The last time we attended a EAT! Vancouver event was in 2006.  Back then we went away quite disappointed with the exhibits, shows or even the food that was sold there.

We had free entrance tickets provided by the EAT! Vancouver organizer.  We made arrangements with Angie of Sea Salt with Food to check this year’s event.  While waiting, we were surprised to see Anita coming up and say hi to us at the entrance.  We met Anita at Pearl Drops a few months back.

One tip for attending the EAT! Vancouver event.  You want to go there just as they open.  This is because by mid-day, it will be impossibly crowded.  There are long lines on some of the more popular stalls.

Our primary target is to check out the Bite of Vancouver.  This is where Vancouver restaurants offers appy-size servings of their regular menu selections.  We thought that this years event is dominated by curries.  LOL!  Somehow we seem to see curries being represented quite disproportionately to the cuisines you normally see in Vancouver.  Notably, there was an absence of Chinese food.

Frankly, we did not find the Bite of Vancouver too exciting.  Maybe except for Ashiana who had the chef making fresh roti.  It was about the only action cooking here.  They can only make one roti at a time and so the wait for a piece of this does take a while.  Ashiana seems like the most popular stall judging by the long lines.

ll and the BC Roll.  So I guess that settles it for me then … that this man was indeed the person behind the two most popular rolls in this region.  He he he … I must say that he is not a particularly an interesting speaker.

It was hard to follow what is going on.  The stage is raised high.  They have TVs installed above the stage but it was quite useless.  Well, firstly the picture quality is quite bad but then what they could have done is to get a cameraman to go on stage and shoot the action on the counter.

He made this on stage.  I am not sure what this is called really.  Only four lucky person got selected from the audience to savour this dish.

Tojo also made this delicious looking noodles.  I was thinking that it was a lot of food for just four selected individuals.  He could have gave everyone a small sampling of this.  Oh well … I took the pictures, swallowed my saliva and moved on …

There is also a a few national pavilions.  The most interesting and well organized ones are from Japan and Indonesia.  I wanted so much to try the interesting mound of rice from the Indonesian stall but they were all gone by the time we got there.

We also saw for ourselves the Kopi Luwak from Indonesia here.  This is the most expensive coffee beans in the world at $500 per lb.  They just kept it at arms lengths — we just get to see from the distance and never gotten to smell it.  But then … after learning that the reason what makes them expensive, I was not sure if I wanted to smell it.  You see Kopi Luwak is made by passing the beans through the digestive system of a kind of cat in Indonesia.  Amazing, huh?

All in all, I do find that it is rather expensive visiting the EAT! Vancouver.  The entrance is about $15, parking goes as high as $20 and you will need at least $10-$15 a person to try the food there.  So for two persons and with a few additional purchases, it could be almost $100.

Anyway, I’ll leave you all with these pictures of the food we tried at the event … bon apetite!