Wednesday was Tasting Plates YVR‘s first tasting tour in #Port Moody. Presented by VanFoodster, I was excited to see that Tasting Plates is venturing out to the suburbs! Closer to home for me, I haven’t had a chance to enjoy some of the places on the tasting tour so I was looking forward to checking things out.

Our first stop for registration was at Gabi & Jules, a local bakery that recently open that is a popular place to pick up handmade pies and other baked goods. We had an option to try one of three pies – Strawberry Ginger Peach, Blackberry Apple, and Raspberry Rhubarb. I chose the Blackberry Apple while my friend tried the Raspberry Rhubarb. To accompany our pie we could choose from either The Gabi – a nice hot cup of latte, or The Jules – a peach green tea.

Our next stop was Meat Craft Urban Butchery, selling locally sourced and ethically raised meats including specialty sausages and brats made in house. With the beautiful weather last night, the grill was out and we were served one of two different brats – I tried the one that was made with Moody Ale beer with some in-house made slaw.

After already filling up on pie and brats, we made our way over next door to Spacca Napoli Pizzeria, which I have tried previously for dinner. It’s a local napoletana-styled pizzeria that is quite busy seven days a week, especially for dinner. Expect a wait for a table if you are coming at dinner time. With a wood-burning oven, Spacca Napoli is aiming to fill your stomach’s with their signature Italian-flavoured pizzas. We arrived to a short wait for a table before we waited for our sampler platter. The platter included a slice of its napoletana pizza, rigatoni bolognese, some deep fried fritelle that tastes like a Chinese fried long donut, and my favourite which was the homemade meatball. The meatball was heavenly and something which I would go back just to order to go for a night in with a bottle of wine.

We were already quite full after these first 3 stops, however we still had two more flights of craft beers to try and the most important – dessert! We headed down towards Rocky Point Park, where the newly created craft beer row has become quite popular with the Tri-Cities crowd and visitors from Vancouver. Tasting Plates YVR had arranged for visits to two of these popular breweries – Moody Ales and The Parkside Brewery.

At Moody Ales, we had the chance to try a pre-selected flight from their regular menu of craft beers. The flight of 4 included Vienna Lager, Hardy Brown Ale, Affable IPA, and BC Fresh-Hopped Red Ale. My favourite of these 4 was the BC Fresh-Hopped Red Ale, followed by the Vienna Lager.

At The Parkside Brewery, we were allowed to select 4 craft beers to create our flight. As it was Fall weather time, we chose the Beauregarde Blueberry Wit, followed by their more signature beers – Dawn Pilsner, Dusk Pale Ale, and Graffiti IPA. As I enjoy fruity beers, the Beauregarde Blueberry Wit was my choice for the evening. It’s too bad their patio wasn’t open in the evening to sit out on to enjoy my flight, but I can see their patio being really popular in the summer months!

For dessert Tasting Plates YVR took us to Rocky Point Ice Cream – one of my favourite places to go in the summertime. Normally I would pick up an ice cream cone and enjoy it while walking down the pier watching the sunset. Tonight however, Rocky Point Ice Cream provided us with an elevated experience – 3 bite size tasters of amazingly rich ice cream desserts that required us to sit and savour. We enjoyed a Sweet Georgia Brown mini sundae, Strawberry ice cream with basil and balsamic reduction served in a chocolate cup, and a ginger molasses and pumpkin spice ice cream sandwich. This wrapped up the evening perfectly!

I hope those visiting from Vancouver or other neighbourhoods enjoyed Tasting Plates YVR #Port Moody as much as I did, as I really enjoy sharing the Tri-Cities hidden gems with others. I look forward to Tasting Plates YVR seeking out more tasting tours in the Tri-Cities such as in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam. For anyone curious about other restaurants in the Tri-Cities, feel free to drop us a message!

Tasting Plates YVR is hosting their next tasting tour on September 28 – the Vancouver Taco Crawl! For more information go to: tastingplatesyvr.com.