Vancouverites are serious about brunch. What else can explain our collective willingness to line up in any kind of weather and wait an hour or more in order to devour poached or scrambled eggs with a mimosa?
That said, the palate occasionally longs for something other than a smoked-salmon benny – something other than any kind of eggs, in fact. For those times, here are a few places, in no particular order, that have stepped up their brunch game with less common – but no less delicious – fare.
Café Medina
The waits are long, yes, but where else in the city can you breakfast on spicy Moroccan meatballs washed down with a cocktail or three from talented barkeep Yacine Sylla? While this popular breakfast and brunch spot is known for dishes like tagine of merguez sausage with eggs and stewed chickpeas in preserved lemon ($16), what you really want to try is the harissa “burger” ($17). This eminently Instagram-unfriendly dish is a poem of preserved lemon and harissa-spiced ground beef in a grilled pita with baba ganoush, hummus and greens. MedinaCafe.com
Burdock & Co.
Forget the gluten-free Benny (although it’s quite tasty) and go for the fried chicken with buttermilk mashed potatoes and house pickles ($15). The crispy chunks of chicken are so juicy inside that the dribble down your chin isn’t even noticed as you scarf this very dill-y and delicious dish. Say it with me: Fried. Chicken. And. Mashed. Potatoes. If you need more comfort to drive away the black gloom of Winter 2.0, go for the congee ($14); made with rice grown in Abbotsford by Masa Shiroki (of Artisan Sake Maker), this thick, creamy soup that looks like library paste is laced with sea urchin XO sauce and, yes, a fried egg. BurdockAndCo.com
Au Comptoir
A Parisian-style café might not be your first choice when mulling over brunch options, but maybe it should be. While the burger ($17) – with caramelized onion, raclette, and an optional slab of foie gras – is a popular choice, there is great delight to be found in the ris de veaux ($19). Yes, it’s the veal sweetbreads that draw me here, pan-fried and graced with foraged mushrooms and sunchoke over a carrot purée and topped with a couple of poached eggs. Order the latter extra-soft so there are plenty of dipping opportunities. AuComptoir.ca
Jam Café
For those with a sweet tooth, this café serves up the best – nay, only – red velvet pancakes ($14) in the city. Yes, it’s breakfast cake. With cream-cheese icing on top. Need I say more? Savoury options include chicken French toast ($15): buttermilk-fried bird sitting atop a toasted slab of brioche, drizzled with tobacco-spiced honey, jalapeño sour cream, pickled cabbage, tomato and green onion. Pair it with the Jammer ($7), a prosecco-based concoction that features peach and ginger, for a slightly sweet and rather refreshing tipple. JamCafes.com
Bao Down Gastropub
The Olympic Village satellite of the original Gastown location is bigger and louder, and offers “Island brunch” every weekend. Full of Filipino and Hawaiian flavours, it’s a menu designed to make even the biggest glutton happy. Baos stuffed with spam and nori ($5) make for a nice starter, but it’s the longanisa (Filipino sausage) with garlic fried rice, tomato and onion ($18) that you want to feast on. Well, that or the sisig pork belly with white-corn cheese grits ($18). BaoDown.net
Anya Levykh is a freelance food, drink and travel writer who covers all things ingestible. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @foodgirlfriday.
