tacofino commissary

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so many craft beer serving establishments opening in vancouver this summer!
and being the galivanting around town type that i am, i have tried to hit them all
well, okay the ones i get told about anyway

last thursday was opening night for tacofino commissary
an actual restaurant to go with the two food trucks they already have in town
its a delightful space on hastings street, just west of nanaimo street
a long narrow room with communal long tables
and an incredible light fixture of glowing white balls connected by copper wiring...
with live plants growing out of it
 Bocci Lights made by Omer Arbel!
tacofino was my third stop on thursday night, so i wasn't hungry
i did get to try a bite of my friend's banana churros though - savoury banana churro coated in sugar, served with banana sriracha ice cream
deeelicious!

the rest of the menu looks delightful
featuring such gems as cauliflower with serrano chiles, turmeric, crispy rice and spicy fish sauce
poke tostada with albacore tuna, soy, sesame, wakame and beer hazelnuts
tamale with spot prawns, crispy masa, lardons and slow-cooked egg
and of course the fish taco that made the orange food truck so popular

as for libations, they have them a-plenty!
bubbles, red wine, white wine, rose, sake and plum wine
cocktails and beer
draft beer in 12 oz jam jars, 32oz growlitas or 64 oz growlers:
tofino reign in blond ale, tofino tuff session ale, driftwood white bark and parallel 49 india pale lager
bottles:  pacifico, creemore springs lager and red seal pale ale
yes, you read that right, they serve beer in growlers and half sized growlers
makes a pitcher seem kinda sad in comparison doesn't it?


i ordered the parallel 49 ipl
and it went quite well with the almost overwhelming heat of the restaurant
hopefully they find a way to get air circulating in there!
the heat and the not amazing bathroom are my only negatives
everything else was fabulous

i really liked the order markers they have - shaved wooden blocks with stencilled numbers
you get one when you order and it stays with you for your whole dining experience
enabling any server to fetch you sustenance while putting it on the correct bill - genius!

go there!
support local small business
especially ones who are supporting bc's craft brewers!

open for dinner service from 5:00 – 10:00pm, and open for drinks till late

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