Gastronomic Gastown Tour takes you to the neighbourhood's coolest spots

Daryn Wright/Daily Hive

Even if you’re a Vancouver local, sometimes there’s nothing like taking a food tour to learn more about the city’s most fabulous restaurants.

Vancouver Foodie Tours is the city’s top food tour company, offering a range of tours for the curious local and the intrepid traveller.

From its Authentic Asian Eats Tour through Richmond (which we had the chance to participate in last year) to its Granville Island Market Tour, there’s an experience available for nearly every taste.

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One of Vancouver Foodie Tours’ most popular experiences pre-pandemic was the Gastronomic Gastown tour, which has finally been relaunched, just in time for the busy summer tourist season.

Dished recently had a chance to participate in the tour, billed as “gourmet dining with a side of community” – something that proved true during the three-hour experience.

Daryn Wright/Daily Hive

Led by tour guide Bronson Ramos and joined by Vancouver Foodie Tours founder Michelle Ng, we had the chance to check out three of Gastown’s hottest spots, plus learn a little bit about the neighbourhood’s history.

We started our tour at the former site of the controversial Gassy Jack statue, which was toppled and removed early in 2022. This set the scene for a larger conversation about Gastown’s colonial history and its proximity to the Downtown Eastside.

One thing we appreciated in particular about Ramos’ guidance on the tour was the willingness to broach these subjects, both of which are integral in understanding the cultural and political landscape of Gastown and Vancouver as a whole – even for tourists who are just passing through the city.

Daryn Wright/Daily Hive

Restaurant number one: Kozak Ukrainian Restaurant

Our first stop on the tour was at Kozak, where comforting, homestyle Ukrainian eats meets fun cocktails in a spacious, industrial-style space. The family behind the restaurant owns two other spots in the city – the eatery and mill on Victoria Drive and the bakery cafe in New Westminster – but this spot offers more of a sit-down experience.

Daryn Wright/Daily Hive

We were treated to Kozak’s Malyna Sour to start – a cocktail made with gin, Aperol, agave syrup, and house-made raspberry syrup. Dishes here included the Holubtsi Cabbage Rolls and handmade verenyky, also known as pierogies.

Coming personally from a Ukrainian family, the food was very comforting and reminded us of family gatherings growing up, which was a really nice experience.

Restaurant number two: Monarca Cocina Mexicana

Daryn Wright/Daily Hive

Though Gastown is small, and the second spot on our tour was mere steps away, part of the experience is being led through nooks and crannies and historic alleyways while your guide explains a bit about the area and its storied history.

Ramos tells us a bit about Blood Alley and its manufactured name and history (Google it) before we head over to one of Gastown’s newer spots, Monarca Cocina Mexicana.

This restaurant is named in homage to the owner’s father, who lives near a Monarch butterfly sanctuary in Mexico, and the experience is truly fitting of the name.

Daryn Wright/Daily Hive

We’re served the Monarca Margarita with tequila, house-made triple sec, Valencia orange syrup, and a charcoal salt rim alongside the stunning Tostada Mixta. This fresh, ceviche-like dish features marinated prawns, octopus, and scallops with pico de gallo, dark lime jus, and a jalepeño aioli.

Even if you’re not a seafood fan, we encourage you to dig in because this tostada is truly something special.

Restaurant number three: Gastronomy

Ng tells us that previous iterations of this tour featured four restaurants instead of three, but that since there were more stops, each experience felt a bit more rushed and less of a sit-down experience. This newly launched version highlights just three restaurants, all of which represent a certain cultural niche and offer a more upscale dining experience.

To round out our tour, we finish at Gastronomy – the newest restaurant of the bunch, having just opened earlier this year in the former space of Nicli Antica.

Daryn Wright/Daily Hive

Here, we enjoy glasses of wine alongside the restaurant’s signature beef tartare – served with charcoal aioli and rice crisps – as well as a broccoli arugula Caesar salad and the Pot Head pizza (a creation combining soft egg yolk, slices of fingerling potatoes, salami, and a bright lemon crema).

We finish things off with a towering pavolva served with seasonal rhubarb, dehydrated raspberry, and pistachio gelato – a serious delight and the perfect way to end the three-hour progressive meal.

We hope you’re hungry because this tour certainly doesn’t go light on the food.

Daryn Wright/Daily Hive

The Gastronomic Gastown tour and all of the Vancouver Foodie Tours, prioritizes the importance of community, having fun, and supporting local businesses. It also embodies this through its charity giving program, which changes annually – currently, the Vancouver Foodie Tours supports Employ to Power, a “non-profit that uses entrepreneurship as a way to cultivate belonging and community.”

Even for someone already familiar with Vancouver’s restaurant scene, the tours can be a great way to try new spots, get to know more about the people behind the restaurants, and meet a few new folks along the way.

You can check out the Gastronomic Gastown tour and the other Vancouver Foodie Tour offerings on its website.