Tangent Cafe

Greetings to you all, and welcome back to another day of breakfast in Vancouver.  It's my only day off this week, so I decided to go out and get some things done.  Along the way, I figured that I'd stop for some breakfast while I was on The Drive.  Because it was before 10am on a Saturday, not many places were open for me to eat at, so I opted for a newly-opened place called the Tangent Cafe.  Now, I use the term "newly-opened" fairly loosely, since Tangent Cafe is actually in the exact same spot that Sorry Babushka used to be.  Basically, S.B. closed for a couple of weeks, renovated a bit, then reopened with a new name.  Anywho, I decided to go for it.

So, the serving staff seemed to be quite unchanged from before.  The decor has at least been updated this time around, so I couldn't complain about that.  Otherwise, it seemed much the same as when it was Sorry Babushka.  I sat down and was brought a menu and a coffee ($2.50).  Compared to before, the menu has been greatly condensed and the prices went up by a few bucks.  I decided to go with the special, which was a smoked salmon benny.  The server took my menu and I began the wait for my food...

It actually didn't take long at all for my food to arrive...

Smoked Salmon Benny

So, what can I say?  The salmon looked a lot like ham.  I know that it wasn't ham, but it certainly looked like the salmon-in-a-box that you buy at those tourist stores in Gastown.  It didn't taste bad, but it wasn't all that visually appealing.  The sauce was quite good, but there was nothing really notable otherwise.  Meanwhile, the potatoes were the standard from-frozen ones with no seasoning and the fruit was from a can.  I also only managed to get one refill of coffee, which was a bit disappointing considering that there were 5 servers working and the place wasn't full.  So, all in all, I can't say that I was dazzled or really overly-impressed with the Tangent Cafe.  Was it worth $15.50 plus tax?  Nope.  You would think if a place jacked its prices up by a few bucks, the food quality would increase as well.  Alas, the food quality was about the same (if not a bit less) as it was when the place was Sorry Babushka.  The service was decent, but once again, could have been better.  I have to say that Tangent Cafe gets 2 Bacons from me.  You can definitely find better/cheaper food in the area.

Stay sharp, kids

Jesse

Sorry Babushka

Well, hello there!  It's been entirely too long, hasn't it?  To be honest, I had a backlog of about 4 entries from the past half a year, but I never did get around to them.  Instead of thinking back and writing sub-par reviews of those places, I decided to flush them all and start with a clean slate.  On that note, Cam and I went to Sorry Babushka today for their breakfast.  I've had it a few times, so I think that I can give a fairly solid review of the place!

Located at the corner of Commercial and 5th Avenue (2095 Commercial Drive), Sorry Babushka opened up about a year ago.  While a prime location on The Drive for a business, this is the third restaurant that I've seen in the location over the past 6 years.  I've generally found it a pretty good place to stop in for a drink ($3.25 beer specials and whatnot), and my Ukrainian friends said that the borscht was actually quite close to authentic.  Otherwise, I've found the dinner to be pretty standard.  Nothing too crazy, nothing too terrible.  Anywho, I'm here to tell you about breakfast, not drinking and dinner!

Cam and I arrived at about 9:30am, which is nice and early for a weekday in Vancouver.  We were given our choice of a spot to sit at, and so we chose a booth along the pony wall.  The server brought us a couple of menus, which are printed on newsprint and are made to look like newspapers.  We each ordered a coffee (about $2, free refills) and perused the menu.  I decided on a Western scramble ($8.95?), with a side of sour cream ($.75), while Cam went with a Farmer's Omelette, since it comes with "loads of fresh fruit".

It only took about 10 minutes max for our food to arrive...

As you can see, Cam did get a bunch of fresh fruit!  My food was the expected mash-up of cheese, peppers, eggs, onions and ham.  It was actually quite flavourful, considering my usual complaint of bland omelettes and scrambles in restaurants.  The potatoes were quite nice, as well.  Crispy, but not overdone.  Same goes for the toast.

I'd have to say that both of us were pleased with our food, especially for under $10.  At the same time, it wasn't anything special.  I do also know that from previous visits that the food can be hit and miss.  With that, I think that we'll have to give a total of 3 Bacons out of 5!  Portions and price, along with average food quality makes me give it just above average for the total score.  If you want something cheap-ish, but filling, I'd suggest Sorry Babushka.  I have yet to try the $2.99 breakfast ($4.99 on weekends/holidays), but I just might one of these days.

Stay sharp, kids

Jesse

Cafe Crepe

(Update: This location closed down, due to popular non-demand.)

Happy summertime, Vancouver! I know, most people have complained about how cold and wet it's been this year, but frankly, it's made everything green all the way into August, so I'm okay with it. After another long hiatus from the blog, I have returned to tell you about food and how great (or not) it is. This week, I happened to head to a franchise restaurant instead of a smaller, local place. Why? Well, because I felt like it! This week, you can welcome (and say good-bye) to my friend, Anna!

Cafe Crepe is one of those places that I normally go to for a cheap-ish pitcher of beer and maybe a burger when I'm downtown. Just recently, they opened up a new location right on Commercial Drive, right between 2nd and 3rd Avenue (1818 Commercial Drive). As you can gather from the name, Cafe Crepe is geared towards a European-type cafe and specializes in crepes. From my experience, their crepes are fairly okay, but nothing that I've committed to memory, while their burgers and fries are quite good, especially for the price. So, I figured, why not try out their breakfast? Plus, Anna had never tried eggs Benedict and wanted to before she caught a flight home to Germany, and Cafe Crepe has it on the menu.

The restaurant itself is an open-concept kind of place. The kitchen, crepe grills and cash register are all behind the same bar along the right side of the restaurant, while booths and tables take up the rest of the space. This location is also one of the "express" cafes, so you place your order and pay first, then choose to either take your food to go or to sit down and stay. After a brief look over the menu, I settled on the "Petite Déjeuner Spécial" (basically an eggs & bacon special that's only available Mon - Fri until 10:30am and costs $5.45), while Anna went with the traditional eggs benny ($10.75). Coffee was included in my special, and Anna just wanted water, so no drinks beyond that were ordered. We took a booth and continued our conversation from before. Only about a minute after sitting down, the manager came over and broke some bad news to us. They were waiting for their food supplier to arrive, so they didn't have any hollandaise sauce! Great. Come to get one thing and the place can't actually make it! So instead of that, Anna reluctantly went with a Denver omelette. After a brief wait, we were both brought our plates of food...


What can I say? It was pretty generic. I mean, do I really expect a whole lot from a place like this for $5.45? I mean, it wasn't that any of the meal tasted bad, it was just that none of it was really noteworthy. The toast was a bit underdone, so more like warm bread and the eggs were a bit rubbery and bland. The bacon was soft and tasty, at least! Anna agreed that her omelette was "good", but nothing to commit to memory for any real amount of time. The shredded hash browns reminded her of a food in Europe, but that was about it. Overall, I'd have to give it 2 Bacons, and that's mostly for the service. In terms of the price and the food quality, I could easily walk up or down the street and get something better. Best just stick with beer and burgers at Cafe Crepe.

Stay sharp, kids
Jesse

Biercraft

Ah yes, another week has passed, and thus another breakfast/brunch is upon us! This week, I chose a place that I've gone to a number of times, even for brunch, but have never written about. Biercraft, formerly known as Stella's before a bakery in Winnipeg threatened to sue them for using the name, is a Belgian taphouse that can be found on both Commercial Drive and Cambie Street. I went with the Commercial Drive location (1191 Commercial Drive), since it's closer to home and work, which I had to get to after this meal. You can welcome back Maria "Baby Snakes", once again. I'd say that you can expect to see her most every week now!

As I've said, I've come to Biercraft a number of times, but it's mostly been for beer-outings and the like. More recently, they've begun doing Saturday/Sunday brunches from 10 til 3. I've always enjoyed the service, food and beverages, so there's no reason to not write a blog on it, eh? Let's just take a look and see how right I am...

Maria and I showed up literally at opening time, so seating was wide-open for us to choose. We went with a spot by the window, since the further-back parts of Biercraft tend to be fairly dark. After we sat down, we were brought a couple of waters and a pair of menus. Each of us ordered a coffee ($2.75 w/ free refills) and took a look at our menus. The couple of times that I've done brunch here, I've gone with the French Toast, since it's just a delight for me. That being said, I decided to go with something different this time around, just to shake things up. Meanwhile, Maria wasn't feeling like actual breakfast food, so she went with an item from the sandwich menu. We didn't have to wait long after putting our orders in for our food to arrive...
I went with a caramelized onion/goat cheese frittata, which came with a mixed salad and hash browns.
And Maria decided upon a BLT croissant, which also came with a salad.

With our food now in front of us, we took to eating. My first bite, as always, was of the hash browns. They're kind of a gauge for me, since if they can't cut it without me adding seasoning, then it's a signal that the rest of the food will probably be bland. Sadly, my tongue was met by the bland taste of previously-frozen, plain ol' potato. As I took a bite of my salad, I was also disappointed by the taste of salad greens and possibly a hint of garlic. Apparently, they dressed the salads with a -very- light garlic and oil dressing. Either way, it lacked zing in almost every regard. The one saving grace of the meal was the frittata, which tasted fairly nice. The combination of caramelized onions and feta is one of those lovely sweet/savoury flavour combos that I enjoy. At the same time, was it worth $12? Nah. On the other side of the table, Baby Snakes agreed on the blandness of the salad, and hers was bigger than mine! Her sandwich was quite tasty, though, so that's a plus. But, once again, worth the $12? Hardly.

So, in conclusion, I hate to say it, but I can only bring myself to give Biercraft a mere 2 Bacons overall. Don't get me wrong, the staff/service is amazing and the atmosphere is lovely. But, when it comes to food, I'd stick with their tapas menu in the afternoon/evening and their beer selection. For the price that's being charged, I expect a lot more out of the food that I'm being served, as opposed to a lackluster dish. If I were to come back for brunch, I'd probably stick with the ol' French Toast and a mimosa, since the coffee isn't really all that good either, especially for $2.75.

Stay sharp, kids
Jesse

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

Skylight Cafe

I hope that Cam's entries have kept you entertained this past week, as there was a lack of the regular breakfast update. Unfortunately, things got a bit hectic and three out of the four of us had to work last Monday. Tragedy, I know, but here we are again! This week, we went with Kimmy's advice and headed to the Skylight Restaurant, located near the corner of Commercial Drive and Parker Street (1012 Commercial). We were without Rozi this week, as she wasn't feeling well, so we brought Bobby, our friend from previous breakfasts (Deacon's, etc) along.

Now, from the outside, the Skylight is very non-descript. I've walked past it a million times over the years and this is the first time that I've really noticed it. The inside matched the outside, being simple and straightforward. We were seated immediately and given menus by the server, a pleasant, middle-aged woman. We each ordered a coffee ($1.25 each, free refills), minus Bobby, who ordered a large orange juice ($1.75 each). Kimmy also partook in the juice situation, being the girl that she is. We perused the menu for a little while, which was small, but very affordable and managed to encompass the basics, while we were brought our beverages. The coffee was, well, stereotypical diner coffee. It was fairly watery and weak, but still not disgusting like Deacon's. The server came back and took our orders, which were as follows.Jesse - French Toast. 3 slices, along with 3 slices of bacon. ($5.25 / Total $6.50)
Kimmy - Eggs Benny. Served with hash browns. ($5.75 / $8.75)
Cam - Daily special. 2 pancakes, 2 slices of bacon and hash browns. ($4.75 / $6)
Bobby - Daily special. 2 pancakes, 2 slices of bacon and hash browns. ($4.75 / $6.50)

It was a mere wink of an eye, in terms of time, between placing our orders and the food arriving. We were all famished, so we all dug in immediately. My French toast was quite fluffy and tasty, and while the bacon was a bit on the cold side, it was also tasty. The others were fairly pleased with their meals as well. Kimmy said, "Well, this benny is definitely better than IHOPs, so it's not -that- bad." Meanwhile, Cam was left feeling a bit hungry, much like at The Argo.

Overall, for the price, the Skylight was acceptable. At the same time, for the overall quality, you could probably get the same thing with better coffee at Bons. But hey, if you don't feel like waiting in a lineup, or waiting 40 minutes for some cheap, tasty breakfast, I'd suggest a quick stop at the Skylight.

Stay sharp, kids
Jesse

Bandida's Taqueria

(Sorry for the late update. A delicate combination of being totally sick and totally lazy has hindered my ability to do much of anything this week. Please don't hate me.)

So, this week I switched things up a bit by doing a brunch instead of a breakfast. A few factors played into this decision:
1) I'm sick. I wanted to wake up a bit late.
2) The joint that I wanted to hit didn't open until 10am.
3) I promised a friend brunch, and she had errands to run.

Now, I must admit, the whole "being sick" thing didn't bode well for this adventure. Not only does it dampen my ability to taste things, but it also just makes me generally bitter, which could skew my opinion of the eating experience. I also made the mistake of waking up early, eating breakfast at home and, therefore, being a bit full when I headed for brunch. Keep these factors in mind while reading this week! (haha) This week, you can welcome our friend Kimmy back and a new friend, Amanda, to the blog/team!

Brunch, this week, took place at Bandida's Taqueria, located just off of 12th Ave and Commercial Drive (2781 Commercial Drive). It's a fairly new cafe, having only been open for about a year or two, but has fared quite well seeming that it's always busy when I walk by. Previously, I had been to Bandida's for vegan nachoes with a couple of friends and I remembered them being really tasty (considering I'm not vegan/vegetarian) so I had high hopes for the brunch menu.

As always, the place was bustling with people when we arrived. Kimmy was waiting for Amanda and I at the bar, so we were able to get a table immediately. We all ordered coffees ($2, includes free refills) and water was automatically brought to the table in mason jars, which is definitely a nice touch. The coffee was hot and tasty, thank goodness, since it was pissing rain that day and all of our feet were soaked. (It's a JJ Bean roast, if you're wondering.) Soon enough, the server (whose accent I couldn't, for the life of me, pick out!) came to take our orders. I went with the Breakfast Burrito (beans, eggs, veggies wrapped up in a soft tortilla) since I wasn't overly hungry and it was the cheapest brunch item, clocking in at $7. Kimmy chose the Jamie's Benny (eggs benny with a yam/potato combo) which came out to $11. Finally, Amanda settled with the Vegan French Toast, also clocking in at $11.

Considering how busy the place was, the food arrived relatively quickly, so about 10 minutes by my count. I must admit, when the server set my plate down I thought to myself, "What have I gotten myself into?" The burrito was seriously massive. It came with a nice-looking little dabble of salsa and sour cream, both of which proved useless in the end. Kimmy's plate was loaded to the max. Seriously, I was surprised that it didn't just overflow into her lap. (Though, honestly, that would've been freakin' hilarious.) This leaves us with Amanda's French toast... which was probably the biggest flop of the meal. It didn't even really look like toast. More like hashbrowns from McDonald's made out of bread with some syrup on them. Yes, $11 got her enough food to feed a 5 year-old child this morning. Anyway, so yes, we all dug into our respective plates. My burrito was a bit soggy on the bottom and messy as hell, but it was quite delicious.

When I asked Kimmy how her eggs benny was, she said, "I was just at the dentist, so my mouth is still frozen. But, from what I can taste, it's really good!" That was followed by a drink of water, some of which didn't make it into her semi-paralyzed mouth. Yes, this event would occur a few more times during this outing. Seriously, I think that I bring Kimmy out for breakfast just for the entertainment factor.

Kimmy aside, this brings us to Amanda's French toast. She said that it was tasty and enjoyable, but not quite enough to make up for the sheer lack of, well, French toast. On that note, she ordered a side of yams & potatoes to make up for the lack of substance. Luckily, Kimmy and I are slow eaters, so we weren't finished before they came out for Amanda to enjoy.

All in all, I'd have to say that Bandida's gets my thumbs-up, along with my teammates. A filling meal for under $10 generally gets my approval, let alone when it tastes as good as my burrito did even though I was sick and not all that hungry at the time. I might avoid the French toast, though....

Stay sharp, kids.
Jesse