Sai Plant Deli Vegan Karaage at the Powell Street Festival

It's been 2 years since we made it to the Powell Street Festival and I have to admit that I was more motivated by food than culture this time. This is a Japanese Canadian cultural festival with stages, displays and food. We were able to experience the Buddhist Temple at Powell and Jackson on our last visit. Our real motivation was, having seen Insta posts by Sai Plant Deli for their vegan Karaage Tofu, and   knowing from their schedule that they would be here, the desire to try this delicious looking treat.And, sure enough, there they were. Of course, their biggest shingle was for Secret Ice Cream but we knew what that meant! We had enjoyed the plant based ice cream before and knew that SIC, Vegan Pudding and Sai Plant Deli were all indelibly linked.

We ordered their 16 oz cup for $17 with both the lemon pepper mayo and the maple mustard sauces. First of all the tofu was amazing, hot and crispy while nicely soft but substantial enough on the inside. The sauces were both rich and complimented the tofu very well. Lets call this a total success. 

Well, its just so rude to eat and run so we did take some time to browse the crafts and products many of which were Japanese leaning in origin.

And who doesn't love taiko. At this point in the afternoon, the shady spots were at a premium and I with my precancerous pale skin, felt the need to hide from the sun.

Donning sumo wrestling attire would not be the answer besides which I believe these folks are serious and I could get hurt.

I am impressed that there is a tent cover in front of the main stage (pictured at the top) which is reserved for the senior members of the community.

This is a lovely festival that celebrates the history and culture of one of the greatly contributing communities in our province. 

Make sure not to miss it next year!