Nighttime hot spot Habit Lounge recently began attracting a devoted weekend brunch crowd with dishes like eggs Benedict (left) and steak and eggs.

Credit: Doug Shanks

ON THE PLATE: Brunch needn’t be predictable

I’ve never been much of a morning man: I seldom do breakfast, and I’ve long considered the weekend restaurant brunch to be a strange invention of the self-indulgent. Yet “Who does a good brunch in Vancouver?” is a question I’m asked all the time, and I’ve long been embarrassed by my limited answers. The restaurants best known for brunch are ubiquitous and have always proved disappointing to me, and I don’t like recommending letdowns.

The one place I get to somewhat regularly is Medina Cafe (556 Beatty St, 604-879-3114. MedinaCafe.com). I never tire of their fricassé of shortrib, applewood cheddar, and fried egg ($16). And it was here that my children taught me to dip balsamic-glazed bacon into the dark-chocolate sauce left over from their Belgian waffles ($3.15 each, plus $1 per topping).

But Medina shouldn’t be the only winner in my stable (and besides, regular readers are well aware of my affection for the place). And so, since I’m nothing if not occasionally self-indulgent myself, I reserved the last few weekend mornings for research, steering myself to four places I normally wouldn’t associate with brunch, beginning with Habit Lounge (2610 Main, 604-877-8582, HabitLounge.ca).

For me, Habit is most memorable for its do-it-yourself bento-box cocktails (much fun) and the city’s most comfortable tables (horseshoe-shaped leather booths that cup the buttocks almost obscenely). I love it at night, but in the day it shows why its brunches are so popular, particularly when it comes to eggs Benedict. When you find a good one — as I most certainly have here — it’s like Christmas morning. Mine saw a split English muffin layered with thick and toothsome back bacon ($10). That might sound standard, but what set it apart was its unbroken blanket of flawless Hollandaise that washed smoothly over my tastebuds. Accompanied by a tall glass of yogurt layered with honey granola and berry compote ($5), it was a meal to crawl out of bed for, made all the better by a repeatedly refilled coffee mug.

Several blocks south, I went to Latitude (3250 Main, 604-875-6246, LatitudeOnMain.com), a pan-American restaurant with an always fascinating dinner menu. On my first visit I opted for French Toast Tres Leches ($10), a decadent dessert-as-breakfast that came bathed in an almost-too-sweet brandied-toffee sauce. Candied coconut and a treacly fruit salsa sweetened the bread further, making the whipped cream coup de grace seem absurdly over the top. It was delicious, but so much sugar in a single sit-down can make a Saturday morning seem a lot less languid. (Combined with coffee, it was a while before I came down.) On another visit, I opted for a large fruit bowl (kiwi, cantaloupe, watermelon, grapes and banana; $7) — a much wiser choice, although just as sweet with its vanilla yogurt and “oat crumble crunch.” Though I prefer the room at night, their new street-side patio is a sunny delight.

Next up was La Brasserie (1091 Davie, 604-568-6499, LaBrasserieVancouver.com). I love the Alsatian-inspired food here, especially on winter evenings. But after trying brunch here, I ended up kicking myself for missing out on it for so long. The Savoury Crepes ($12) with sauce Mornay, tender chicken and mushrooms were a seductive, amply apportioned winner, and anyplace that serves pâté de Campagne (a French country-style pork terrine) before noon deserves a round of applause. Hot coffee spiked with French whisky ($9) sealed my love, as did the lack of a line-up.

Following that came Au Petit Chavignol (843 East Hastings, 604-255-4218, AuPetitChavignol), whose new brunch menu is a real original. While the kitchen still plays with eggs (including a fantastic corned beef hash with Hollandaise and red peppers; $14.50), it gets magically decadent with an oily, cheese-encased, ham-stuffed Croque Monsieur ($11), Paddington Bear-inspired toasted English muffins with Seville orange marmalade ($2.50), and sharing-sized Swiss raclettes that are gooey with cornichon, silver onions, and fingerling potatoes ($19). But what really knocked me down was a mac and cheese laced with Gruyère ($12), which arrived steaming, brick-shaped, and, most importantly, unsparingly studded with double-smoked bacon in a gleaming casserole dish. It seduced like few suppers can, let alone brunches. 

If this exercise taught me anything, it’s that if you move away from the restaurants and dishes that largely define brunch in Vancouver, you might be in for some very pleasant surprises. It also reminded me of when I was in the service trade, and how few servers of any experience volunteer their names for brunch service. As a consequence, the majority of restaurateurs tend to field their B and C teams, and the difference can often be excruciating. Medina is always a sure thing, as it’s a daytime-only joint and they have what they do dialed in like pros, and Habit is better than average because one of the owners is invariably running the floor. Service at La Brasserie and Latitude, however, were both slow, bereft of personality, and leaving plenty to be desired on the protocol front. Still, both supplied food worth waiting for, and I’m not very communicative in the morning anyway.