On the second day of the Olympics, Jenkins and I ventured to Granville Island with Mike and Victoria to check out the sights. In particular, we wanted to check out the tastings at Atlantic Canada House, which were available at 11:30AM, 2PM, and 5PM daily during the course of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. After bumping into a friend of ours who told Victoria that it was best to get to the tastings early, we lined up just after 4PM for the 5PM tasting. It turned out to be a good thing that we lined up when we did because they closed the line off shortly after we went inside.
Inside, there is a bar and dinner is served starting around 8PM or so we were told. However, the daily food samplings are free of charge and feature a rotating menu of Atlantic Canada’s best food offerings. The mussels were simply cooked in some white wine and even though they were small, they were very tasty and fresh.
The soloman gundy with red pepper butter, sour cream, and a red onion glass on a crostini was our favourite. I’ve never had soloman gundy before but the flavours of the fish played off the red pepper butter very well. The soloman gundy itself had quite a mild taste so was able to absorb the flavours of the condiments nicely.
Next was wild boar rillettes with some blueberry relish. The rillettes was very flavourful without being too overpowering and I liked its slightly firm texture. I think this would have gone really well with some crunchy crackers too. 
The blueberry relish added just a hint of sweetness, which complemented the rillettes well.
The last tasting sample was the yellowtail flounder fritter with Mt. Scio savory & lemon mayo. The fritter was freshly fried so it was very crispy but I couldn’t taste the flounder as much as the herbs and potatoes that also made up the fritter.
You can view the full listing of the samples available here since it is changed up daily. Based on my experience and talking to other people, I would recommend you get there early because only enough samples are made at each sitting for 200 people. We were one of the last people who were let in for our tasting round so we were holding our breaths for a while there! We were also told that the 11:30AM tasting is less busier than the ones taking place later in the afternoon. The restaurant section of Atlantic Canada House is pretty bustling and busy with people and you can also go next door to check out the different exhibits relating to Atlantic Canada.
Details:
Atlantic Canada House, Granville Island (next to the public market)
Tastings available at 11:30AM, 2PM, and 5PM from Feb 13-28
Really impressed with the dim sum at Red Star today 
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Very good photos-now I am hungry!
@Lee Martin – thanks! Hope you are able to make it to Granville Island to check things out
How come the times listed on your blog are different from the time shown in your picture (11:30am, 2pm and 5pm)? I’m assuming the photo of the sign is the one with the right time… ? I’m hoping to go this Friday!
@elletee – oops, thanks for catching that! Yes, the times in the photo are the correct ones…I’ve also corrected the times listed in the post. Thanks
Interesting! We went on Valentine’s Day and had the mussels, Halibut Ceviche and Mussel Toast Points which were delicious! Thanks for providing the menu link; I’m not sure it’s very accurate however as we only had one of the items listed for Sunday.
Hi Gigi,
Thanks for sharing this cool experience! The solomon gundy and the wild boar rillettes look yummy. Wish I could be there for the Olympics, especially when they involve unique tasting experiences like this. Funny how for years I swore that I would stay away from Vancouver during the Olympics because of the congestion etc, but as the Games got closer all I could think about was heading back to Vancouver (but any last minute plans have been foiled by a series of blizzards!)
@Samantha – thanks for the tips
@Phyllis – yes I quite enjoyed the rillettes too. That’s too bad you can’t make it..I haven’t been able to try all the different food at the pavillions but they all sound quite tasty and unique!
The Raclette at Swiss House is worth trying, but at $8 a pop, it’s not a lot of cheese! Stay away from the bratwursts.
@Samantha – yes, everything is quite pricey so you have to be smart about what to choose! thanks for the tips!
It is nice to hear my wild boar meat in the Atlantic house was excellent.
Thanks so much to the NBCC in St Andrews NB who prepared our product for the Atlantic house in Vancouver
Most important is perhaps we raise our animals in a natural animal friendly enviroment.
Thanks Vancouver that I was able to show you my product.
To be honest I feel proud these days.
@Rinie – thanks for your comments! It was my first time trying wild boar and I really enjoyed it…I think it must have been in part to your sustainable methods in raising the boar and of course the excellent way it was prepared at Atlantic House.