Brunch Archives - Page 4 of 10

In Brunch

The Pointe at Wickaninnish Inn: Morning Brunch

May 13, 2016

The Pointe Restaurant is located inside the Wikaninnish Inn in Tofino BC. My friends and I came here for a long weekend trip and made this our early brunch spot. We didn’t stay at the Inn, but we heard to the food was really good and the views are stunning.

Wikaninnish Inn is an award winning Hotel and Resort and on the top of list on TripAdvisor.

There is complimentary parking in the lot, so just park your car and head on inside.

Once you are in the dining room, try to get a seat by one of their many windows.

Call ahead to make a reservation and put in that request. You’ll be glad you did since it’s a stunning view.

We were seated facing Chesterman Beach. In the morning, there wasn’t much action, but later in the day, you will see a lot of surfers picking up waves.

At the centre of the restaurant is an enclosed fire pit. Nice and cozy for the evening, but since it was the morning, we focused more on the view outside.

They come around to each table to offer their Juice of the Day. I think it was like a peach, berry and mango juice. Tasty way to begin the day.

Smoked Salmon Crepe with a side of bacon was what I ordered and I loved it. The dish was presented nicely and the smoked salmon, cream cheese, spinach and the touch of lemon butter was very delicious. I would definitely order this again.

I couldn’t resist getting bacon too. It cooked very until its crisp.

The Pointe Breakfast has 2 eggs, a crisp potato, tomato jam, toasted bread and you choice of either home-made sausage or bacon.

Back Bacon and Cheddar Eggs Benedict on english muffins. It also is topped with a hollandaise sauce. It is served with a potato rosti too. M added a side of sausage.

The eggs benny was poached to a perfect medium. All that gooey yolk oozed right out.

Duck Confit Eggs Benny was what my other friend ordered. She liked the balance between the tender duck confit and the accompanying salad.

Lamb Meatballs has confit tuna belly, cream cheese, celeriac, herbs, brioche croutons and fior di latte.

West Coast Clam Chowder has west side baby shrimp, bacon, corn, local fish, herbs and prawn oil.

Side of Sausages are so good. You can definitely taste the quality. Very fresh and flavourful.

Brioche French Toast has pear butter, poached pears, berries and oat streusel. If you have a slight sweet tooth in the mornings, you’ll enjoy this dish.

Overall, the food was delicious and can’t be missed when visiting Tofino. It is expensive, but it is expected since its located in Wickaninnish Inn. You’re paying for the service, food and the breathtaking views.

I’ll definitely be back for more in the future at The Pointe. My friends loved the food and it was a good way to start the day.

Our server was nice enough to give us a free map of the beaches in the area. She even told us a few of her favourite trails and beaches to visit.

After your meal, head down to the High Tide Beach Trail and walk along Chesterman Beach. It’s a good way to burn of some calories and enjoy more the the beach.

The beach is very peaceful and therapeutic to listen to the waves crash against the rocks and beach.

We Rate The Point Restaurant at Wickaninnish Inn:

Address:
500 Osprey Ln, Tofino, BC

Website:
http://www.wickinn.com/

In Brunch

Fraser Park Restaurant: German Breakfast in Burnaby

February 21, 2016

It’s been years since my last visit to Fraser Park Restaurant in South Burnaby. M comes all the time without me, but it was time to take my food buddies here to the subburbs to enjoy this hole in the wall restaurant for German Breakfast. We came early in the morning and it was already packed by 10am.

I’m always surprised because there’s nothing around here except for warehouses.

The interior has nothing special, just a bunch of tables everywhere.

It’s not about the decor, its really all about the food they serve.

Dee went with their Classic German Breakfast with 3 scrambled eggs with sauteed peppers, onion and cheese. It also has hash browns, sausage, bacon, ham, potato pancake and toast.

The rest of us went one step crazier and got the Deluxe German Breakfast. It has everything in the classic German breakfast, but with added Schnitzel and Gravy.

Meat on meat on meat. This is the perfect start to the day if you have a big appetite. Everything tasted good and you can’t go wrong with a brunch of grilled meats.

Overall, the price is good and you get a large meal. Total comfort food for breakfast right here. Of course they have more than just German Breakfast. They have the usual items you can think of for breakfast and lunch. A true hidden gem.

We Rate Fraser Park Restaurant:

Address:
4663 Byrne Road, Burnaby

Website:
http://www.fraserparkrestaurant.com/

In Brunch

Craft Beer Market: Weekend Brunch

February 16, 2016

Craft Beer Market is open for brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10am till 2pm. It’s a huge space inside and can easily fit a few hundred people. Great for large groups.

They have at least 140 taps available, which makes their craft beer selection massive. Plus the have a long list of wine, cocktails, and spirits. Brunch and booze? Great combination.

Their tap system is pretty complicated but it’s very fascinating to look at.

Four Winds Saison was what I chose to go with brunch. It has notes of flower and spice, fermented hot for a fruity ester profile. It is slightly hoppy.

Caesars in the morning, goes well with brunch. Perhaps a mimosa would do well too.

Hawaiian Ahi Poke is made of Ocean Wise sashimi-grade tuna, cucumber, fresh ginger, garlic and sesame soya vinaigrette served with crispy wontons on the side. We also added avocado too. It’s definitely different that the traditional poke.

Craft Madame has sliced tomatoes with two types of bacon sandwiched between fresh sourdough, baked until crispy and topped with two fried eggs and beer mustard sauce. It comes with potatoes on the side.

Classic Farm House Bennies has two farm fresh eggs poached with ham and served on a house made buttermilk biscuit with hollandaise and crispy hash browns.

The egg was poached to a perfect softness. When we poked into it, it oozed and oozed. I felt the buttermilk biscuit was very thick and dry compared to the rest of the dish. The grapes that came with it seemed unwashed, and the potatoes were ok.

Overall, great beer selection but the brunch is pretty average.

We Rate Craft Beer Market:

Address:
Olympic Village, 85 West 1st Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://vancouver.craftbeermarket.ca/

In Bakery

Sweetery Cafe + Dessert: Open on Saturdays

February 4, 2016

Sweetery Cafe + Dessert finally opens up on Saturdays. Even thought I work close by, it was always just out of reach. Seeing all their mouth water photos on Instagram, made me go a little bit nuts. I came with a friend to indulge on some coffee and waffles during brunch.

It’s located on 2nd close to the Granville St Bridge. There’s free parking out front for 1 hour.

There is a good amount of seating inside. We got here at around 10:30am and stayed here for both their breakfast and lunch menu.

We put in our order and waited patiently for the wonderful food to arrive.

Cappuccino was what I needed this morning. Nice and frothy.

Eggs Benedict on Waffles comes with potatoes on the side. You have the option to have it on waffles or english muffins. Highly recommended item!

We chose to have our eggs soft and they did deliver! Once I cut inside, it was so delicious and gooey.

I love the option of having it on a waffle.

Chicken and Waffles is what I was craving. We had to wait till 11am till they started taking orders for their lunch menu. It comes with maple syrup and hot sauce.

The chicken was tender on the inside, but the exterior could have been more crisp. On the other hand, the waffle was very delicious and crisp. I guess it kinda makes up for it.

Overall it was a good experience. You must get their Eggs Benedict and double baked croissants.

We Rate Sweetery Cafe + Dessert:

Address:
340 W. 2nd Ave, Vancouver BC

Website:
http://www.sweeterycafe.com/

In Brunch

Chez Cora: Breakfast in Richmond

January 17, 2016

Where do you find breakfast in Richmond that’s not Dim Sum? Cora, a Canadian chain of casual restaurants serves breakfast and lunch and they have a location in Richmond on Steveston Highway.

We came on a weekend in the morning before an afternoon movie at the theatre close by. We had to wait a little bit since they had a few large groups that morning. The manager was nice and apologized for the long wait and gave out smoothie samples to everyone.

Coffee is a must in the morning and a few of us can’t go on without it.

Breakfast on a Cheddar crepe has 2 eggs, 2 strips of bacon, 2 sausages served on a crepe filled with cheddar cheese. Mandu ordered an extra side of sausage with her meal.

M got his version with poached eggs. He asked for them to be soft but it came out to be more of a medium.

Toast came with the meal too. A lot of toast.

Burrito crepe is stuffed with eggs, a black bean patty, red and green peppers, onions, green onions and cheddar. It is served with sour cream, salsa and roasted potatoes.

Buckwheat blessing has 3 sausages and cheddar cheese rolled in a blanket of buckwheat crepe and served with fresh fruit. The fruit this time wasn’t as fresh and also didn’t have much variety as I’ve experienced at other locations. The fruits were not very ripe. The grapes were dirty and unwashed.

This visit, no one really seemed to like their meal. The fruits were very disappointing and lacked its fresh flavours. The rest of the dishes were pretty average and nothing was very special with them.

We rate Cora:

Address:
170-11380 Steveston Highway, Richmond

Website:
http://www.chezcora.com/

In Brunch

Belgard Kitchen: Brunch

January 16, 2016

Belgard Kitchen is inside the Settlement Building in the Downtown Eastside close to Ask for Luigi. My friends and I came here for brunch on the weekend to reconnect and enjoy some good food.

Their brunches are on Saturday and Sunday from 10am – 3pm.

The space is pretty awesome. High ceilings and tons of barrels that make the space quite unique. It’s a brewery and a winery all in one building.

Postmark Ale Sausage Skillet ($15) has crispy potatoes, roasted mushrooms, tomato, poached eggs, smoky onion parmesan cream, with grilled sourdough. A very hearty dish with a little bit of everything.

Belgard Bacon ($10) has maple bourbon pork belly with maple caramel. This definitely isn’t an entree for one person as it’s pretty tiny. It’s more like an appetizer where you would share it with the table. The bacon was nice and thick but it was a tad sweet.

Belgard Brunch Burger ($14) has Pemberton Meadows beef, Village Cheese Works cheddar, caramelized onions, house relish, iceberg, tomato, fried egg, brioche bun, and brunch spuds in a jar. Once you stack the 2 halves together, its quite large. I made sure to eat the egg yolk before putting it together as I didn’t want it to get messy. The potatoes were a good touch, but I wish it was a salad instead.

Salmon Gravlax Hash ($15) has house cured sockeye, crispy potatoes, avocado, pickled onions, arugula, beet with Postmark IPA puree, poached eggs, and smoky onion parmesan cream. It’s a beautiful dish was beaming with colour, but there would have been more salmon on the dish. Very heathy compared to other hashes around town.

Overall, it was good brunch food. Their menu is a good size and you will find a little something for everyone. One thing that we did notice was the service could have been more attentive.

We rate Belgard Kitchen:

Address:
Settlement Building
55 Dunlevy Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://belgardkitchen.com/

In Brunch

Au Comptoir: Breakfast in Kitsilano

January 10, 2016

Au Comptoir is a classic Parisien cafe in Kitsilano. Flo was back in town and we love meeting up over coffee and delicious food. Thats what foodies do best.

They are open at 8am everyday for breakfast. It’s great that they are open so early.

No breakfast is complete without coffee. I grabbed a cappuccino with my meal. It has a nice pit of latte art on top. They also serve it with a small little cookie. Nice touch.

The water bottle is pretty neat as they reuse old Whiskey bottles.

Breakfast Au Comptoir ($13) has oeuf cocotte, potato rösti, and your choice of house-made sausage or bacon. Flo got the bread replaced with more salad. Bacon is deliciously crisp.

Croque Madame ($14) has gruyère, ham, fried egg on country bread, and salad. I liked how it was served open-faced and it wasn’t too heavy for breakfast. The salad balances out the croque madame.

Overall, it was a good place to catch up with friends over breakfast. The servers were nice and a good place to start the day with food and drinks.

We Rate Au Comptoir:

Address:
2278 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://aucomptoir.ca/

In Brunch

Earl’s Kitchen and Bar: Weekend Brunch

January 3, 2016

Earl’s Kitchen and Bar serves up brunch on the weekends and they invited us to try all 5 of their signature brunch items on the menu. They were founded in 1982 and since then has 65 locations across North America. This particular location in on the 2nd floor right above London Drugs on Robson Street.

The space is large with patio seating as well. We were seated right by the window, so it was nice to watch the cars drive by Robson Street.

To start off the brunch, I got apple juice and the other ladies got orange juice.

Goat Cheese Frittata ($13) has arugula, oven dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, chopped olives, and preserved lemon. The egg was light and fluffy on the bottom and the greens on the top helped lighten the heaviness of the egg.

Sweet Virginia Benny ($13) has sweet virginia ham, poached eggs, hollandaise, grilled sourdough, and crispy fried potatoes.
The eggs were poached perfectly soft! The crispy potatoes were so addictive!

Fried Egg Sandwich ($13) has cheddar, caramelized lemon aioli, tomato, and bacon inside warm griddled sourdough.

This reminded me of a BELT Sandwich but with cheddar. It’s a good alternative. Tasted very satisfying but I wish the side wasn’t potatoes. Perhaps fries or a salad.

Chorizo + Mushroom Hash ($14) has avocado, crispy fried potatoes, topped with poached eggs and hollandaise. This was the favourite dish of the meal.

The egg was poached perfectly and the chorizo, avocado and crispy potatoes just meld together so well.

Sourdough French Toast ($12) has a berry compote, chantilly cream and pure maple syrup. A perfect item to end the meal. Splitting it amongst friends is the best so you can ensure a sweet finish to the meal.

A majority of the dishes use sourdough bread which was easily noticed when we had all the dishes in front of us.

After eating all those dishes, we needed to eat and drink more to digest. We all got coffee and just relaxed.

What better way to enjoy the weekend that brunch with some good friends? The brunch at Earl’s was pretty good and the items were prepared very well. The prices are very fair and I would return again. With all the other brunch options in town, its easily missed.

We Rate Earls:

Address:
1185 Robson Street, Vancouver

Website:
https://earls.ca/

In Brunch

La Mezcaleria: Weekend Brunch

December 17, 2015

La Mezcaleria has been on Commercial Drive now for quite a few years as a Mexican Cantina. For brunch they infuse traditional Mexican flavours with West Coast influence. When I think of La Mezcaleria, I never thought they had brunch. It was surprising, so M and I decided to check it out.

We were on our way next door to go to the wine store, but could help gravitate in here to grab a bite.

Horchata is a traditional non-alcoholic drink made out of almonds, sesame seeds, rice and barley. M always orders horchata at Mexican restaurants and just loves it.

Huevos Rancheros has two corn tortillas served with two sunny side up free-range eggs topped with refried black beans, quesofresco, pico de gallo, salsa ranchera, calabacitas, beans and crema. Definitely very saucy but with a lot of delicious flavours. Plus, a good amount of bacon if you add it.

Almon Con Tequila has toasted english muffin topped with tequila and citrus cured salmon, two poached eggs and chipotle hollandaise. Served with seasonal greens and hashbrowns. The hashbrowns were amazing and super crisp! The salmon is also Oceanwise. The whole dish was delicious and well balanced. The poached egg was perfectly soft.

They also gave a us a few sauces with our meal.

Overall, the brunch was great and I would highly recommend it. I’m glad we stopped here for brunch since it was totally unplanned.

We rate La Mezcaleria:

Address:
1622 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.lamezcaleria.ca/

In Brunch

Tableau Bar and Bistro: Weekend Brunch

December 5, 2015

Tableau Bar and Bistro is located close to Coal Harbour under the Loden Hotel and is known for their traditional French bistro fare. The meals are prepared by Executive Chef Marc-André Choquette.

We came here for Dee‘s Birthday Brunch to celebrate being a year wiser.

Their interior combines old world classic bistro elements with modern touches and a French-inspired menu that blends classic culinary flavours of Paris with the use of fresh west coast ingredients.

All brunches start with coffee, at least for me it does. I can’t function without it these days. I think I ended up getting 3 refills.

For others, it’s all about the cocktails to accompany brunch.

Bacon Caesar consists of bacon infused vodka, clamato, and a nice slice of crisp bacon on top.

1181 has gin, elderflower, lemonade, sparkling wine

Patisserie Basket ($12) was what we started off with. It consists of daily baked pastries croissant, pain au chocolat, muffins, and maple pecan danish. Sometimes the items in the basket may change. For us, they didn’t have any more maple pecan danishes, so chocolate banana bread was substituted. It was a good items to order for the large group of us. Everyone would try a piece.

Croque Monsieur and Frites has toasted, honey ham, gruyère cheese, with the added free range egg on top. They ran out of frites when we were here, so the alternative was potatoes.

Florentine Eggs Benedict had perfectly poached eggs on top. The spinach was delicious.

Shaved Brisket Eggs Benedict had a good portion of brisket.

Mushrooms on Toast is one of the featured items. I am a sucker for mushrooms, so I just gravitated towards this dish. It has a fried egg on top with creamy mushrooms, and toasted brioche on the bottom. The mushrooms were beaming with flavour from that sauce.

Overall, it was a good brunch with great friends to celebrate another milestone.

We rate Tableau Bar and Bistro:

Address:
Loden Hotel, 1181 Melville Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://tableaubarbistro.com/

In Brunch

OEB Breakfast Co: in Calgary

November 9, 2015

The first thing to do when M and I arrived in Calgary was to get breakfast. A few friends suggested we go to OEB Breakfast Co, so that’s where we headed. There is pay parking on the right side of the building.

Chef Mauro Martina created OEB in 2009 and has since won many awards like Best Brunch by Where Magazine, Brunch for 2013/14 by the Calgary Herald reader’s choice awards, and Award of Excellence by Trip Advisor. OEB stands for Over Easy Breakfast.

The restaurants seats 36 people and the menu changes bi-annually. The interior is fun and colourful, a perfect way to perk up your morning.

On the weekend, there are usually long waits, but I love how they have the chalk writings on the ceilings. If there is a wait, you can use the NoWait App to put your name on the waiting list without being present. It will also give you the amount of people ahead of you as well as the wait of the line. It’s pretty good if you won’t want to be wasting time waiting in line.

Freshly Squeeze Organic Orange Juice ($5.75) is very fresh and the perfect pairing with breakfast.

Mango Dream Real Fruit Smoothie ($5) has mango, strawberry and mango nectar.

Croque Madame @ OEB ($15) has rosemary ham, sourdough rye, fior de latte mozzarella, summer truffles, cherry tomatoes, crispy potatoes, 2 eggs sunny side up, and brown butter hollandaise.

It was really good. The eggs were cooked perfectly. I just found the only problem is that it had so much carbs inside. I could have gone without the potatoes in it.

Porchetta Benny ($15.50) has roast pork, porcini and white truffle ragu with the brown butter hollandaise. It is served on an english muffin. There are twice fried duck fat herb potatoes and fresh fruit. M thought it was ok.

Overall, it is a unique and hip restaurant serving brunch.

We Rate OEB Breakfast Co:

Address:
824 Edmonton Trl NE, Calgary, AB

Website:
http://eatoeb.com/

In Brunch

Galaxie Diner: Old School Diner in Calgary

November 7, 2015

Galaxie Diner in the Beltline area of Calgary is an old school diner. This diner was recommended by a friend, so we went. Surprisingly, it was a block away from our hotel, which was awesome.

Galaxie diner opened in 1996 serving delicious meals at fair prices.

The diner is small, so it doesn’t fit too many people at once. We came here on a weekday just before the lunch time rush and we had to wait a little bit for a table of 2.

We ended up with 2 seats on the counter but we didn’t mind since this is where the action happens.

Their grill is working non-stop to serve the lunch rush. Their chef was cooking so many dishes at once but I noticed how he kept his station quite tidy as he churned out each dish.

Breakfast Burrito (1 piece – $11.75) has scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, beef sausage, sauteed mushrooms, onions, banana peppers, and green peppers all rolled inside a tortilla. Salsa, sour cream, and hash browns are on the side.

It was really good. The salsa and sour cream really hit the spot.

Calgary Sandwich ($15) is loaded with eggs, cheese, sauteed mushrooms, onions, green onions, tomatoes, banana peppers, green peppers, bacon, beef sausage, and mayonnaise on grilled brown bread.
Served with hash browns on the side.

This sandwich put a smile on M’s face. Good food, huge portions and super casual atmosphere.

At the end of the meal, they give you some dubble bubble. Oh man, I haven’t had this in a long time. I hate dubble bubble, but the memories just flood back. The best part was really the comics inside.

We Rate Galaxie Diner:

Address:
1413 11 St SW, Calgary, AB

Website:
http://www.galaxiediner.ca/

In Brunch

The Jammery: All Day Breakfast + Lunch in Kelowna

October 3, 2015

The Jammery is located north of Kelowna near Lake Country. They serve up all day breakfast and lunch daily until closing time. I was making my way to Kangaroo Creek Farm and had to stop here for breakfast before continuing on our road trip across BC.

They have also been on an episode on You Gotta Eat Here. The video footage is here.

The restaurant, gift shop and jam production facility is located on 7 acres of agricultural land. It’s surrounded by natural beauty.

You can sit inside or in their newer patio area with large windows so you can see the natural beauty outside.

Coffee is a must. The staff were really nice and diligent about filling these right up. We woke up pretty early to make the long drive to Golden, BC, so we made sure we loaded up on caffeine.

Bacon Cheeseburger has 4 pieces of bacon, two homemade beef sliders and poached eggs on a toasted english muffin smothered in their buttery hollandaise sauce and topped with cheddar cheese. It is served with oven roasted hashbrowns and a slice of orange.

It was pretty interesting to see this as a brunch dish, but it’s quite popular after it appeared on the Food Network. M enjoyed it.

Jammery Favourite! gives you the choice between 1/2 golden waffle or one piece French toast with 2 eggs any style, three bacon or three sausages or honey ham and oven roasted hash browns.

I went with the golden waffle, sunny side up eggs, and sausage. It give you a little bit of everything you need. The waffle was cooked very well and has a crispy texture on the outside.

In their gift shop, they sell their signature jams. Instead of making wine, The Jammery makes a lot of jam.

Overall, it was nice stop on the way to our next journey across BC.

We Rate the Jammery:

Address:
8038 Highway 97, Kelowna, BC V4V

Website:
http://www.jammery.com/

In Brunch

Nice Cafe: Brunch in Vancouver

September 13, 2015

Having brunch on the weekend is a must! One of my favourite places in Vancouver to have brunch is at Nice Cafe near Main Street and 8th Ave. It’s a greasy spoon type of cafe, that will take you back to the 90s.

You will find homestyle breakfast items on their menu like sandwiches, bennies, omelettes, and other items.

Blackstone Benny ($8.50) comes with delicious Kennebec hashbrowns. Inside the benny is bacon, grilled tomato, poached egg and hollandaise sauce.

Spinach and Feta Omelette ($7.50) and it also come with the Kennebec hashbrowns. I really love the hashbrowns. Super crispy and its even better with ketchup and hot sauce.

Side of Grilled Mushrooms ($1.95) is a must unless you really hate mushrooms. Its grilled to perfection and slathered in butter. So good.

Overall, it’s another good greasy spoon breakfast. Service can be poor when its super busy, but since the place is quite small, you can eventually flag a server down.

We rate Nice Cafe:

Address:
154 E 8th Ave
Vancouver, BC

In Brunch

Adesso Bistro: Brunch in the West End

September 12, 2015

Adesso Bistro is hidden in a residential neighbourhood in the West End. I’ve been searching for new places for brunch and this popped up as one of the suggestions on Zomato. Since I’ve never been, I thought it would be a good chance to have brunch and hang out with a friend. We love brunch, so we do love to explore.

The interior is nice and intimate, which is good for a dinner setting. As the building is older, we could really smell the age of the building. The smell reminded me of a museum.

They also have a patio, which is pretty awesome. Since it was cold in the morning, we stayed inside.

Strata ($14) is a brunch dish, similar to a quiche or frittata. It is oven baked in a hot skillet. There is pancetta, eggs, oyster mushrooms, and fontina cheese. There is a cherry tomato and arugula salad with a light dressing.

It sounded like a cool dish when the waiter described it, but it fell kinda flat.

Trota Hollandaise Benedict ($18) has house smoked trout , poached eggs, roasted tomato, chives, hollandaise, and spring onions. They also serve it with a tomato and arugula salad with light dressing.

The poached egg was made to a perfect medium. I liked the use of focaccia bread instead of the typical english muffin. It gives it a nice texture and it soaks up the hollandaise and yolk a bit more.

Overall, the brunch was good if you have the bennys but it is a bit pricey.

We Rate Adesso Bistro:

Address:
1906 Haro Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.adessobistro.net/

In Brunch

L’Abattoir: Weekend Brunch

August 6, 2015

L’Abattoir offers up a delicious weekend brunch in the heart of Gastown. Of course their dinner menu is stellar as always, but with their brunch menu, the mix comforting staples with hearty, unique entrees.

Always try to make reservations in advance since L’Abattoir is one of the hottest restaurants in town. You can still walk in without one, but it’s always nice to not have to wait. When we were here, we didn’t see it pick up until around 12:30pm.

We were seated upstairs and there is plenty of room for hungry weekend brunchers and probably the severely hungover too.

Thirsty brunchers can sip on creative cocktails, as well as different daily features. They also have non-alcoholic options like their daily bottled house made iced teas.

Their menu isn’t too large but it is still difficult to figure out what to order.

French Press JJ Bean Coffee comes in a small pot, but it was plenty enough for the both of us. They also do free refills, so if you are a coffee guzzler, you’ll be overjoyed.

Delicious and you really can’t go wrong with JJ Bean as they are amazing local coffee roasters.

The waitresses come around offering up their freshly made pastries a la carte. Of course I couldn’t decide so I had to ask the waitress for her recommendation.

Blueberry Danish ($5) was a nice start to the brunch. Nice crisp exterior with delicious blueberries and the sweet custard in the centre. The waitress said this was one of their more popular pastries and tends to sell out.

When all 3 dishes arrived, we couldn’t help but salivate. Just beautiful.

Poached eggs with smoked pork belly ($17) has a cheddar sabayon and a homemade English muffin. It also comes with a salad and a slice of orange.

We asked for the eggs to be soft poached and it did not disappoint. Let it ooze!

Full breakfast ($22) has 2 eggs, duck sausage, mushrooms, pork & beans, boudin noir, rösti, and toast. If you are a big eater, you will love this! Lots of carbs and lots of protein. A very hearty meal!

Boudin noir is blood sausage, the darker item behind the pork belly. It was a nice surprise to the dish since it’s not normally served during a breakfast. Most people probably wouldn’t realize its blood sausage unless they asked. It has a unique taste but not bad.

I love the crispy rosti!

Breakfast burger ($15) has a quarter pound patty, hashbrown patty, and a fried egg. It comes of a smaller plate than the other dishes, but don’t feel like it’s not substantial because it is filling.

We cut the burger in half and shared it. It’s a bit easier to eat that way. Delicious flavours but I found the hashbrown to be over salted.

Overall, the brunch items were fantastic and a good twist on brunch classics. I would definitely come here again.

We Rate L’Abattoir:

Address:
217 Carrall Street,
Vancouver

Website:
http://www.labattoir.ca/

In Brunch

Farmers Apprentice: Farm to Table Brunch

July 16, 2015

The Farmers Apprentice is located in Fairview and they serve a farm to table style cuisine that uses the best ingredients that our local farmers have to offer.

As per weekend tradition, brunch is a must! Farmers Apprentice has been on my ‘eating list’ for a while. They were named best new restaurant of 2014 by En Route Magazine, Restaurant of the Year by Vancouver Magazine, and so many more.

It just seemed like it opened and instantly won all these awards. Either way, I wanted to check it out for myself.

The interior is rustic and has about 40 seats, but they are quite busy. The atmosphere is casual that you feel like you fit right in.

Their kitchen is pretty open, so you can see what they are all doing. I love it since you know they have nothing to hide. They just want to make delicious food. The best view of the kitchen is from the bar seats. I love bar seats since you can see all the staff in action.

All the dishes for brunch are meant to be shared and it arrives in the order they prepare them.

Cappuccino was our drink of choice to start off our day. It came in these clear mugs, so we can see the contents inside.

Smorrebord (all 3 – $16 or $6 each) is an open-faced sprouted rye bread sandwich. When we dined here, they had 3 kinds:

filet beans, fromage frais, soft boiled egg and roasted onion
beef tartare, mustard emulsion, and pickled shallots
cod rillette, creme fraiche, pickled beets and dill

It’s a great item to share among friends. What I liked most about this item is the bread! I just love the texture of all the seeds in it. All 3 flavours were great, as you can really taste the ingredients that go into each one. But, I felt like the beef tartare was under seasoned or needed a bit more mustard taste to make the beef taste shine through.

Berkshire and tamsworth pork biscuit sandwich with fried egg ($14) this was highly recommended by our server. She says it apparently changes lives when people sink their teeth into this. Definitely brunch worthy. The egg was fried perfectly with a soft yolky centre. The biscuit was damn good too.

Octopus, sieglinde potatoes, pickled radish, charmoula, and poached egg ($15) was just delightful. The octopus was tender and flavourful. The sauce balanced well with all the other ingredients.

When I was eating this dish, you can’t help but adore each bite of each ingredient. The octopus was really good!

The egg was poached soft and made my heart sing. That’s my favourite type of egg to fit a perfect brunch meal. I get angry at other restaurants when they don’t know how to poach eggs.

Confit Chicken, potato has, summer squash, and poached eggs ($13) had a similar presentation to the octopus. Great taste and it felt super clean and healthy.

Overall, you can really classify this restaurant as farm to table with hipster west coast flare if there was such a thing? I enjoyed the meal and you can feel the passion that the chef has for this restaurant and this type of cuisine. Plus, BC grows some amazing vegetables and produce great proteins. I’m sure if you asked the staff about where they source their ingredients, you’ll enjoy the stories.

This restaurant won’t appeal to everyone but it’s great to try at least once. It’s feels healthy, clean and delicious. Usually brunch is associated with being greasy and protein heavy, but it’s a nice change coming here.

We Rate Farmers Apprentice:

Address:
1535 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.farmersapprentice.ca/

In Brunch

Lakeside Cafe: Breakfast at Harrison Hot Springs

June 24, 2015

Lakeside Cafe is located on the second floor of the Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa. We came here around 8:30am to partake in their breakfast buffet. It starts at 7am and goes on till 11am on the weekdays or 12pm on the weekends.

Lakeside Cafe offers dinner too and it’s much more casual than the Copper Room.

The interior is a bit dated, so sitting inside really reminded me of a 90s buffet. We opted to sit outdoors on the patio.

The view is stunning on the patio. If you aren’t too afraid to be a tad chilly, definitely sit outside.

After we were seated, the servers offered us coffee and tea to start off the breakfast buffet. They also give us a pot of coffee so we can refill it at any time.

You can alternatively get some juice if you like. You can’t go wrong with orange juice.

Their most popular feature is their omelette bar. The man that takes care of this area is hilarious! He’s great to chat with and makes all the guests laugh. You can also have plain eggs too if you don’t want an omelette.

You can choose from a variety of toppings.

Once everything is in the pan, you can wait till it cooks. It does take a while and the line is a tad long, but its worth it.

There is a cereal area with oatmeal and different toppings like nuts and dried fruit.

There is also a section for yogurt and fresh fruit.

There is a bread and toast area. When you use the toaster, be ready to catch the toast as it likes to fly out of the toaster.

There’s also the heated food area that I didn’t take pictures of. They have, waffles, bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages, etc. A decent amount of options, but we all know that bacon and sausages are the most important.

I got the omelette packed with a bit of everything. Smoked salmon, sausages and a pile of bacon.

They have fresh fruit, but the fruit was a bit mushy like it’s been siting in some sort of liquid for a while. Definitely could have been more fresh.

M got a little bit of everything, but we both agreed that the quality was pretty average. The options are a bit limited in the buffet and could used more protein options. It was around ~$20 for the breakfast buffet, which is pricey because no one really needs to eat huge portions for breakfast. If you are a huge eater, maybe this is for you.