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

El Camino's

Greetings and salutations to you all!  It's been another long span since my last update, hasn't it?  It seems like I'm more interested in eating rather than writing or something.  To be honest, I've just been going to a number of places that I've already reviewed, so updates have been sparse.  Lucky for us, yesterday included going for breakfast at a place that I've never been!  I'd like to introduce you to El Camino's, a Latin American-flavoured joint located just off of 16th Avenue, on Main Street. (3250 Main Street)

I remember Cam telling me about El Camino's back a few months ago, but promptly forgot about it.  It's a fairly new place, from my understanding, so it makes sense that I haven't committed it to memory before.  Much like many of the new cafes/restaurants that have been opening in Vancouver, it's fairly small and straight-forward.  A bar with a few seats greets you at the door, while the opposite wall is lined with tables for 2-4 people each.  A group of a few booths are also located in the back of the place.  Cam and I arrived before our friends Devon and Sam, and the place was already packed, so we chose to sit at the bar.  Unlike many people, we don't find it totally necessary to sit at a table when eating.  Plus, you ever notice how long people will wait in line to sit down, even when there's spots open at the bar?  I guess they're just not in a hurry or something, which I can relate to.  So yeah, we sat at the bar, ordered a couple of coffees and began looking over the menu.  El Camino's touts itself as a provider of "Latin American Street Food", and the menu doesn't disappoint.  Beans, salsa(s) and spicy ingredients pepper the menu (did you like that pun?  Yes you did!) items, making it tough for someone to pick just one thing.  I finally decided upon a Spicy Shrimp Scramble, while Cam went with The Hangover (to match how he was feeling that day).  I also ordered a classic mimosa, simply because I wasn't hungover and felt like it would be a good thing to have on this rainy Sunday morning.

The servers (only two working at the time) were slammed almost immediately after we arrived, so the service was a bit slow.  At the same time, as I said to one of them when she apologized for the wait, "If people were in a hurry, they wouldn't come into a place like this.  They'd hit McDonald's."  That's kind of my take on most restaurants/cafes/etc, though.  The people that come walking into a place, order food and immediately follow it with a mention of what a hurry their in, or something to that effect.  If you're so strapped for time, what are you doing sitting down at a restaurant?  Anyway, I've gone off on a tangent, so back to breakfast!

It wasn't a relatively long time to wait for our food, and when it did arrive, we were ready for it...

Spicy Shrimp Scramble

The Hangover

Holy crap, the potatoes were awesome!  As we all know, I like to eat them first, and generally judge a place on its potatoes, and El Camino's did not disappoint!  The toast was also quite tasty, I must say.  Most of all, the scramble was just the right amount of spicy.  Not so much that it masks the flavour (or lack thereof), but enough to make you want to have a drink.  Speaking of drinks, my mimosa had a bit of orange juice in it, to colour the champagne of course.  If you like a stiff drink at brunch, this is the place to be.  Meanwhile, Cam made short work of his Hangover and enjoyed every bit of it.  I tried some of the tortilla chips and they were also lovely.  With the bill coming in at about $24, taxes in, it was a bit pricey but totally worth it.  Plus, I could have easily saved $7.50 by not having the mimosa, so yeah, can't really complain about the price, especially considering not only food and coffee quality, but also the quality of the service.  The servers did their best to keep an eye on everyone and keep a smile on their faces even with how packed the place was this morning.  Kudos!  For that, El Camino's scores 4 Bacons from the Team!

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

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