Brunch Archives - Page 6 of 10

In Brunch

Oakwood Canadian Bistro: Brunch

July 4, 2014

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro is know for their delicious brunch on the weekends from 10am – 2:45pm. TaiwaneseGirl really wanted to taste their brunch since she’s heard great things. I was here a while ago too, when the brunch was only $10, but times have changed and prices unfortunately go up.

The place was very busy for brunch and we didn’t make reservations. You should make reservations to avoid the waits.

Nothing starts off the day than a cup of coffee with unlimited refills.

Confit Tuna Benedict ($14) has dill hollandaise, fennel salad, and home fries. TaiwaneseGirl and CanuckGirl did enjoy the bennies. They thought it was very flavourful and plus those home fries and crunchy.

Maple Confit Pork Belly ($12) has scrambled eggs, home fries, and toast. The bacon was mighty tasty. I love bacon. The eggs were a bit boring, but if you pair it up with some ketchup, they taste just fine.

We always ask for tabasco and ketchup for our order. Just for a little bit of added taste.

Overall, brunch is still good at Oakwood. Mmmm Mmmm

We Rate The Oakwood Canadian Bistro:

Address:
2741 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.theoakwood.ca/

In Brunch

Calabash Bistro: Brunch Bash with Booze

June 13, 2014

Did you know Calabash Caribbean Bistro serves brunch? Every Saturday and Sunday, you can get a taste of their brunch menu from 10am – 3pm.

I was invited to a preview of their new brunch menu to see what they were offering up. Since I am still on the hunt for the best brunches in town, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

Calabash Bistro is well know in the community for their deep roots in the local music and art scene. They always have events in their downstairs area.

The main dining room is upstairs but all the events happen downstairs in their basement. It’s a pretty cool space.

Pistachio Lassi ($7) is a traditional Indian drink made with yogurt, fresh fruit & spices. I’ve never had pistachio lassi before since I usually get a mango lassi. It also contains mint, rosewater, honey, cardamom, and pistachio. It was really good and I would definitely get this again.

You can really taste the depth of flavours and it works really well together.

Coconut dumplings can be found in their menu and it’s really good. They remind me of donuts but not too sweet.

The exterior is crunchy and the inside is warm and soft.

Your choice of mango or guava butter is served with it. Both the butters were really good and tastes so much better than regular butter. hahaha.

Escovitch Fish ($14) is a traditional Caribbean breakfast with pan-seared fish, tangy Escovitch sauce, fried plantain, fresh cucumber and rice & peas. The fish was nicely cooked and the tangy sauce complimented nicely, unfortunately, the rice wasn’t very good.

Passion Fruit & Guava Mimosa ($7) has Pares Balta organic sparkling wine, passion fruit juice, and guava. It was paired with the Escovitch Fish dish. It was nice to have a different type of mimosa than the regular.

Oxtail Stew Brunch Bowl ($13) has two poached free-range eggs, rice and peas, fried plantains, and a coconut rundown hollandaise. The oxtail stew is full of flavour and it is a bit spicy. It doesn’t look spicy, but it is. The combination of the runny egg with the stew is yummy but I still didn’t like the rice in this dish.

Calabash Dark & Stormy ($10) is their most popular drink and a lot of people say this is their favourite drink. It has ginger-infused Goslings rum, house-made ginger beer, Angostura bitters, and ginger syrup.

Salara French Toast ($12) has fresh-baked salara, fresh-cut fruit, house-made banana cream & spiced mango maple syrup. It’s a sweet brunch item and is very different than the traditional french toast.

Coconut Jumby ($11) contains El Dorado 3 year old rum shaken with coconut water, agave syrup, muddled lemongrass, mint, and lime zest.

All their drinks were pretty strong and definitely worth the price. It was definitely a boozy brunch. Overall, the food was ok, but wasn’t for my tastebuds. It’s all a personal preference since I do find it weird having rice for breakfast.

We Rate Calabash Bistro:

Address:
428 Carrall Street
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://calabashbistro.com/

In All You Can Eat

ORU: Breakfast Buffet with Benny Bar

June 9, 2014

Oru has a benny bar! Seeing that my friends and I have been on the hunt for the best Eggs Benny around Vancouver, we needed to make a stop here. When coming to Oru for breakfast/brunch, you have the option of ordering off the menu or partaking in the breakfast buffet.

Since the crab benny alone is $27 and the breakfast buffet is $33….we thought we might as well go for the buffet to get our moneys worth since drinks are also included.

The buffet includes house-made bacon, sausage, ham, breakfast wraps, sandwiches, build-your-own omelette, benny bar, potato hash, fruit, cheese, charcuterie, fresh pastries, parfait, cereals and a lot more.

It is only available on Saturday & Sunday from 11:30am – 2:00pm. There is no time limit, so you can stay the entire time.

Oru’s dining are is beautiful and it’s perfect for any special occasion or just a nice hangout with friends.

Each table had a beautiful rose and it really was a delight to see them using real flowers.

The benny bar, you can request eggs any way you like, build an omelette and of course choose your own eggs benny.

Crab Benny was a must since we wanted to get our money’s worth at the buffet. The english muffin is toasted and topped with crab meat, poached egg and hollandaise sauce.

You can order any amount of bennies you want. So, if you don’t want 2, you can just go for a singular one.

Crispy pork benny was my favourite. The pork belly was oozing with flavour and its delicious fat. Mmmm so good!

You can fill up on bread, lots of bread.

Many types of bread.

You have a large selection of cooked dishes.

There is french toast and waffles.

Bacon and sausages!

There is also smoked salmon cream cheese bagels. Beside it was also a pile of smoked salmon if you don’t want the carbs.

We grabbed a lot of protein on our plates.

Lots of meat!

Yummy.

Assorted cereals and toppings.

You have a fruit, cheese and meat section.

This was my favourite item from the fruit section, berries with chantilly cream. There’s blueberries. blackberries. strawberries and raspberries.

You can also order tea, coffee and juice. Their juices are freshly squeezed and really delicious. You can choose from apple, orange, grapefruit. and cranberry.

The service is really great and accommodating. They gave us little bottles of tabasco sauce and ketchup.

Many little pastries.

Croissants!

Sugar Buns!

I went for the almond croissant, chocolate croissant and some more smoked salmon.

Overall, we had a great experience at Oru. The food can be a hit or a miss, but you have a good selection. What made it a great experience was the service! Our server made sure we had everything and if there was something we were craving and they didn’t have it in the buffet, we would be able to make special requests to the kitchen. How amazing is that? My friend wanted plain donuts and they only had cinnamon powdered donuts, so the kitchen was able to make her a batch of plain donuts. When we thought only a few pieces would arrive at our table, we got 2 bowls of donuts! They were nice enough to let us pack it to go. I’m sure if you wanted a grilled cheese, you can ask them to make it.

We Rate Oru:

Address:
1038 Canada Pl
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.orucuisine.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=1038+Canada+Pl&sll=49.2884512,-123.1167542&sspn=0.0053744,0.0109864&t=m&hnear=1038+Canada+Pl,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6C&z=16″]

In Brunch

La Brasserie: Amazing Brunch in Vancouver

June 5, 2014

La Brasserie has been on my t0-eat list for a very long time. I came here for Brunch on a Sunday at 11am and they don’t take reservations. Brunch goes until 3pm, so have you have time to enjoy a taste of brunch. They serve Franco-German food and their brunch menu does look pretty delicious.

They also have a food truck, but obviously they sell different items.

I find that if you come right at 11am, you won’t have trouble finding a table as they can seat about 35 people. We decided to sit at the bar, but that turned out to be the best decision ever.

Usually 3 women can sit and chat forever, but when sitting at the bar facing the kitchen, you would not hear any of us talking to each other. We were too mesmerized looking at the chefs cook up a storm.

We decided on what to order by looking at what the chefs were creating rather than focusing on the menu.

French Press Coffee ($4) in what I needed to kick off the day. The coffee is freshly ground for the order and tasted really good.

Savoury Crepes ($14) has chicken, mushrooms, mornay sauce, and veggies on top. This is what I ordered. It’s not the most visually appealing dish, but I chose it because I love mornay sauce, mushrooms and chicken. It didn’t seem like it would disappoint. It was really good! It’s the type of dish I love. I would definitely order this again.

Roast Pork Neck & Eggs ($14) has poached eggs, potatoes, and hollandaise. TaiwaneseGirl really enjoyed hers and the egg was poached perfectly.

Brasserie Breakfast Poutine ($13) has poached egg, bacon, gravy, truffle oil, and hollandaise all slathered above the fries. CanuckGirl did enjoy it, but after awhile, she was sick of the fries as there were so many. This is perhaps a good item to share among the table rather than eat it individually.

One item that I really wanted to order was the Brasserie Burger. It looked amazing and it’s topped with a mountain of crispy onions. I haven’t been here for dinner yet, but so far, I love brunch here.

We Rate La Brasserie:

Address:
1091 Davie St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.labrasserievancouver.com/

In Brunch

The Drake Hotel: Amazing Scones in Toronto

May 31, 2014

I was meeting up with BaguetteGirl and her other half in Toronto and they took me to The Drake Hotel to eat some brunch.

The brunch menu is available on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am till 4pm. Whether you are an early riser or wake up past 12, you will make it on time for brunch.

Coffee ($2.95) is a must in the morning.

Warm Scone Plate ($9.50) has the scones, fresh berries, preserves, and cream. These were some awesome scones! It was crispy on the outside and a bit warm and fluffy on the inside. Probably the best scones I’ve ever had.

Southern Fried Chicken + Waffle ($15.95) has an herb waffle, Niagara cherry jam, crème fraîche and maple syrup. I found the cherry jam to be quit sour so it didn’t compliment the chicken or the waffles. The waffle was soggy but the chicken was really delicious and moist.

Caleb Eggs Benny ($15.95) has house smoked salmon, 2 poached eggs, hollandaise sauce on arugula and a poppy-seed bagel. It is also served with home fries.

Drake Rancheros ($13.95) has 2 poached eggs under the tomato braised beans, arugula and feta. It’s served with crispy tostada, salsa and sour cream.

Overall, it’s a pretty cool place to just hang out for brunch. The hotel has a young vibe and the food is pretty good especially their scones.

We Rate The Drake Hotel:

Address:
1150 Queen St W
Toronto ON

Website:
http://www.thedrakehotel.ca/

In Brunch

Thyme to Indulge: Not This Time

May 29, 2014

Thyme to Indulge Catering has a little cute restaurant on Main Street. They are closed on Monday and Tuesdays, but they are open the rest of the week from 9am til 4pm serving breakfast and lunch.

They serve brunch on the weekend to showcase fresh local ingredients. I came here since it was voted one of the top brunch places according to a few websites.

It was packed on a Saturday around 11am and there was a 30 minute line up for a table of 3. Since I do love brunch and I am still trying to find the best brunch in town, I convinced me friends to just wait because its supposed to be good.

The interior is cozy. They seated us near the back of the bistro and the space was a bit cramped for the 3 of us sitting at a 2 person sized table. The service started out poorly as we were not give menus, no water, or a friendly welcome. It wasn’t until we approached a server that we finally got menus and water. My friends were pretty pissed off.

Crab Cake Benedict ($14) has two locally farmed poached eggs, two dungeness crab cakes, fresh dill hollandaise sauce with parmesan breakfast potatoes and tomato provencal. They have had rave reviews on this particular item.

CanuckGirl ordered her egg soft poached, but unfortunately, one of the soft poached eggs had bits of shell in it, and the other was more like hard poached. She was not impressed with the eggs at all. She really enjoyed the potatoes.

Pork Belly BLT ($13) has cured and sous-vide pork belly served with lettuce, tomato, sliced avocado, pickled cucumber and bacon aioli on a toasted house made brioche bun served with breakfast potatoes.

The portion of the pork belly was pretty small. compared to the whole size of the bun. The pork belly did taste fantastic, but was pricey for $13. The potatoes that came with this dish was good.

Corned Beef Hash ($13) has house cured beef brisket served with sautéed onions, peppers and kale, breakfast potatoes topped with two locally farmed poached eggs and house made hollandaise.

TaiwaneseGirl ordered her eggs soft poached, but it came back as hard poached eggs, so she got the kitchen to remake it. Sadly, the second time the dish came back, the eggs were super super soft poached that parts of the egg white were not cooked. She decided not to complain because by the time she got the 2nd dish, everyone else was done their meal.

Overall, it wasn’t a good experience. None of us left satisfied. I really wanted to love this place, but the poor service and the quality of the food did not meet our expectations.

We Rate Thyme to Indulge Bistro:

Address:
2858 Main Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.thymetoindulgecatering.com/

In Brunch

Lola’s Kitchen: Brunch in Toronto

May 24, 2014

I came to Lola’s Kitchen about two years ago during my last visit to Toronto. I remember it being good and super busy during the weekends. Fabo, M and I came here on the Easter Long Weekend and they were closed on the Friday and Monday. But, it was good they were open on the Saturday and Sunday. I needed a brunch-fix.

Blackberry-Cherry Ginger Lime Soda (Small $3) they suggested we can top it off with some soda to make it a large. We didn’t mind and she highly recommended it.

Cranberry- Raspberry Limeade (Small $3) I did the same for this drink too. It didn’t dilute any of the drinks at all.

It was good and there are a few other daily juices on their special menu. The other one was orange juice.

Eggs Benny ($13) includes english muffin, grilled peameal bacon, two poached organic eggs, house made hollandaise and your choice of salad, frites or Lola’s home fries. Fabo chose the frites. She enjoyed this dish but she did enjoy the Mushroom benny more than the regular benny.

Brunch Burger ($16) has Ontario all beef burger, grilled peameal bacon, caramelized onions, Lola’s cheese blend, sweet pickles, housemade ketchup, garlic aioli, challah bun and a sunny organic egg with your choice of salad, frites or Lola’s home fries. M chose the homefries.

The burger looked so much better than the one I had last time. M really enjoyed the burger.

When you put the top of the bun on top, it looks huge! The patty is monstrous and all the extra meat was delicious.

Brunch Bowl ($13.50) is gluten-free. It has Lola’s home fries, baby spinach, caramelized onions, mushrooms, chorizo sausage, cheese curds and two organic eggs any style. I got my egg sunny side up.

It was good. A good size for brunch and I was very happy with it.

Overall, the brunch was pretty good and always get sunny side up eggs because the gooey yolk is so good! The downside of going to Lola’s is that the wait for your meal can be quite long. We waited for a long time before getting our food.
We Rate Lola’s Kitchen:

Address:
634 Church Street,
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.lolaskitchen.ca/

In Brunch

Roundel Cafe: Egg Benny Brunch

May 18, 2014

Roundel Cafe is located on Hastings in the East Village. The interior reminds me of a diner but with a splash of hipster. My friends and I came here for brunch as we heard they serve eggs benny.

The water came in a mason jar. Water is more fun to drink from a mason jar. It’s the trendy thing to do.

Classic Ham Benny comes with salad and roasted potatoes on the side. The poached eggs were hard and it ruined the experience because its all about the soft poached eggs and how they ooze. But, sadly, none of that here. Everything else on the plate was ok.

Avocado, Tomato and cream cheese benny had the same issues with the hard poached egg.

At the end of the meal, it was a nice surprise that we get fortune cookies.

Overall, my friends did not like their experience here. We put in our order with the server and it took about 35 minutes to get our eggs benny. Also, the server was a bit rude. I didn’t really notice, but the friends that came with me did not like their attitude. They couldn’t explain clearly what was hot sauce and what was ketchup. The look the same as they are homemade.

Food and service is pretty mediocre when we dined here, and our fortune may have been accurate – “Minimize expectations to avoid being disappointed”.

We Rate Roundel Cafe:

Address:
2465 E Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

In Brunch

Hemingway’s Restaurant and Bar: Brunch in a Bar

May 17, 2014

Finding good brunch places on the Friday on the long weekend was tough. The places we wanted to go to were closed, so we had to wander near Yorkville for some food. It was really tough, so we settled for Hemingway’s Restaurant and Bar.

Hemingway’s has been around for over 30 years with a New Zealand inspired menu. Their 3rd floor patio is huge. Much better than sitting on the first or 2nd floor where it is much more dark .

Eggs Benedict ($9.99) has two soft poached eggs served on a toasted English muffin, layered with grilled peameal bacon
and topped with hollandaise sauce.

The egg was soft and yummy. The english muffins were quite thin and it worked well with the eggs benny since you can really taste the egg and bacon.

The only downside of this dish were the potatoes. Tasteless and bland.

The Down Under Burger ($13.99) has ground beef patty, fried egg, crispy bacon, cheddar cheese, tomato, relish and a slice of beetroot. Garnished with a slice of tomato, onion, pickle and lettuce, served on a lightly toasted Kaiser bun. We wanted to add a slice of pineapple for $0.50, but they didn’t have any available.

M substituted with yam fries and man, those are some awesome yam fries.

Classic Cumberland Burger ($9.99) has ground beef and garnished with a slice of tomato, onion, pickle and lettuce, served on a lightly toasted egg bun. Fabo also substituted her fries for yam fries.

The food was decent, but what was the best were those yam fries for some reason. It was crispy on the outside and so smooth on the inside.

We Rate Hemingway’s Restaurant and Bar:

Address:
142 Cumberland St
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.hemingways.to/

In Brunch

Coming Home Cafe: Kickass Bennies and Kick Ass Coffee

May 7, 2014

I’ve been growing tired of going to the same ol’ places for brunch in Burnaby, so I looked into New Westminster if they had anything interesting. After much Googling, I stumbled upon Coming Home Cafe. It looked like a cute place and was rated quite highly. How have I not heard of this place? Their website even has a web cam so people can see if it’s busy or not.

I decided to take a chance and bring M and Scarface with me.

Their menu is on the chalk board and everything is under $10. The interior really isn’t impressive at all, it’s more like an old diner where nothing matches or is from a thrift store. It really has that homey vibe because as a kid, I remember a lot of our cups and plates didn’t match.

Kicking Horse Coffee ($2.75) and its self serve. You grab the mug from their shelves and begin pouring the coffee and mixing in your milk and sugar. Just like home.

You also get a maximum of 2 refills, but usually people don’t need more than 3.

The Uptown ($8.50) comes with 2 egg, toast, choice of meat and hashbrowns. I got rye bread, sausage, sunny side up eggs, and the Hashbrowns. It was simple and good just like a traditional breakfast.

Kick Ass Benny with side of hashbrowns ($9+ $3) has black forest ham, poached eggs and fresh Hollandaise sauce on top of a cheese scone. There’s no english muffin here, it’s the cheese scone that rocks it.

Overall, the place is very homey and the owners are very nice. You get good traditional breakfast foods.

We Rate Coming Home Cafe:

Address:
753 6th St.
New Westminster, BC

Website:
http://www.cominghomecafe.com/

In Brunch

Cafe Zen on Yew: Eggs Benny In Kitsilano

April 26, 2014

If you’ve been following my blog, you will know I’m on the hunt for some good eggs benny in town. A fellow reader – Joey sent in a recommendation and told me to check out Cafe Zen on Yew. Cafe Zen has been around for over 25 years and is best know for their breakfast. Especially eggs benny.

Coffee ($2.59) is required in the morning and I can’t function without it.

Whats great about Cafe Zen is that you can mix and match bennies. They just take the higher one of the price.

Peameal Benny ($10.49) on the left and Flo – Benedict on the right. It comes with hashbrowns on the side. It was pretty good.

Bennies can also be ordered singularly so if you only want one, you can get one rather than two.

Their poached eggs are uniformly shaped and I ordered mine soft and it came out perfectly soft.

Bacon ($3.29) I added a side order of bacon since I really craved it with my eggs benny. The strips are quite big and there are many strips. It’s definitely worth it.

Here’s another picture of eggs benny.

Lumberjack Breakfast ($12.99) comes with your choice of pancakes, french toast, or waffles. Then your pick of bacon, ham or sausage. You get two eggs, and hashbrowns. The one depicted here is the french toast with sausage.

This one is the Lumberjack Breakfast but with Waffles, sausage and soft poached eggs. It’s definitely lots to eat for breakfast. Overall, the food is good and the service is great. This place is busy on the weekends but if you go around 10:30am, you won’t be waiting long. It’s nothing fancy, but it hits the spot. The best part is the mix and match bennies where you can choose two different types. Great for people who can’t decide which benny they want.

We Rate Cafe Zen on Yew:

Address:
1631 Yew St
Vancouver, BC

Website: http://www.cafezenonyew.com/

In Brunch

Earls: Brunch Time

April 21, 2014

Everyone loves brunch! I love brunch and I am still looking for some good eggs benny in town. I was very surprised Earls had brunch on the weekends. Apparently its something new they are offering. I was invited by Earls North Vancouver for a Brunch Chef’s Table to check out some of their signature brunch items.

Brunch starts from 11:30am till 2pm on weekends and holidays.

This particular location is quite large and has a cool view of the kitchen. You can see some of the cooking done in the kitchen.

Mimosa is a boozy breakfast drink with orange juice and champaign. It’s quite refreshing for the morning.

Classic Caesar has smirnoff vodka, clamato, signature spices and garnished with jerky, a pickle and a lime. This is probably not the best drink in the morning but some people like it.

Granola + Yogurt Parfait ($9) has flax, rolled oats, dried cranberries, sultanas, toasted almonds and pecans,and fresh berries. It comes with a container of agave syrup to adjust the sweetness of the yogurt.

I really liked this item. It’s quite filling and not a usual item you would order for brunch. It is a nice alternative.

Eggs Benny ($13) has virginia ham, hollandaise, grilled sourdough with a soft poached egg. Crispy fried potatoes and ketchup come on the side. Oh man, those potatoes were so good!! The grilled sourdough bread was a nice alternative to the usual english muffin.

We did find that the sourdough bread over powered the ham, so it subdued it’s taste.

Eggs Florentine ($13) has parmesan cream sauce, spinach and mushrooms, soft poached egg, and polenta with grilled sourdough bread. It is presented in a skillet. The dish is different from the classic eggs benny. It has a strong mushroom taste, so its great for mushroom lovers like myself.

The egg was just perfect. It’s always a good sign when the eggs ooze beautifully like this.

Sourdough French Toast ($12) has chantilly cream, apples, and maple syrup. Sourdough bread really makes an appearance on their menu. It’s definitely not an item if you are into savoury items. The portion is quite large

Overall, a good place to have brunch and they have some cool brunch items on their menu.

We Rate Earls:

Address:
303 SW Marine Dr
North Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.earls.ca/

In 24 hours

Hash House A Go Go: Huge Portions for Breakfast in Vegas

April 15, 2014

Hash House A Go Go is a 24 hour restaurant in The Quad. They are known for their breakfast in amazing large portions. It’s been featured a lot on Food Network and it was recently featured on Man vs Food for their Andy’s Sage Fried Chicken Benedict.

We got there at 10am and there was already a line up. We waited about 45 minutes for a seat. If you hate lines, it always best to come at non-peak hours.

There’s a lot of seats inside but not all of them were occupied.

Ground turkey, mushroom & broccoli Farm Scramble is served with mashed potato, fresh fruit and biscuit.

House smoked salmon benedict with asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, chili cream and two basted eggs.

It’s huge and tastes decent. This isn’t any normal eggs benny. My mom commented that the salmon was dry.

HH Famous Meatloaf House Hash has roasted red peppers, spinach and smoked mozzarella. It is tossed with crispy potatoes & topped with 2 eggs, served with fruit and biscuit.

Its served in a huge pan too.

Roasted Chicken House Hash has garlic, onions, asparagus and rosemary. Then tossed with crispy potatoes and topped with 2 eggs, served with fruit and biscuit. My dad enjoyed it.

Andy’s sage fried chicken benedict with fresh spinach, hardwood smoked bacon, market tomato, griddled mozzarella, chipotle cream and scrambled eggs.

They threw a knife in there to hold it all together.

The knife was huge and this was just oozing with calories. I didn’t mind, so i just dug in to enjoy all its flavours.

It has everything but my favourite part was the bacon and scrambled eggs on top. The chicken was dry.

Overall, the only thing it has going for them are the huge portions. Tastewise, it was ok. It’s not a place for everyone.

We Rate Hash House A Go Go:

Address:
3535 Las Vegas Boulevard S
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Website:
http://www.hashhouseagogo.com/vegas/menu/

In Brunch

Hawksworth: Brunch Time

March 31, 2014

In the past few months, I’ve come here several times for brunch. Usually on long weekends, they have a promotion where if you follow their social media accounts and mention #BrunchClub, your dining companion gets their brunch for free. It’s a pretty sweet deal.

Unfortunately, I always ending up coming here when it’s not a long weekend. Their brunch is pricey compared to some places in town, but it’s definitely worth it. I’ve never had to make reservations as it’s not as busy as some other places in town.

Classic Eggs Benedict ($18) has caramelized ham and hollandaise sauce. On the side, there are potatoes and a tomato.

What captivated me was the delicious ham! It was so flavourful and was a thick slab of meat on the english muffins.

Another time I went here, the ham wasn’t as thick. It didn’t even fill most of the english muffin. Some inconsistencies with the cut, but the flavour is still very good. The friends that I came with on this visit, also liked it but was disappointed by the amount of ham.

Pacific Sablefish Brandade ($19) has poached eggs, tomato, chorizo, watercress, and grilled bread. Really good and the crunch of the chickpeas complimented the dish.

Smoked Chicken Hash ($19) has sunny side eggs, wild mushroom, and peppercorn sauce. Really good! I was surprised by the mix of flavours.

Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes ($17) has pear, walnut, caramelized honey yogurt, and maple syrup. Also a very good dish! The yogurt and pear really goes so well with the dish.

Overall, the experience was great. The food is definitely pricey, but it is fair if you look at some of the higher end brunches in town. The service is very friendly and attentive.

We Rate Hawksworth:

Address:
801 West Georgia Street Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.hawksworthrestaurant.com/

In Brunch

Joe Fortes: Weekend Brunch

March 17, 2014

Joe Fortes was the place where TaiwaneseGirl highly recommended we come here for eggs benny. There are open 11am till 11pm daily. We are continuing our hunt for delicious eggs benny in town. We came here a bit past 11am and this place was beginning to get busy.

By 12:30pm, this place was packed and there were waits. The restaurant is quite large, so it seats a lot of people.

We were given complimentary scones as we waited for our order. It was a nice touch. You get one scone per person.

Orange Juice ($6.95) is what we needed to start off the brunch.

Crispy Fried Local Oysters ($14.95) is served with Joe’s classic tartar sauce. There were only 4 pieces, so it was definitely very expensive. We thought there would be more. Nonetheless, it did taste good. The oysters used were Ocean Wise.

Eggs Benedict ($13.95) comes with Canadian bacon, poached eggs, and hollandaise. It also comes with hashbrowns, house-made english muffins, fruit and ketchup. We got the eggs to be soft poached so the yolk oozed out.

Smoked Salmon Benedict ($14.95) has poached eggs, chive hollandaise. It was good, the smoked salmon pieces were cut thick, but it could of had more smokey flavour.

I got the soft poached eggs and man, was it ooey gooey and oh so delicious.

Joe’s Signature Benedict ($15.95) has wild mushrooms, crisp proscuitto, and truffle sage hollandaise. Same items come on the plate as the other bennies.

Overall, the eggs bennies was good. There’s a lot of food on the plate, so you will definitely be full after eating. Certain items on the menu can be quite pricey like the seafood options.

We Rate Joe Fortes:

Address:
777 Thurlow St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.joefortes.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=777+Thurlow+St&sll=49.2850465,-123.1244619&sspn=0.0053748,0.0109864&t=m&hnear=777+Thurlow+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6E+3V5&z=16″]

In Brunch

Market by Jean Georges: Breakfast with Eggs Benny

March 12, 2014

The Market by Jean Georges is open for breakfast daily from 6:30am to 11:00am. The girls and I decided to give it a try as we are eager to eat all the egg bennys in town.

We made reservations for breakfast on a Saturday and it was surprisingly quite empty. Only a few tables were occupied. Even by 11:30am, we did see a few people either. I came here a few years ago for their brunch prix fixe and it was pretty damn good.

The interior is quite nice and really sets the mood for a beautiful brunch.

Freshly squeezed orange juice ($6) it comes in a tall glass and was perfect for the early morning meal. They also have grapefruit, carrot, apple, tomato, and pineapple juice as other options.

Before our dishes arrived, we received some complimentary fruit in a bowl for each person. It was definitely a nice touch. The fruits were fresh and there was a nice variety of fruits.

Black Forest Ham Classic Eggs Benny ($18) comes in 3 flavours – black forest ham, smoked salmon, and Spinach & Mushroom. We thought the eggs benny here was just OK. Nothing really special or anything. We did find that the hard egg was a turn off. We weren’t given the option to have it soft and runny like other places.

Mushroom and Spinach Classic Eggs Benny ($18) had the same issue. Everything revolving around the egg was fine…but that hard egg ruined the experience.

Smoked Salmon Classic Eggs Benny ($18) had a good amount of salmon but yet again, the same issue with the egg.

You have a variety of jams and tiny tabasco sauce if you want to flavour your dish. TaiwaneseGirl really liked her spice, so she used a few bottles of tabasco.

Brown Butter Waffles ($18) has macerated berries, mint, maple syrup and powdered sugar. It was alright, but it is quite expensive for a single waffle.

The eggs benny price is the same as Hawksworth and I would rather go to Hawksworth for eggs benny. We weren’t impressed for breakfast. If you do come here for breaskfast to order the benny, make sure to request a soft egg. Our server neglected as ask us how we liked our eggs and it kinda ruined our experience.

We Rate Market by Jean Georges:

Address:
1115 Alberni St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.marketbyjgvancouver.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=1115+Alberni+St&sll=49.285407,-123.1238676&sspn=0.0053747,0.0109864&t=m&hnear=1115+Alberni+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6E+4T9&z=16 “]

In 24 hours

Siegel’s Bagels: Montreal-style bagels in Vancouver

February 16, 2014

Siegel’s Bagels sells authentic Montreal-style bagels in Kitsilano. After coming back from a trip, we decided to stop here for a quick lunch. I’ve heard much about this place, but I’ve actually never been here. I wanted to see if it was true that it’s like a Montreal Bagel.

The Kitsilano location is open 24 hours and have lot of sandwiches to choose from. They even have Montreal smoked meat.

Lot of bagels to choose from. They make it all in-house and are fresh.

Club Bagel ($8.50) has Montreal smoked meat, golden turkey breast, tomato, lettuce, cheddar, mustard and mayo.

Their Montreal smoked meat is pretty awesome. It has a great combination of ingredients.

Lox and Cream ($8.95) has smoked sockeye salmon, cream cheese, onions, and capers. It’s quite pricey for what you get, but the combination of the cream cheese, salmon and capers is sure yummy. I got it on a multigrain bagel because I love the texture of the grains on the outside.

Overall, great bagels and its great they are made fresh. Don’t forget to buy a few for home! They also have their sister restaurant – Rosemary Rocksalt open in North Vancouver and Main Street.

We Rate Siegel’s Bagels:

Address:
1883 Cornwall Ave
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.siegelsbagels.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=1883+Cornwall+Ave&sll=49.2724816,-123.1477055&sspn=0.0053761,0.0109864&t=m&hnear=1883+Cornwall+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6J&z=16 “]

In Brunch

Kulinarya: Filipino Food in Coquitlam

January 16, 2014

KoreanGirl and I had a lazy Saturday filled with food and shopping. Thats how we girls roll. We came at 11am and it wasn’t busy at all. Kulinarya is a Filipino restaurant located near the Coquitlam Mall. It’s quite a drive from Vancouver, but if you’re in the area, definitely put this on your list of places to check out.

Breakfast was definitely on our minds and all of the breakfast items sounds like a delicious heart attack. There’s a lot of meat and carbs, but it’s really good food!

You get a small dish of complimentary Boy Bawang garlic corn nuts. These corn nuts were very good and lightly seasoned. It is light and airy so biting into it is no problem at all. It’s so good! You can buy larger bags at Kulinarya or at grocery stores like T&T.

Tapsilog ($10) has sauteed beef, garlic rice, and a fried egg. KoreanGirl liked it. Simple but very great flavours.

Bangsilong ($10) has fried milkfish, garlic rice and fried egg. There’s not too much meat on the fish because its a small fish. It’s a good portion for breakfast. That garlic rice is quite addictive!

Crispy Pata (Small – $10) is deep fried pork hock with a nice spicy vinegar sauce. We saw this on their menu and just had to have it! Worst thing to have it for breakfast but we didn’t care. The skin is very crunchy and was music to our ears. crunch crunch crunch!

Overall, the food was good and it’s great to see what Filipino Cuisine tastes like. The only issue is that a lot of the menu items are hard to choose from because if you aren’t familiar with the items, you have no idea what you are ordering. Plus, a few of the dishes are quite expensive and can rack up your bill.

We Rate Kulinarya:

Address:
114 – 2922 Glen Drive
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
www.kulinarya.ca

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