Category Archives: Breakfast & Brunch

Fuwa Fuwa

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This is a bright, sunny place that focuses on kiosk ordering and offers fluffy pancakes and chicken karaage. We didn’t try the fluffy pancakes, but the chicken karaage was okay. It’s offered in a variety of flavors, but we kind of wanted the classic style because we like a nice crunchy crust rather than it getting soggy from being over-sauced. However, even the classic style was not actually crusty the way traditional chicken karahi is. It was more of a steamed sort of a coating, kind of like Kentucky Fried Chicken’s original recipe. Not bad, but not exactly what I was looking for.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/fuwa-fuwa-vancouver

Earl’s Kitchen + Bar (Test Kitchen)

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I like all of the Earls locations except possibly the one in Orlando, Florida, but I think this one is my favorite because it’s not just Earls. It’s also the test kitchen where they develop new recipes. There’s always something new here that isn’t on the menu at the other Earls, and I find that most of them quickly become favorites that I hope will spread throughout the rest of the chain.

On this visit, we were there for brunch, and I tried their new Nashville hot chicken and waffles. They were really good. The hot chicken wasn’t overly spicy, but just enough to give it an extra zip that regular chicken and waffles didn’t have.

I also had a dessert that was kind of like bananas Foster cake. It was sort of a chocolate banana cake with caramelized banana slices on top and scoops of ice cream above that. Delicious.

Service at Earls is always great, and the bonus of going for brunch is that they have 50% off on all sparkling wine by the bottle, which pretty much lowers it to retail pricing.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/earls-kitchen-bar-vancouver-2

Chef Ron

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Chef Ron is a most unusual restaurant. At first it seems it is going to be Middle Eastern, with lots of kebabs and such. But there are also hamburgers, hot dogs, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, pastas, Greek, Chinese, and even tempura! Oh, and American breakfast. So I guess the theme is “There is no theme”.

We started with the hummus appetizer. It was served with tortilla chips, so I guess that’s a Mexican element, too. It was quite good.

I had the Loghmeh, a minced spice lamb dish, cooked on skewers. It was a very generous serving, and was delicious.

My companion had the shrimp tempura, which was also very good. It was served with nicely crisped shoestring french fries.

The house white wine is a delicious Pinot Grigio.

Service was friendly and efficient.

Cora Breakfast and Lunch

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I’m a sucker for skillets, and Cora has a good one. Best of all, the one I would pick is on their menu deals at the moment, making it a bargain.

My ideal skillet would be crispy home fries, bacon, cheese, onions, red and green peppers, and an over easy egg. Cora’s Ten Star Skillet adds spinach, green onions, ham, sausage, and, um … frankfurters and bologna? I almost had them leave those last ingredients out, but then figured, what the heck, and tried the standard version. It was very good. I do wish the base had been crispy home fries rather than rather large potato wedges, but I just left those, and convinced myself that’s where all the calories were.

Service was friendly and quick, and the location, which doesn’t look like much on the outside, is quite nice inside.

Overall, very good quality for such a large chain.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/cora-breakfast-and-lunch-vancouver

Greenhorn Cafe

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This cozy brunch spot is located in a quiet neighborhood, and offers both indoor and outdoor seating with table service, or counter service take away.

The menu is all brunch all the time. There are some sandwiches, too, but these are mostly served open face, so they’re pretty crunchy, too.

I had the egg salad on sourdough. The egg salad was nicely seasoned and piled high on a crispy slab of excellent toast.

Service was very friendly.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/greenhorn-cafe-vancouver-2

Coco Rico Cafe

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This cozy cafe/sports bar offers brunch from morning until afternoon and then switches to more of a sports bar menu.

The bacon and cheese omelet was tasting, and accompanied by nicely crisped home fries.

The cinnamon French toast included two poofy pieces of brioche, nicely grilled, and served with assorted fruit.

Service was friendly, and the background music audio quality was impressive enough that we noticed their excellent playlist.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/coco-rico-cafe-vancouver

The Basic

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Aptly named, The Basic is basically a basic breakfast and lunch place with basic dishes that are based on breakfast and lunch basics.

Seriously, though, we really enjoyed our meal here. The menu has all the, er, basics of a satisfying breakfast, but we opted for sandwiches. The tuna melt is actually closer to a patty melt, but with tuna instead of a patty, since it normally comes on rye and has grilled onions. But they happily substituted sourdough, and could certainly leave off the onions to make it more conventional.

The cucumber and avocado sandwich was a nice lighter choice, served on toasted sourdough with tasty cole slaw and a nice fresh salad of mixed greens.

Service was pleasant and swift.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-basic-vancouver-3