When I went to Red Wagon Cafe, we passed by Yolk's. Previously I didn't know that they had a restaurant in addition to a food truck, so when we were in the area again today I suggested we go try it.

We arrived at 11:15am on the weekend and were not seated until 12:00pm. We ordered our food quickly since we had so much time to decide what we wanted. We ordered Belgian waffles and the Fraser Valley Duck Confit.

The Belgian waffles came with four quarter slices, so essentially one round waffle, and two English bangers with mustard. I liked the bangers because it wasn't too oily and paired nicely with the mustard that included mustard seeds. The waffle was soft and did not embody any crunchiness which is something I look for in Belgian waffles. The texture and sweet batter reminded me more of pancakes than waffles. I probably would not order this again.

Belgian Waffles ($9.75)

The Fraser Valley Duck Confit consisted of a free-range poached egg, housemade marmalade, spinach, hollandaise, two pieces of English muffin and crispy duck. I liked this much better than the waffles. The egg was perfectly poached and oozed yolk onto the well-toasted English muffin piece. The buttery hollandaise mixed with the sweet marmalade worked nicely against the crispy duck. I especially liked when I got a piece of crispy duck skin.

Fraser Valley Duck Confit ($11.75 for one egg, $16.75 for two eggs)

However during the time we were dining, there were always quite a few tables empty. Yolk's seemed to be adequately staffed and there was a continuous crowd waiting outside. From the perspective of a diner it can be frustrating to wait for so long when you can clearly see empty tables inside the restaurant. Perhaps a change in practise can help increase the restaurant's efficiency so diners won't be deterred from coming back due to the long wait.

Interior of Yolk's

Exterior of Yolk's

Service was not especially attentive and the tables were slightly sticky. Hot water cost $1. Overall there are many excellent brunch options in Vancouver that have an advantage in location, pricing, and wait time over Yolk's.

Red Wagon Cafe is a small corner breakfast joint on East Hastings. On the sunny Sunday morning when we went, there was already a line up outside. We arrived around 10:15am and had to wait about 20 minutes before we were seated.

I liked the ambiance of Red Wagon with its wooden tables and relatively closely spaced tables. It seemed like a favourite among neighbourhood residents. Service was also efficient and friendly.

Pictured below is only half the portion of the Super Trucker. I'm glad we decided to split it because I could barely finish my half portion! The Super Trucker consists of two eggs, two pulled pork pancakes, crisp pork belly, potato, toast and we added their specialty, the Jack Daniel's maple syrup for $2.75 extra.

Half portion Super Trucker ($15)

This is definitely comfort food and I enjoyed it very much. The pulled pork was thoroughly marinated and paired perfectly with the fluffy pancakes. The JD maple syrup is not necessary but definitely added a fun element to the meal compared to the typical maple syrup taste. The pork belly was probably the highlight with its layers of fat and meat enveloped in the crunchy goodness of the burnt edges. Every part of the meal added together to form the ultimate comfort food combo.

Be prepared to wait to eat at Red Wagon, especially on a sunny weekend morning, but the food is worth it and I'd like to try the BBQ Brisket next time.

I've spotted Marulilu Cafe before and thought it was a coffee joint but they actually serve all day breakfast as well! Its convenient location by the 99 bus stop and Broadway City Hall Station is definitely a plus.

To be honest I wanted to try Marulilu because of the matcha latte I saw on their menu online. The presentation was pretty with the heart shaped pattern. It was mildly sweet with matcha powder and mostly consisted of frothy milk. I wouldn't go to Marulilu just to drink this again but it was a good accompaniment to my breakfast.

Matcha latte

I tried the breakfast plate with waffles which included two eggs, two hashbrowns, four pork sausages, and a waffle. The hashbrowns and sausages are store bought so they will probably taste similar to some other breakfast joints.

Breakfast plate

 On the other hand, the waffle was made in-house. I prefer my waffles to be crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside but this waffle was simply soft throughout. It came with maple syrup and two large dollops of whipped cream - plain and chocolate. I've never had chocolate whipped cream come with my waffles before so that was a nice touch. Actually I exclusively used the chocolate whipped cream.

Waffle with breakfast plate

 Overall, the service at Marulilu was good but their breakfast plate was only okay.

Enjoying brunch is supposed to be leisurely and the atmosphere at Catch 122 Cafe & Bistro captures that with its spacious floor and wooden tables. The service was friendly and the food was delicious just like all the positive reviews I read online.

The Dirty Breakfast: Bit of a funny name for a brunch meal but it caught my attention and it made my taste buds happy. It included duck fat toast, duck confit, sunny-side up eggs, house-made maple beans, and yukon nugget potato hash. The potatoes were crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside and I really enjoyed it compared to chopped potato wedges. The duck fat toast with duck confit on top was savoury with the toast absorbing the flavours. The only thing I didn't like was that the maple beans were too sweet for my liking. Albeit it is made with maple but the sweet taste stood out too much amongst the rest of the savoury foods.

The Dirty Breakfast ($12)

Braised Short Ribs Eggs Benedict: The hollandaise sauce is probably the highlight of this eggs benedict. It was the most buttery, smooth and aromatic hollandaise that I've tried in awhile. This dish included braised short ribs, poached eggs on english muffin and yukon nugget potato hash. Only one poached egg was successful as the other had a fully cooked yolk. That aside, everything on the plate was delicious.

Braised Short Ribs Eggs Benedict ($12)

Overall Catch 122 is a great place to dine with friendly service, comfortable seating, and delicious food. Plus the brunch portions are large enough to fill you up right through lunch.

One of my favourite things to get at breakfast joints is eggs benedict. At IHOP there was only one eggs benedict option on the menu which is understandable because it specializes in pancakes although it has branched out to all types of breakfast items and even lunch.

The eggs benedict was all right. The eggs were poached but was one of them was slightly overcooked. I think I preferred the hashbrowns over the eggs. The potato strips were slathered in butter then fried making them extremely savoury but poor for the health.

We had heard that Cafe Medina fills up quickly so we got there by 9:40am, just 10 minutes after it opened but it was already full and we were 5th on the waiting list. Fortunately the tables turnover fairly fast here so we were seated in 20 minutes.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

There aren't many tables inside this small cafe but the ambiance was quite cozy and warm.

Food time! We got waffles with a topping each: white chocolate rosewater and mixed berry compote. Upon first bite of the white chocolate rosewater dipped waffle piece, I immediately thought of Crabtree and Evelyn's Rosewater lotion. They smell exactly the same! The mixed berry compote was made with fresh berries and not overly sweet which I liked.

Belgian Waffles

Fricassé: 2 fried eggs, braised short ribs, roasted potatoes, balsamic onions, watercress, applewood cheddar, grilled foccacia.

This dish is served all day which explains why it is so savoury because I would love to have this for lunch. The short ribs were so tender and juicy, fried eggs were just right and the potato pieces soaked up all the sauce. The foccacia bread was toasted to a crunch and tasted so good dipped into the sauce. Must try!

Fricassé

Overall, Cafe Medina lived up to its hype and I would come wait in line again just to eat their food.

Looking for some breakfast other than dim sum in Richmond, we went to Bob's Submarine Sandwiches. I knew that they served lunch but didn't know they were also open for breakfast. A Korean couple runs the store and all the condiments are placed on a table in the middle of the restaurant for self-serve.

Bob's Submarine Sandwiches

All the food below including two teas and a coffee only cost $14! Upon calculation, it seemed that tax and tips were excluded.

Steak, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich ($3.50): Solid sandwich with thin slices of beef and some juicy egg mixed with melted cheese. The beef was a little bit hard to chew but I'd rather that than overly marinated beef that doesn't taste like beef anymore.

Steak, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich

Two Eggs Breakfast ($3.50): Bacon, sausage or ham with toast or hashbrown

For this meal, we got scrambled eggs, bacon and hashbrown. The hashbrown was on the cold side but the scrambled egg was pretty good.

Two Eggs Breakfast #1

Two Eggs Breakfast: For this order we got over easy eggs, sausages and hashbrown. The eggs came with the yolk already spilt and the hashbrown was slightly cold like the other breakfast set but it was solid food for the price.

Two Eggs Breakfast #2

Overall, with such inexpensive pricing I want to come again for lunch to try their regular sandwiches! Don't expect superb quality but you get what you pay for and you will be full.

Being a pun lover I was naturally drawn to this restaurant from its name: Eggspectation. This breakfast place on Yonge St. was not too crowded on a weekday morning but still fairly full.

It took me a long time to choose what to eat from the extensive menu. I was impressed by the entire page dedicated to many different types of egg benedicts. Since I already had egg benedicts at Over Easy, I opted for an omelette this time. 

Mix & Match Omelette: bacon, sausage, swiss or cheddar cheese

The omelette portion size was filling and I enjoyed the cheese wedged between the folded over meaty omelette. The cantaloupe slice was sweet and not pictured is a basket of 2 toast slices that came with the meal. Needless to say, I was filled to the brim!

Mix & Match Omelette

Bravocado: poached eggs served on half an avocado, lightly spiced tomato sauce, parm and cheddar cheese

My friend had this egg benedict that substituted the English muffin with avocado which I thought looked pretty cool. I didn't try it so I can't say how it tasted like but she seemed to like it.

Bravocado

Overall, the central location of Eggspectation combined with good food might make this a go-to breakfast place for me if I lived in Toronto.

I always pass by IHOP but have actually eaten there less than three times. Every time we leave filled to the brim because the portions are quite big and a lot of butter is used.

This time I ordered a breakfast combo with two eggs, two strips of bacon, two pork sausage links, and two pieces of buttermilk pancake with blueberry sauce.
This was delicious comfort food: the pancakes were fluffy and the sauce was sweet. Eggs were made right and the bacon was crispy.

The hashbrown in the picture comes with the steak omelette.
I like this kind of hashbrown better than the hashbrown slices like the ones at McDonald's. IHOP's hashbrown smelled deliciously of butter and was crispy, soft, and warm  all at the same time.

Breakfast combo

 This huge steak omelette was made with strips of steak, hash browns, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, cheddar cheese and served with salsa. Every bite had tons of ingredients. YUM.

Steak omelette

Overall, the Richmond IHOP location is a little old so it is not as clean as it used to be. The food tastes good but only come if you're ready to indulge in comfort food!