Friendly Banners Restaurant

There’s an old saying that goes you should never mix business and pleasure. When Kath, the woman I was interviewing for a story on palliative care, suggested we meet over breakfast, I thought why not ask her if she was interested in sharing her insights for this blog? She was in, and even suggested the restaurant. So we hit Commercial Drive for a visit to the somewhat awkwardly named Friendly Banners Restaurant.

Banners Breakfast

Now FBR is decorated in 80’s style pastels and pictures of large lush flowers. But unlike other restaurants that desperately need to be redecorated and scrubbed clean, FBR was spotless. And while the name of the place is somewhat awkward, it’s accurate. The service was very friendly, efficient and unobtrusive, which I appreciated as we had work to do as well.

I ordered the Banners Breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, a bagel, bacon, and panfried potatoes. Kath had the smoked European sausage, eggs, pancakes, potatoes and toast. Both are breakfasts were huge. And everything was homemade. And everything was absolutely delicious. Our tea was served in these 70s era ceramic teapots and came piping hot.

European sausages and pancakes

Kath is a very busy mother of 5 and she appreciates restaurants that serve lots of food for not a lot of money, so a visit to a place like Banners is always on the agenda when they visit Vancouver. Serving sizes were more than ample, and kept us both sated for just about whole day. And here’s the best thing: FBR has a ice-cream bar. You can have ice cream for breakfast! How cool is that?

Banners has definitely restored my faith in greasy spoons!

The facts

Friendly Banners Restaurant
1690 East 12th Ave. (at Commercial)
604-874-0731
www.friendlybanners.com

Breakfast for two cost us 19.80

Theresa’s rating: 3.5 eggs out of 5
Kath’s rating: 3.5 eggs out of 5

 

Mom’s Cafe

I love weekends away! While I love living in Vancouver, a getaway to visit friends in Sooke, on Vancouver Island is always a welcome change of scenery and pace. I was visiting my friends Alice and Jaire. While Alice ran some errands, Jaire and I tucked into Mom’s Cafe for breakfast.

Jaire is a writer, and a damn fine one, but he really wasn’t interested in writing about his breakfast-he just said to write it for him. Okay. I can do that. Mom’s Cafe is very blue, and I mean that literally. Apparently it was renovated recently and everything is blue-blue floor, blue walls, blue booths, blue blue blue. And a warning. It was bloody cold the morning of our visit. I made the mistake of visiting the ladies and discovered they didn’t heat the bathrooms. The toilet seat was frozen, turning a certain part of my anatomy as blue as the decor. Gives new meaning to freezing your ass off.

Breakfast Burrito

Anyway, on the breakfast. I ordered the breakfast burrito, and this thing was HUGE! And it was good. I have had many a badly made scrambled egg and these were miles ahead of any restaurant in Vancouver. There were light, and fluffy and buttery. The burrito was stuffed with huge chunks of ham, tomatoes, and peppers. The potatoes were hot and crunchy and made to order.

Jaire kept it pretty simple for breakfast. He had the breakfast special (choice of eggs, choice of toast, choice of meat). He went with eggs over easy, sourdough toast and sausages.  When I asked him how he liked his breakfast, he simply said, “It was good.” So there you go. Nice and simple. Just like Mom used to make.

Egg and sausages

Now if only my nether regions would defrost…….

The facts:

Mom’s Cafe
Sooke, BC
250-642-7911

Breakfast for two cost us $23.00

Theresa’ rating: 3.5 eggs out of 5
Jaire’s rating: 3 eggs out of 5

 

Wild Garlic Bistro

Wild Garlic is tucked into the corner of Denman and Robson streets. Both my guest blogger, James, and I are West Enders, and I am always looking for a great breakfast spots close to home. We visited on a rainy Saturday morning (it’s November in Vancouver-what else could we expect?).

James’ Brekkie

Corned beef hash

Clean, cozy space, handy location, attentive service and tasty food – there is a “But” coming, “But” we’ll get to that. The brunch menu has a good selection of breakfast and lunch items. I went with the former and ordered corned beef hash with poached eggs ($8.50 – the online menu price is outdated).

The plate arrived heaped with pan-fried potatoes mixed with corned beef (processed, but no problem), two soft-yolk poached eggs (yum), whole-grain toast and a grape/pineapple garnish – the hot items were nice and hot. But they didn’t stay that way because Theresa’s order took about another five minutes to arrive. This is a small restaurant, and it had maybe six customers and two cooks – we were so close to the grill I could have reached over and touched it (and burned my finger). Despite our proximity, we waited and waited for Theresa’s entree, and in the meantime, my meal went from piping hot to piping tepid.

Theresa’s Brekkie

Bacon and avocado bennie

I’ve been  a bit weary of breakfast spots lately; after a hitting two somewhat dodgey spots, I was looking forward to a good, hearty breakfast in a clean and inviting spot. Wild Garlic fit the bill reasonably well. And yes, like James said, there’s a “But” coming. We started off with two pots of hot tea, served in a ceramic tea pot (with the lid attached with fishing wire. What’s up with that?). I ordered the bacon and avocado bennie, with the usual poached eggs. This version, however was covered with slices of real cheddar cheese, rather that the usual hollandaise sauce. Everything, including the slice of pineapple and bunch of grapes, was fresh and tasty. Here’s the “but.” It arrived a good five minutes after James’ breakfast arrived. Let’s face it: no one wants to eat when his or her companion has no food. And it’s not fun watching someone eat when your stomach is growling.

The facts

Wild Garlic
792 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC V6G 2L5
604-687-1663
www.wildgarlicbistro.com

James’ rating: 3 eggs out of 5
Theresa’s rating: 3.5 eggs of 5

Breakfast for 2 cost us: $23.57