Today I was taking Taste Vancouver’s newest food tour in Gastown. I had previously attended and written about their original Gastown tour that covered 8 stops across 4 hours. So am happy to report they have a shorter version that is 5 stops across 2 hours. Still within walking distance of one another, and all centred around brunch and the history of Gastown.
For those visiting from out of town, or even for locals wanting a different way to do brunch, this is a unique option to consider.
Truthfully, having taken and written about the last Gastown tour I remembered much of the factoids, but at least the restaurants we visited were mostly different. Worth mentioning is that with the shorter time frame and the fewer stops, the servings of food was also smaller as well.
Waterfront Skytrain was our starting point, we met your tour guide and other group members here. There is an outline and script that each local guide follows, but they are encouraged to make it their own. So you can do the same tour twice, but get a different experience based on the knowledge and personality of your guide. Here, introductions were made and the tour was described as being more informal, like how a friend would show you around town, minus the calling ahead to restaurants to ensure the food would be ready for us, when we arrived.
Mention was made that Waterfront is not actually a part of Gastown, which was established in 1867. It was once lumber camps, and a mid way marker for those travelling from California to the Caribou for the gold rush. This town would be a stopping point for supplies, before pushing forward into the wilderness.
As we entered Gastown our tour guide made note of the Californian influence in the architecture from street lamps to bay-style windows. And the fact that anything 10 feet surrounding Gastown needs to look like it is a part of the 20th century, to keep with its historic appeal.
The significance of Maple Street Square was mentioned, along with land acknowledgment, and education on the unceeded history, for the tourists from out of town.
Our first food stop was Lee’s Donuts, one of Vancouver’s most popular donut chains since 1979. They are known for classic donuts done larger, lighter, and fluffier.
This Gastown location is one of their newest. Here, we each got a honey glazed donut to go, as their staple.
We ate standing on their patio, appreciating Gastown’s famous steam clock, across the street. There, our tour guide spoke to its history of origin as the most photographed landmark in Vancouver.
Our next pause was by Lamplighter Pub and Clough Club, for the story of Gastown’s local hero John Clough, as the town’s gas lamp lighter. The only one to light up and snuff out all the lamps every night and day, despite only having one hand. This was a job he only had for a month, as a fire burn down half of the town. A replica of his prosthetic arm is on display, under glass at Clough Club.
I was excited for our second stop: Petrichor, a new French bistro serving Southern French cuisine with a West Coast feel. “Petrichor” means the smell of the ground after it rains. The restaurant itself is just as special, but the interior smelled like spice Market with burning incenses, instead of fresh rain. This feels like a missed opportunity to me.
What we had was not on the menu, but a breakfast dish our owner/chef’s mom use to make for him. This a baked egg with mushroom, cream, and guyere cheese. Tasty enough, but I didn’t feel like it spoke to the restaurant or gave me an idea of what they do.
However, getting a look inside and being able to sit and rest with water, coffee, and tea did make me want to return for a real visit and truer review. Especially as French brunch has its origins in hunting parties and broiled kidneys, sheep’s tongue, and potted pigeon were more common than eggs.
We were then back on the cobble streets learning about Gastown during Prohibition. We walked through the meat packing district of Gastown and learned about the innovative George Black. He was a butcher who had the great idea to build a dock at the backside of his shop, in order to serve and sell to the fishermen who spent hours on the water and we often overlooked in their need of food and drink.
We also stopped at Gaoler’s Mews to learn about the town’s jail and drunk tank. As well as the story of the bricks used to build it and why it all looks so different together.
Stop number three was Nelson and Seagull, named after Nelson Mandela and inspired by a folk song. They are known as a sourdough focused bakery that really took off during covid, when many folks picked up the baking art. You can get their sourdough in loaves to go, as a sandwich dining in, and even as raw dough for a pizza crust to get creative with.
Here, we would have a miniature tea party with small shots of honey roobios latte, which we were informed is just a catch all term. This was an amazing tea and I would return just for that.
This was served with sliced slices of sunflower seed and crushed nut sourdough toast, topped with either smoked salmon and cream cheese or with their house made peanut butter and blueberry jelly.
The flavours were mild, to be able to make out the bread and enjoy the tea with it. Texturally, I would have preferred both on plain bread, without the seeds, as I found them distracting in texture.
Stop number four was barely still in Gastown. This is Brioche’s newest location. I have visited its past two, still within Gastown, but they seem to moving east since they opened in 2003.
They have a full breakfast menu and we were here to try their take on a Bolognese. This was simply egg in tomato sauce, with ashy peas. Having had their food before, and the fact that they are also on the regular Gastown Taste Tour, I expected more. The mimosa with sparkling wine was a lovely touch and the only drink included on the tour.
I would advise bringing a water bottle, especially if touring on a hot and sunny day.
Our fifth and last stop as another one also on the regular Gastown tour. Waffleland specializes in Norwegian style waffles, described as a thinner Eggo, that when sliced into quarters look like hearts. Each guest was given a quarter served with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and strawberry.
It was a nice sweet way to end the tour, but also felt underwhelming. I wish they would have sourced out different brunch options, not in any of their other tours, to diversify the offerings. Afterall, there is more to breakfast than pastries, eggs, and toast. It would have been nice to highlight more ethnic options.
In short, the Taste of Vancouver Tours are fun to do if you have never done them before and would like to learn more about either Gastown or North Vancouver. A causal guided walk that includes breaks and food. I just wouldn’t recommend doing two so similar like Gastown general and Gastown brunch. I also liked the sped up version of brunch, but would have liked the stops more different from one another.
Taste Vancouver Food Tours
415 Esplanade W #26, North Vancouver, BC V7M 1A6
(800) 634-0951
tastevancouverfoodtours.com
