Twisted Fork Bistro

Greetings and a good day to you all.  It's that time once again, where we go on a little trip to a (hopefully) delicious place for breakfast!  This week(end), Eliza suggested a little place in the heart of downtown for her,  Tomas and myself to have brunch at, known as the Twisted Fork Bistro.  Located along Granville, halfway between Helmcken Street and Davie Street (1147 Granville St), Twisted Fork is normally a dinner venue, except on weekends.  During the weekend, it's open for brunch, only from 10am until 2pm.  Because of this small window of time, the lineup for this place can be quite daunting.  Eliza had tried it once before and assured us that it would be worth the wait, if there was one.  

We attempted to arrive at Twisted Fork just before 10am, but ended up being a couple of minutes late.  We walked in and were greeted by a man at the counter.  We had literally just missed the last available table, so the wait was pegged at about 45 minutes to an hour.  Luckily, none of us were overly-hungry, so we decided to go for a little jaunt to the pawn shop next door to kill time.  When we returned 45 minutes later, there was still a bit of a wait, so we just stood and waited our turn.  I admired the pleasant and warm interior of the place.  Simple, yet lovely colours and decor complimented one another throughout the interior.

Finally, we were seated at a booth towards the rear of the restaurant.  A friendly, young lady immediately came to the table, handed us a copy of the menu and took our drink orders (coffee and water for us all).  We were brought three mugs and a French Press full of coffee. (Bottomless, $4 per person).  The coffee was quite delicious, for sure.  With our coffees in-hand, we each looked at our menus.  The nice thing that I noticed was that all of the items were the same price ($13.50, taxes included), so that took the whole "I'd like that, but it's three bucks more than that other dish" part of the decision-making process.  I was instantly caught by the Bacon, Caramelized Onion and Brie Frittata filled with plum tomatoes and fresh Basil, served with fresh greens and sweet corn relish.  My eyes also caught sight of a cocktail that happened to have absinthe ($9), so I ordered one of those as well.  Meanwhile, Eliza chose the scrambled eggs, along with a plate of fresh fruit.  Tomas was all traditional with an Eggs Benedict.  With our orders in, we drank as much coffee as we could (four bucks a person makes you want to get your moneys-worth!) and I sipped on my cocktail, which was also delicious.  After about 15 minutes or so, our food arrived....

Bacon, Caramelized Onion and Brie Frittata filled with plum tomatoes and fresh Basil, served with fresh greens and sweet corn relish

Sauteed Mixed wild mushroom scrambled eggs served with toasted sourdough and housemade jam, roasted roma tomatoes, rosti and sauteed spinach

Eggs Benny with toasted brioche, poached eggs, hollandaise and served
with sauteed spinach, rosti and baked beans

Holy crap.  That's really all that I can say about the food.  The salad had a mild garlic dressing on it, which was perfect.  The eggs were cooked just right, and the ingredients each came out in their own way when I took my first bite.  Along with the sweet relish, it was just plain delicious.  I tried some of Elizas toast, along with the apple jam (which really turned the toast into what tasted like apple pie).  Tomas commented on how perfectly the eggs we poached, as well.  All in all, the three of us agreed that our food kicked a whole lot of ass.  The only slip-up was that Eliza ordered her toast dry, but it came out with butter on it.  Whether the server forgot to request it, or the cooks didn't heed the request is a mystery... but really, with how good everything was we couldn't really complain, could we?  That said, I give Twisted Fork Bistro a solid 5 Bacons.  Realistically, the price isn't all that high, especially when you take the sheer quality of the food into account.  Plus, the service was fantastic.  If you're up nice and early, or have some time to kill while you wait, I whole-heartedly suggest the Twisted Fork Bistro.  You won't be disappointed!

Stay sharp, kids
Jesse

Two Parrots

I'm keeping everyone on their toes by not updating on a specific day anymore, it seems. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just happen to be going for breakfast on some crazy days, whenever people are free. On that note, I managed to get myself, Cam, Bobby and Hilbot together on a Tuesday morning. This was mostly because Cam and Bobby were waiting to catch a flight in the early afternoon, so they needed something to do close to a Skytrain station. So, the four of us headed downtown to a little place on Granville and Davie (1202 Granville Street) known as Two Parrots Perch and Grill, which serves breakfast from 7 - 11am. I actually went to Two Parrots for breakfast about 3 years ago, after a long night of drinking, so I didn't remember the quality of the food. I figured that it was about time to head back and see about that.

Hilbot and I met up with Cam and Bobby at Two Parrots, so there was already a table for us when I arrived. It wasn't busy at all, a whole 2 other tables of people, along with a single guy up at the bar. The interior of Two Parrots is meant to be tropical, tiki, bamboo and the like lining the walls and bars. They pull the feeling off quite well, I must admit, as it slightly reminded me of the bar that I used to work at in Thailand. Anyway, we sat down with Bobby and Cam and the server immediately came to the table with a menu for me. The prices were reasonable and the options were varied enough, from egg/toast specials to pancakes to french toast. Hilbot, Cam and Bobby all went with the eggs/bacon/toast/hash specials, while I opted for a Lumberjack (yes, just like other places, lots of meat, 3 eggs and two pancakes) and also took a cup of coffee ($2.25 with refills). With my coffee in-hand, we took to waiting for our food by engaging in our usual, retarded banter. One of these days I'll record a video and you can all know what I'm talking about.

It wasn't long before our food arrived, clocking in at around 7 minutes. A refill of coffee also came along with it, so double the fun for us! All of the food looked and smelled like breakfast should, at least in my mind. (I should also note that I'm waiting on a battery charger for my camera, once that's here, I'll be taking pictures of breakfast again.) So, we all took to our breakfasts and shut our mouths. I did notice that the hash browns were the shredded grits, so that's an instant minus one for Cam. Otherwise, it all seemed to be in order for everyone. Everything on my plate was scrumptious, from the scrambled eggs to the big slice of ham, it was all cooked to perfection and tasted awesome. It seemed to be the consensus amongst the other 3 that the food was great, especially for the price (less than $10). All of us even cleared our plates!

Now, considering that Two Parrots is technically a bar/pub, located along the party strip of Vancouver, it really does a great job on breakfast. At the same time, it doesn't charge the ridiculous tourist-based prices that a number of places like to charge for food. I'd have to give the whole place an overall 3 Bacons! Yes, that's for service, food quality, affordability and ambiance. If you find yourself hungry, and aren't craving the smart-ass behaviour of The Elbow Room (which is located two blocks south), I would suggest Two Parrots to you.

Stay sharp, kids
Jesse

The Templeton

Surprise! Schedules changed around for the better and The Team was able to assemble for the final Monday of 2009! For our final breakfast of this year, and decade, we decided upon a Vancouver classic, The Templeton. Located in the heart of downtown, on Granville Street and Helmcken Avenue (1087 Granville Street), this place is one of the older diners that's still running in the city, having originally opened (as Adele's cafe) around 1934.

The Team arrived just shortly after 10am (1 hour after open), as per usual. Already the place was packed with people, in the booths and along the bar. The first thing that catches most first-time visitors is the vintage jukebox, and yes, it still works. Each of the booths is still equipped with the original jukebox controls as well. As for us, we were lucky enough to only have to wait a couple of minutes for a booth to open up. (WARNING: Do not sit down before the server clears the table!) The server sat us down and set us upon the menu, which most of us were somewhat (or, in Rozi's case, very) familiar with. It contained a great balance between vegetarian and non-vegetarian meal choices. Within about another 5 minutes, the server came back, took our orders and confirmed that we all wanted coffee ($2 each, free refills). With that, she took off for a few more minutes in search of coffee for us, all while helping the other patrons. Finally, our coffee arrived, so we dug in for moderate wait we'd be enduring while the following food was being prepared:


Jesse - Trucker's Breakfast. 3 eggs (scrambled), turkey sausages, rosemary potatoes and toast. ($8 / Total $10.50)

Kimmy - Breakfast Sundae. Layered granola, vanilla yogurt and fresh fruit in a sundae cup. ($6 / Total $8.40)

Rozi - Mangled Eggs. Bacon, scrambled eggs and Montreal brie inside a toasted croissant, with a side of rosemary potatoes, along with an extra side of sour cream & salsa. ($9 / Total $11.55)

Cam - Huevos Rancheros. Flour tortilla with scrambled eggs, peppers, onions, and black beans. Comes with a side of rosemary potatoes, sour cream and salsa. He also added cheese. ($11 / Total $13.65)

Now, I'd like to take this moment to make note of the service that you get at The Templeton. As I normally do, I read some reviews on Google before heading out for breakfast. It seems that the biggest complaint was the slow and/or rude service that they received at The Templeton. Now, I must admit, the service was slow and the server was a bit on-edge. But, let's be honest here, if I was the only server dealing with a whole cafe full of hungry people and screaming children, I wouldn't be serving each table hand over foot, nor would I be in the best of moods. Cut the girl some slack, folks! I think that, given the circumstances, she does a damn fine job, so suck it up.

Anywho, yes, our breakfasts! After about 10 or 15 minutes, all of our plates arrived. All of it looked and smelled amazing. I've never really been one for turkey sausages/bacon/etc, but I must say that the turkey sausages that I got here were freaking amazing. The eggs we done to perfection and the toast was delicious. The only problem was the potatoes, some of which were still quite undercooked, while others were burnt to a near-crisp. Otherwise, everything was exactly as I imagined it. As for the rest of The Team, they were all in agreeance that their meals were top-notch, minus the potatoes on Cams plate, which were done the same as mine. All the while, there was no lack of coffee refills which, as you all know, is a huge factor for this teams breakfasts. (haha) After we were all done, Rozi contemplated ordering one of the famous milkshakes. Unfortunately, the server caught wind of this idea and said, "You expect me to make you a milkshake when I'm this damn busy?"

Rozi looked down and said, "No...", much like a kid who had been scolded would.

"She comes here all the time," the server assured us, "she knows better."

On that note, we all laughed, finished up our coffees and paid our bills. For $10, I can say that I was quite satisfied with the breakfast that I got at The Templeton. Minus those potatoes, of course.... The Team agrees that, yes, The Templeton is a Grade A place worth visiting again.... and again.... and again.

Stay sharp, kids
Jesse