A map was sent to me a couple weeks beforehand to lead me to the gathering point. From here, we followed Max (from the Wild Things) through the forest, candle lit with mason jars to lead the way. We arrived at our destination, literally a cabin-like location in the middle of Stanley Park with a fantastic view of downtown Vancouver.
With these types of events, you are allowed to bring your own wine/liquor and you sit at several communal tables where dinner is served family style. For the first portion of the evening, we stood around the greenery and Max’s bed as we were served great canapes including devilled eggs, lettuce wraps, scallion bacon soup and my favourite – the bao buns, chicken crackling, iceberg lettuce and a great flavourful sauce.
All the food was catered by Fat Dragon BBQ and what a delicious feast it was!
Then we got a surprise visit from the Wild Things. It was a little bit terrifying and a little fun – considering I grew up reading this book and seeing these characters come to life was a bit of a fun shocker!
After their visit, we sat down for dinner. We started off with slaw and Jasmine rice topped with Nori. Then the platters of meat arrived one with lamb and beef ribs, the other with pork ribs. Both platters were remarkably huge for the table of 8 we sat at. I’m not a big fan of lamb but this was delicious. Smoked and tender with very little game-y taste.
We finished off the evening with spicy melted chocolate and a cinnamon doughnut. I loved the chocolate dessert, it reminded me a lot of the spicy Mexican hot chocolates that tantalize your tastebuds.
As we were leaving the dinner, Max and the Wild Things were gathered outside next to a bon fire.
The experience is definitely something different than your typical Vancouver dinner- this is definitely not dinner theatre, but more of a whimsical dining experience. I could see this being a fun thing to participate in with a group of friends, with young kids or for those who get bored with the typical sit down dinner.
Visit the Swallow Tail Canada website for more information in their upcoming tours and pop-up restaurants, and if you use the code 5455, you can get 10% the culinary adventures!
