Theresa’s breakfast

My first visit to the Red Wagon was for lunch, I splurged and got the excellent pulled pork sandwich. It was so good I licked both my fingers and my plate clean.  The Red Wagon is not a restaurant that’s afraid of pork. There’s pulled pork, pork belly, bacon (and yes, there are vegetarian choices, but really The Red Wagon is a carnivore’s heaven). I ordered the pork belly breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, toast, pan fries, and yes, pork belly. It came with a salsa verde and an indifferent hollandaise sauce. The scrambled eggs were wonderfully fluffy, the potatoes were well seasoned and the multigrain toast was crispy and hot. The pork belly was really fatty though so I just nibbled at the meaty bits. Kris chided me for not eating the rest, commenting: “pork belly IS fat,” and then promptly speared a piece and devoured it. That fixed my wagon.

Kris’s Breakfast

This was my fourth early morning breakfast to the Red Wagon. I advise getting up early and arriving as close to opening, 9 am, as possible. The Red Wagon gets very busy and the line forms around 9:40 am. I must say that the wait in line is worth it. I had the pulled pork benny this time around. I have been craving this dish since I first had it last month. The pork was so tender with just the right balance of sweet tang and slight spicy heat. The fresh hollandaise gave this southern take on the benny the perfect rich coat of goodness it deserves. The homemade potatoes were fresh with the right amount of crisp and rounded out this much enjoyed breakfast. On all my visits the service and the food have been top notch. I highly recommend The Red Wagon for a great weekend breakfast.

Breakfast for two cost us $29.79

Theresa’s rating: 3.5 eggs out of 5

Kris’ rating: 4 eggs out of 5

James’s brekkie

We took advantage of Remembrance Day, and as the hour of note approached, we were building on the things to be grateful for with a delicious breakfast. The diner is bowling-alley long, booths on one side, counter and stools on the other, and a shared table at the back where my breakfast mate and I sat. Service was quick and friendly without being gooey. Now, the food… I had the corned beef hash, (a stunningly reasonable $8). The best breakfast potatoes I’ve ever had – hard to call them hash browns (‘though the menu does) because they had the sweet succulence of freshly dug baby spuds. They came topped with the oniony beef hash, a poached egg, and a rosemary and cheese biscuit – all rated high on the Yum-O-Meter. The menu claims the hash comes with a side of hollandaise, which was MIA, but it wasn’t missed.

Theresa’s Breakfast

The cold and damp has been getting to me lately, and breakfast at Save on Meats was a good antidote. I ordered the Eggs Benny with bacon and tomato (and yes, it too was reasonably priced – $8!!). At that price point, there’s a lot that could wrong, but the bacon was thick sliced and plentiful, the eggs were perfectly poached and the potatoes were awesome. I had a couple of small beefs: my earl grey tea had an odd flavour, and the menu promised a biscuit, instead I got an English muffin. It wasn’t a big deal until James shared a taste of his biscuit with me, then I was really disappointed. It was excellent!

The details:

Breakfast for two cost us $22.

James’ rating: 4 eggs out of 5
Theresa’s rating: 3.5 eggs out of 5

Theresa’s breakfast

Sylvia’s breakfast menu is pretty basic; after all, it is a hotel restaurant and they cater to guests who want a simple, hearty breakfast. And the Sylvia

delivers. I ordered the traditional eggs benny, which came with a side of fried potatoes. It wasn’t blow your socks off good but it wasn’t rot your socks off bad either. It was just good. The bonus for me was my morning tea came in a heated carafe with two tea bags and arrived already steeped. Combine that with good company and fabulous view of English Bay (and waaaay to many early morning guilt-inducing runners!), the Sylvia made for a lovely start to Sunday.

James’ breakfast

I had the Toyota Camry of breakfasts. Of course that’s not what they call it – it has a more appropriate name: the English Bay. It includes two eggs, three buttermilk pancakes and choice of bacon, ham or sausage. Price: $10 ($11 if you want BC blueberry-studded pancakes). Why the Toyota reference? ‘Cause this breakfast is a sure, safe bet: tasty but not trendy, and a sensibly satisfying portion. Despite all of the food items included, everything fit on a normal dinner plate. Oh yes, and they include a glass of juice of your choice, again in a sensible size. Ditto on Theresa’s tea comments.

Breakfast for two cost $29.10

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

The good  news is that they plan to reopen on Friday, March 11 at a new location, 3469 Main Street.

Congratulations Slick and welcome back. We missed you.

But lo! Behold! A window of opportunity opened up and my vacationing pal Vivi joined me for breakfast at the Templeton.

The Templeton is located on Granville Street, snugly nestled between a porn shop and a somewhat decrepit variety store.

It’s also wonderfully retro: there are vinyl booths, jukeboxes at each table and a long lunch counter. The menu, though isn’t. The eggs are natural free run, the turkey sausage is organic, and the bacon is preservative-free. Given the sorry state of some of the other places we’ve visited, we were pleased to note the cleanliness of the place. (Vivi visited the loo, and came back speechless. What’s up with that?)

But I digress. Breakfast was really good. I ordered the Farmers Breakfast- rosemary potatoes sautéed with veggies, melted aged white cheddar, two eggs any style, fresh salsa and sour cream. I ordered my eggs scrambled, and they were fluffy and flavourful. I was pining for toast, but apparently it doesn’t come with this breakfast. Vivi, being the awesome pal that she is, let me have some of her multigrain toast. I have to give kudos to the person who made the salsa-I have never seen tomatoes cut so perfectly, so exactly. It was almost a shame to eat them, they were so lovely. I also ordered plain orange pekoe tea, but I was told what they had was plain organic black tea. Works for me.

Vivi’s brekkie:

I had the Bad Ass Breakfast, and it was incredibly awesome. Scrambled eggs were unbelievable, easily the best I’ve ever had – you’re probably thinking ‘how can scrambled eggs be that outstanding?’ They were fluffy, as Theresa said, but with no grease or milkiness, firm and not runny. Two blueberry pancakes were included in my platter and they included fresh berries but were a little flat. The turkey sausage was the first time I’ve enjoyed eating meat at breakfast (no double entendre meant there, really), great texture and just enough spices. I don’t usually like potatoes with breakfast either, but the rosemary taters that came with my dish were just right not too oily or over seasoned. And the toast was great, too.

Our server was no-nonsense, I liked that…wasn’t trying to be our friend, but met all our needs quickly and quietly.

And yes, the bathrooom was very odd. You had to walk through the kitchen, behind whomever was working at the stove, to get there. It was tiny – I couldn’t stand sideways between the sink and door. No hook to put your purse or anything on, which I think is the least they can provide. And you could tell a lot of men had used it before me…by 10:30 am? Probably not cleaned overnight, ya know?

Still the food and service was fabulous, and I’d heartily recommend The Templeton to one and all.

The facts:

The Templeton Restaurant
1087 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC (604) 685-4612

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

Breakfast for two cost  $25

Chorizo and goat cheese frittata

I had the West Coast frittata with goat cheese and chorizo sausage, Al had the special, a Greek omlette with fresh spinach and feta, and Jaire had the classic breakfast with eggs over easy. I also had Earl Grey tea (a passable Mighty Leaf), Al had coffee, which she reported as excellent and Jaire had water that was served from a wine bottle.

We all enjoyed our breakfasts, the food was plentiful and for the most part alright. And herein lies my beef with the Modern Café. A closer attention detail would have made the difference between a good breakfast and a memorable one. For example, the toast was an indifferent Wonderbread-type offering. The jams came in those little packages. Jaire asked for orange juice and was disappointed they only offered concentrate. I am sucker for goat cheese and was unimpressed with the wee bit they condescended to put on my frittata.

Greek omelette

The breakfast definitely paled in comparison to my sublime company.

The facts:

The Modern Café
221 Commercial Street
Nanaimo, BC
250-754-5022

Classic Breakfast

Breakfast for three cost us $33.04

James’ Brekkie

Once the waiter ushered us in we were quickly seated, and our order was taken with similar promptness. I went for the Croque Madame and settled back in the stylishly understated surroundings, enjoying a pot of Earl Grey and some volume-just-right jazz music. When the Croque arrived, I wasn’t disappointed. Crisply grilled brioche was a base for a firm poached egg topped with Sauce Choron (Hollandaise-like). A salad with a light but spicy mustard dressing filled the rest of the plate. The only thing that could have been improved was the single slice of porchetta hiding between the two slices of brioche – it seems forlorn with a meek flavour that didn’t compliment the rest of the delicious offerings. Tried the “Breakfast Poutine” Theresa ordered – very tasty, too.

Theresa’s Brekkie

The ad for brunch said 10, the menu posted outside said 10, even the bill presented to us at the end of breakfast said 10. So when James and I showed up promptly at 10 ready to greet to the day, we were somewhat disappointed to discover that they weren’t actually going to open until 11. So we cooled our heels with a short walk and coffee.

La Brasserie advertises itself as a Franco-German restaurant. Ever since it opened in the West End, I’ve wanted to try it. But everytime I tried to try, it was jam packed with line-ups outside. We returned promptly at 11, and by 11:10 the restaurant was packed and there was line-up outside. And with good reason. Ignoring the clenching of my arteries, I ordered the Brasserie Breakfast Poutine, which consists of a poached egg, lardons (chunks of thick cut bacon), truffle oil, pork gravy, cheese curds atop French fries.

Now before you chide me for eating what looks reads like a heart attack in a bowl, I have to say it wasn’t greasy or heavy in any way. First of all, the portion isn’t huge. And while poutine can be messy, the chef used a gentle hand in this version. The potatoes were fresh cut and crispy, the lardons were crunchy and flavourful, and there was just the right amount of pork gravy. Even the cheese curds had just the right amount of melt happening. There wasn’t a pool of grease or gravy at the bottom of the bowl either. It was a well-proportioned dish. More importantly, it was an incredibly delicious dish. The bonus was individual pots of good quality loose leaf Earl Grey tea. La Brasserie was well worth the wait for me.

The facts:

La Brasserie
1091 Davie Street
604-568-6499
www.labrasserievancouver.com

Breakfast for two cost us $32.00

James’ rating: 4 eggs out of 5
Theresa’s rating: 4.5 eggs out of 5

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