A few minutes later the host came out yelling out names and numbers from a list, "Sarah for 2...Michael for 4...Michael for 4! Michael! Michael! Is anyone here named Michael? No? Tina for 4! Right this way!" He went back in with the parties that he called. When a few more people arrived and one of them went in a wrote something down we figured out that you add yourself to the waiting list, and then wait outside. The host told us it would be about an hour wait. It must be worth it if everyone else was doing it.
It was a cool 7 degrees outside; beach weather compared to the -25 degrees and 4 feet of snow that we left behind in Montreal. After about 20 minutes and a couple of shout-outs from the host, he came out to say that there were 2 seats at the bar if anyone wanted them. I was surprised that there were no takers from the pairs that were "in line" ahead of us. No complaints from us because we like sitting at the bar, and it cut our waiting time down by 40 minutes.
The menu was pretty simple with only 10 choices, and most of them are shakshuka-like, served in a cast-iron skillet with a side of foccacia and hummus. I'm not sure if the dish titles are in French on the menu because of the north African style of cooking or because the chef is from Belgium.
I got Les Boulettes, spicy Moroccan lamb and beef meatballs and roasted vegetables in a tomato stew, topped with poached eggs. Stephen got the Tagine, spicy tomato stew, merguez sausage, sun-dried black olives, and cilantro, topped with poached eggs.
Stephen took his first bite of the sauce alone and said, "Can we eat this every day?" Good start to the day and our Vancouver adventure. It didn't make sense how that much flavour could be packed into a seemingly small and simple dish. They were spicy, sweet, acidic, salty, savoury, and ridiculously flavourful. Each component was delicious on it's own, and once you mix them all together it was to die for. Too often have I eaten dry in-house-made meatballs or sausage that I had to smother with sauce to make them edible. Not the case at Cafe Medina. The sauce was a perfect complement to them instead of compensating for them. The foccacia was warm, chewy and fresh, and the hummus was smooth and light.
This is random, but I have to mention the difference in the quality of eggs we've had in Vancouver so far. In a Montreal restaurant, you break the yoke of a poached egg and you get a dull, orange goo. The eggs yolks at Cafe Medina (and later in the ones we bought at the grocery store) were a bright, rich orange. Forgive my ignorance and amazement with this. Apparently an orange yoke means that the eggs are free-range chickens. Happy chickens = happy yolk? Or happy me since I don't love eggs and these ones taste way better than the icky ones I am used to.
Stephen, a Bloody Caesar enthusiast, ordered one and said it was the best Caesar he has ever had... and it was only $6... and he's had one made by the Official Mott's Clamato Caesar Mixologist. So there. Have one.
When Stephen and I eat out, we tend to finish our plates because we pay a lot of money for the food and it is so good that we don't want it to go to waste. This usually leads to us over-eating and then feeling crappy for the rest of the day. The portion sizes and proportions were perfect. We both felt full after finishing, but the meal sat lightly. We spent the next few hours walking around the city, so the meal clearly didn't weigh us down.
I don't have much to say about the staff. They were attentive, as in they took our orders quickly, our food came out quickly, and our water glasses were always full. They weren't particularly "warm" though. At our favourite restaurants in Montreal the wait staff were more social, cracked jokes, told us stories about the chef getting wasted on his birthday, etc. No matter who you are or where you are eating, it makes the ambiance less pretentious when the staff is warmer. I don't know if this is typical of Vancouver, and maybe the warmth is just Quebec charm. I guess we'll see after a few more restaurants.
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| The View From the Bar |
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| Stephen's All-Time Favourite Caesar |
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| Les Boulettes |
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| Tagine |
THE STATS - Out of 10
Taste: 8.5 Creativity: 7 - the dishes have a traditional style, but there are about 6 variations and each is different
Service: 6 - the service was attentive and speedy, just not warm and minimally friendly
Bang for your buck: 8 - typically breakfast places are skimpy on the bacon and heavy on the potatoes. The average dish is $15 and they are generous on the protein and no useless starches.
Overall experience: 8 - it was a great "Welcome to Vancouver" brunch
Would I go back? Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes
Who would I recommend it to? Couples or small groups (not more than 4); under 30 crowd. Don't bring your kids!
For what occasion? Brunch...especially hang-over brunch since the food is light and protein rich, instead of the usually heavy, carb-filled breakfast
It was better than: I don't know yet...this is review #1!
It wasn't as good as: We'll see.
Expect: To wait in line for potentially over an hour, because there will be a line and they don't take reservations because they don't have to. The only 2 "Terrible" reviews on TripAdvisor are complaints about the wait (they didn't actually eat there on the day they made the review). Some of the "Poor" reviews are about the size of the place. Travel light because there isn't much elbow room for bags. The space is small, so be nice to the people waiting outside and don't stick around for a long chat after you eat. Someone complained about not being a kid-friendly place. What restaurant is kid-friendly? McDonalds...take your kid there. The rest of the "Poor" reviews are about there being too much salt and seasoning. Top 50 restaurant food is for foodies, and foodies demand more salt and seasoning.
Top 50 Worthy? Yes. Though I'm new to Vancouver, I've eaten a lot of Montreal breakfast, and I'd put it in the Top 5 breakfasts I've ever eaten.
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