Gastown, located in Vancouver's downtown core, is full of historic charm and is the perfect place to do a walking food tour, as there are many hidden gems along it's cobblestone streets you probably wouldn't discover on your own. Put on by Taste Vancouver Food Tours, the tour starts at Waterfront where you meet the tour guide, "Gassy Jack", a Vancouver icon. During this 2-hour tour, you make 10 stops and sample food from some of Gastown's best eateries and learn a little history about the area to boot.

The tour guide, Gassy Jack!
First stop - Rogue, located outside Waterfront station.
Lobster Mac'n Cheese, with Atlantic lobster and a five cheese blend. Very rich and creamy!
Steamworks Brewing Co., located directly across from Rogue. I've been here several times before and it's a great place to eat.
A little information about their brewing system was given as we enjoyed a pale ale. The beer is being brewed in these copper tanks.
North by Northwest Pale Ale.
Rogers' Chocolates is one of Canada's premiere chocolate makers.
Giving us a little history about Charles "Candy" Rogers.
Sea salt caramel.
Many treats made out of maple syrup!
We tried samples of maple syrup, cranberry syrup (very tart), and maple tea.
Maple butter.
Maple candy.
Brioche, a cute little restaurant serving Italian foods.
We started off with some bread.
Cheese tortellini with tomato and beef sauce.
Trees Organic was rated the best place for cheesecake in Vancouver.
New York style blueberry cheesecake.
Once a hotel, Water St. Cafe was the only building that survived the Great Vancouver Fire in 1886.
Isaac, the busser at Water St. Cafe, gave us a little history about the restaurant and told us a story of hauntings...
West Coast crab cake with corn salsa.
No food at this stop, but a little interesting history about the John Fluevog store. It's not actually a building, but just a structure built between 2 other buildings!
Peckinpah, a place for some authentic Carolina style BBQ.
They use a mixture of vinegar and sugar to flavour the pulled pork.
Peckinpah smokes their own meat in house. Their pulled pork is smoked for 18 hours.
Lots of beers, bourbons and whiskeys to go with your meat!
Our last stop of the tour took us to a little back area that used to be the jails.
Après-midi Premium Teahouse - plenty of different teas to choose from!
We received a sample of an apple-cranberry cookie as well as some Japanese Hojita iced tea.
I love playing tourist in my own city (and eating!). I certainly learned a lot of new and interesting facts about Gastown and of course, it was beautiful day to do a walking tour and our tour guide was very entertaining. The tour is great for visitors of Vancouver, or for locals who want to learn more about historic Gastown. The Gastown Food Tour runs daily from 2 to 4pm and costs $39 per person. You also receive a booklet of coupons to all the participating restaurants which you can use if you decide to head back to one for dinner. For more information on the tours, or to book your own, head on over to the Taste Vancouver Food Tours website.

Disclaimer: The tour was provided complimentary of Taste Vancouver Food Tours for review. The opinions expressed in this post are those of Savvy Shopping, Deals & Reviews and have not been influenced in any other way.

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