The Reef

Sunday breakfast? What the crap? Yes, it's true, Sunday was the day for breakfast this week. The Team has yet to figure out a day that works for all of us. This week we had to go forth without Rozi, as she had to work at 9am. With that said, The Team was joined by a plethora of additional people this week. Kimmy's boyfriend, Rob, our friend, Bobby (from The Skylight and Deacon's) and his lady, Alicia and our friends, Aaron (from Sunshine Diner), Vienna and Tomas, all joined us.

The Reef is a Caribbean restaurant with two locations in Vancouver, one on Main Street (4172 Main Street) and one on Commercial Drive (1018 Commercial Drive). The Team opted for the Commercial Drive location, due to it being closer to a number of places to watch the Canada vs U.S. gold medal game. The Reef only recently started serving breakfast, so The Team hasn't made it a destination until now. Due to the size of our party this week, I already expected a slightly slower breakfast experience, so when I walked into the place to see several tables already filled, I wasn't too worried. It was only after we all sat down that it became more apparent as to how slow of a breakfast we were really in for.

"Sorry guys, I'm going to be just a few minutes. My other server didn't come in today, so I'm doing everything myself, " our visually flustered server explained.

We all assured her that there were no hard feelings and that we weren't in a huge hurry that morning. We all ordered coffees, along with a pint of beer and a Spanish coffee (spiked coffee, for those that don't know) for Tomas, a Spanish coffee for Vienna and a Screwdriver for me. Yes, I'm aware that it was 10am on a Sunday, but there was a big hockey game coming up and we had to start early. Anywho, we all began to take a good, long look at the menu, as we knew that we had plenty of time to decide. After a good 10 minutes, our drinks began to arrive, and thus, we were able to put in our breakfast orders. The coffee was actually quite enjoyable, as was my booze-juice. Tomas and Vienna also seemed very pleased with their boozy coffees, enough that I was kind of jealous.

(Due to the sheer volume of food ordered this week, I won't be listing it person-by-person, nor posting pictures of it.)

After about 20 minutes, our food began to arrive. I had ordered the Sam Lord's Breakfast, as I'm not a big fan of eggs benny nor seafood for breakfast. When it was set down in front of me, I was immediately let down by the lack of portions. Two eggs, a handful of hash browns, one jerk-chicken sausage cut in half and one slice of toast. Everyone began to dig into their plates when Aaron grabbed my attention.

"Umm... Jesse, can I have a bit of help?" she asked.

It was at this moment that I realized that she only had one working arm, (she had injured the other one the previous night, so it was in a sling and such) so I had to butter her toast for her. Yes, this was the breakfast that I got to be the bird-mom! (Yes, this may be a recurring topic in the blogs.)

Anywho, as I ate my breakfast, I was mixed with delight and despair. The toast, while thick and appetizing, turned out to be rock-hard. The hash browns were also lackluster, though the eggs and sausage were really tasty. Once again, I was left disappointed by the lack of food. For 8 bucks, I expect to get a plate of good food, not a half-full plate of pretty good food. In the end, after tips, the meal cost me a little over $20, but that included my Screwdriver (5 bucks), and a built-in gratuity due to the size of our party. The girl really did deserve all of the tips, though, considering how she was bartending and serving tables all at the same time. Kudos to her! Cam agreed that the portions were too small, as his scrambler turned out to be the smallest plate at the table. Maybe it's just the fact that we're big eaters, but I think that we may have been the only two that had a beef with the portion sizes. Regardless, I think that I'll stick to lunch/dinner/drinks at The Reef, as the breakfast really wasn't worth it to me.

Stay sharp, kids
Jesse