Breakfast and Lunch in Vancouver

August 28, 2008 12:20 AM

Recommendations for breakfast and lunch in/ around downtown Vancouver, BC, please.

I think I've got dinner covered - I've made reservations at Jules Bistro and the Umberto restaurant (and will probably be going to Chambar, too, given the recommendations I've found in other threads. Anyone been to Le Marrakesh, by the way?) I'm planning on dinner being the main meal of the day, and making an affair out of it. So, I'm looking for more simple, inexpensive places for breakfast/ lunch. A cafe with fresh pastries would be fine for breakfast, and lunch, just about anything. I do have some allergies - to fish and seafood (sigh). I've been looking at dinehere.ca, but there are just so many listings I don't know where to start. We both really like any Asian cuisine.
Oh, and we're staying on Granville Island, and are planning on walking/ biking/ busing.
Thanks!

posted by queseyo to food & drink (18 comments total)

If your staying on GI then the Granville Island Public Market is the place for you, tons and tons of interesting fresh foods, I work a block away and lunch there most days, you will love it.

Also, about ten blocks west of you along 1st ave (around 1st and Yew) is Zen, really great breakfasts.

Nice cheap Greek lunch at Apollonia, Fir and 2nd, very near you.

The best fish and chips in the city at Go Fish, go south off GI and follow the sea wall walkway for about 5 minutes, you will see a blue shack (with tons of people at lunch time) on the dock, line up and dine.

Amazing waffle bakery (sandwiches are great too) at Patisserie les Beau.

But my awesomest hint is for lunch, about 5 mins from GI, at 1545 W 7th Ave, Salade des Fruits tiny, lively french lunch cafe, the best mussels I've ever had and totally where the locals in the know go.

You are in a choice area for meals, email me if you want tons more suggestions.
posted by Cosine at 12:43 AM on August 28, 2008

sorry, didn't notice your fish allergy, Salade des Fruits has many great non-Mussel dishes too.
posted by Cosine at 12:44 AM on August 28, 2008

btw, Jules Bistro and Chambar are great choices, Umberto's is great, and a classic, but you might want to check out Cioppino's instead, the best of it's kind around.

Also, if you guys like Asian food, you are in the presence of one of the best sushi places in North America, Tojo's (best meal of my life).

Ok, I'll shut up now.
posted by Cosine at 12:53 AM on August 28, 2008

If you like Asian, either location of Banana Leaf is great for reasonably-priced Malaysian food.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 2:34 AM on August 28, 2008

The Chambar folks have opened up Cafe Medina right next store.

Cosine pretty much has you covered. The Market will have all the pastries, you could ever want. My two favourite breakfast things at the Market are JJ Bean's coffeee and the Stock Market has oatmeal with a couple of delicious sauces until about 10:30 each morning.

Rango is also very near you and would be great for lunch It's Vij's food, but more casual atmosphere, lower prices, and a very Vancouver experience.

I just remembered, Wicked Cafe. My vote for best coffee in town. Very good muffins and waffles too.
posted by miles1972 at 2:56 AM on August 28, 2008

Rangoli, not Rango.
posted by miles1972 at 2:56 AM on August 28, 2008

The Templeton is a vintage diner on Granville which does excellent breakfasts in a seriously old school setting. And I am a huge fan of the pizza from Flying Wedge (a half-dozen or so locations around the city)
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:10 AM on August 28, 2008

Slickity Jim's Chat & Chew is the probably the best breakfast I've had in Vancouver. It's on Broadway & Main, so just a quick 98-B bus from Broadway & Granville.

Lots of folks love Sophie's Cosmic Cafe, but I was somewhat underwhelmed when I went. Might just have had made a poor menu choice or something though.

While it's a chain (and their need to prepend "De" onto everything is maddening), I really like DeDutch.

The Halso Konditori Swedish bakery is also fantastic.
posted by Nelsormensch at 6:01 AM on August 28, 2008

Salt Tasting Room in Blood Alley near Gastown. Review from the Martini Boys who also offer other ideas for lunchy goodness
posted by seawallrunner at 7:28 AM on August 28, 2008

Joe's Grill makes a really good traditional diner-style breakfast. They're on West 4th Ave on the same block as the incredibly overrated Sophie's Cosmic Cafe, but they're much less pretentious about the whole business, and just deliver a great meal at a good price. They also have a location on Davie Street.
posted by wabbittwax at 7:36 AM on August 28, 2008

Terra Breads has an outlet in Granville market and not far away at 4th Avenue at Balsam. Amazing sandwiches, pastries, focaccias, etc.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:08 AM on August 28, 2008

Slickity Jim's is absolutely great for breakfast, but it's the 99 B-Line headed east from Broadway and Granville, not the 98, which will just take you to Richmond. It is fairly easy to get downtown from Main & Broadway if you're doing stuff downtown.

My other favourite breakfast spot is Seb's in East Van; it's a few blocks from Main & Broadway, and is delicious. Think duck omelets for under $10. Eggs benedict with elk medallions. Also, lots of great veggie options if you're not one for a bunch of meat at breakfast.

Also, if you're looking for places to grab something quick, I'd recommend Caffe Artigiano, which has a few locations, including one across the street from the art gallery. Their lattes are famous. They have killer muffins and pastries as well -- the lemon ricotta muffin is probably the finest muffin I have ever eaten.
posted by SoftRain at 9:11 AM on August 28, 2008

Sophie's used to be awesome for breakfast but really slid over the years in my opinion. I will recommend Provence for brunch, downtown just across the water from granville island.
posted by imaswinger at 10:35 AM on August 28, 2008

The Templeton is a vintage diner on Granville which does excellent breakfasts in a seriously old school setting.

A lot of people swear by The Templeton, but I didn't think it was all that, the one time I went there. Truthfully, I haven't found a single decent breakfast joint in Vancouver and I've been here three years. Bon's is impossible to get into, Sophie's is so overrated it's like the dictionary definition of overrated. And so on.

I wanna go into a place where I can drop nine bucks and get a plate with so much food that I can barely finish it, where they know how to cook a proper breakfast potato, where there's actually some pork on the menu instead of mock chicken-apple sausage and if I want white toast I can get white toast. I want enough variety on the menu that I don't have to order something with pancakes just to get two kinds of meat. A couple of hashes or messes would be good, too.

Cup O' Joe and Blue Fox, both in Victoria, are great breakfast places. Vancouver, with six times the population, has nothing that comes close.

But I'll try Joe's Grill.

And, yeah, Salt Tasting Room is great if you like charcuterie, which I sure do.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 1:07 PM on August 28, 2008

ten pounds: are you me? lol, i keep saying the same thing about Vancouver, an almost freaky lack of amazing breakfast places, Zen is my favorite but it's really just 7.5/10, the Blue Fox in Vic however....OMG!!!
posted by Cosine at 5:02 PM on August 28, 2008

I love The Elbow Room.
posted by awenner at 6:12 PM on August 28, 2008

For what it's worth, Sophie's was great when I was last there, but that was admittedly over five years ago.

The Naam, a few blocks down W. 4th, is a Vancouver institution. No worries about your seafood allergies: they're strictly veg.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:34 PM on August 28, 2008

I was just introduced to Paul's Place Omelettery, close to where you're staying on Granville Street. The 1306, an omelette stuffed with three types of mushrooms, is the best breakfast I've had in Vancouver.
posted by bookley at 8:14 PM on September 4, 2008