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If there's one thing Vancouverites love to do, it's line up. And one thing we always seem to be lining up for is brunch.
It's no wonder, then, that a UK-based website has come to the conclusion that Vancouver is Canada's number two brunch hotspot - although, of course, many of us are wondering why we aren't at the very top, considering how much time, money, and stomach space we devote to the meal.
The global "study" comes from the site Money.co.uk, and uses "TripAdvisor data for the number of brunch spots and amount of excellent reviews, alongside the demand for brunch spots in each city." Basically, this means the rankings are likely influenced by the experience of non-locals since TripAdvisor caters to travellers.
According to the "study" calculations, the U.S. and the UK are the top-two ranked nations; surely England is breathing a sigh of relief, since it's an Englishman who is credited with "inventing" brunch, specifically the concept that weekend weary folks would benefit from having a heartier, later breakfast-lunch hybrid meal, hence "brunch."
It's not clear with the charts they sent over just where Vancouver ranks globally, but we do know Montreal is the first Canadian city to show up in the list, ranked in eighth position.
Vancouver is "the second-best brunch hotspot in Canada." That honour was determined based on the following: 18.76% of all restaurants in Vancouver have a brunch option, and they hold an average TripAdvisor rating of 4.14, with 37,309 of them 'excellent', nearly half (49.96%) of all reviews in total."
However, in Canada, it's Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa where brunch has seen the biggest uptick in "demand." (Or, as the "study" spells it, "Ottowa." Whoopsies!)
One growing trend when it comes to brunch is the "bottomless brunch," which is another way of saying "all you can eat."
"Over the past five years, almost two million articles have been written about the bottomless brunch, and in June 2021, the term hit its peak number of searches - and it’s still growing," notes the new brunch study.
In Vancouver, the trend hasn't quite caught on, though there is one high-profile restaurant offering a "bottomless" or AYCE brunch, which is ARC Restaurant at the Fairmont Waterfront. On weekends, for $49 per person, diners there can enjoy unlimited tasting plates from a variety of options such as Liege waffles with seasonal fruit, salmon Benedict, jerk fried chicken on a funnel cake, breakfast tacos, and beef shortrib poutine. ARC began offering its "bottomless brunch" in October 2020.
