43 W Hastings Street, Vancouver (Gastown)
Save On Meats is part butcher, part diner, but all around amazing. With your typical tiled floor, big booths and long bar, walking into Save On Meats is like walking into the 1950s with a cool Vancouver twist. I've been to SOM twice so far, once for their all-day breakfast and once for ice cream. Any place that serves all-day breakfast is a winner for me. With a menu that has true diner classics like burgers, milkshakes, and even a Salisbury steak if you're feeling particularly fancy, there is something for everyone. Things do sell out quite quickly, like their apple pie, so get in there early so that you don't have to face the disappointment at the prospect of no pie a la mode for the day. A community staple, SOM also has the token program, where tokens can be purchased for $2.25 and given to a person who may be in need so that they can receive some food, which is a really cool endeavour to try and increase inclusivity in the neighbourhood. Come by for the food and stay for the experience. Also, their sausage is incredible.
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2708 Main Street, Vancouver (Mount Pleasant)
Lately I seem to have a thing for diners on Main Street. While my experience at Fable Diner was a little lackluster, my experience at Lucy's Eastside Diner made up for that - and went above and beyond my expectations. Open 24 hours and serving delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner every single hour of the day. you are sure to find something delicious and homey at Lucy's. Walking into Lucy's is like stepping into the 1950s. We're talking retro prints, leather booths, linoleum tables and stools, fluorescent light signs and retro posters everywhere. The diner is a quaint little place, stretching a little bit into the back with two seater booths, a long bar, and a larger booth in the front for bigger parties. The cool thing about this diner is that it is a very neighbourhood oriented place. As patrons walk in, they are free to seat themselves - something that my sister Eleanor and I were not aware of at the time. But all the servers were able to call various patrons by name and pick up easy conversation. For non-locals like us, the wait-staff was incredibly friendly and warm and efficient, despite the ongoing rush that one waitress said, quote, "never ends". It's understandable why their rush never ends - their food not only sounds and looks delicious, but tastes delicious. And as an added bonus, the prices are really cheap. It was a meal that is perfect for the student budget yet fit for a king. Eleanor and I shared a junior Oreo milkshake (just one of the many flavours that you can choose from), and I had went the breakfast route with the Smoked Salmon Scramble while Eleanor went for lunch with a Guacamole Grilled Cheese sandwich. All of these items were incredible and mindblowing! The Smoked Salmon Scramble came with a side of hashbrowns and toast, though you can substitute toast for an additional egg at no extra cost. The eggs were perfect, and though I had never had smoked salmon in my scrambled eggs before, this dish definitely had my questioning why I hadn't thought of it. It was delicious and perfect in every way, and of course hashbrowns are an added bonus. The Guacamole Grilled Cheese is a piece of innovative genius that, again, had me questioning why I didn't think of this sooner. The sandwich came with a choice of fries or salad, or half and half (which is what my sister went for). The classic grilled cheese sandwich was kicked up a notch with the smooth guacamole, and it was really realy good. I'm going to have to make this on my own sometime. At peak hours, Lucy's can become incredibly crowded and you have to wait a long time before you can get a seat. But if you wait it out, trust me - it's worth the wait. 151 E Broadway Street, Vancouver (Mount Pleasant)
A new edition to the Main Street strip, Fable Diner brings the diner experience to a whole other level. Ever since opening their doors in early July 2016, the spinoff of Fable Restaurant in Kitsilano aims to bring a classy twist to classic diner foods - think burgers and milkshakes rubbing shoulders with Ancho Salmon and gnocchi. Located in the historic Lee Building, the restaurant interior blew my mind away. Fable Diner tried to maintain the integrity of classic diner furniture. Faux leather booths, chrome frames around mirrors and very 50s-inspired wallpaper prints all with a classy, Vancouver touch: forest green and woody caramel faux leather, birch-coloured wood and clean white tiles. The decor made my heart stop. However, this was as far as it went when it came to being mindblown. Classic diner food aside, many of the dishes that are on Fable Diner's menu are just classic, comfort foods to begin with. I went with my fellow food columnist Gemma to go scope out the place for The Peak and we were slightly underwhelmed at the food. We decided to order one share plate and have one breakfast item (for her) and one lunch item (for me) - all of which can be found on their all day menu. To start, we shared their Baked Macaroni & Cheese, a new item on their menu that was recommended to us. Mac & Cheese is my jam, so I was looking forward to trying this one. This particular version was not totally flawed - the cheese sauce, which was made up of cheddar, parmesan and swiss cheeses, was super creamy and flavourful. In all honesty, they should have stopped it right there, and if they wanted to bake it, top it with some breadcrumbs and maybe some more parmesan, throw it in the oven and voila, there's your baked Mac. However, the chefs went to great lengths for this one - the dish was baked and topped with breadcrumbs, feta cheese, and corn nuts. The feta cheese was a little off, and this is coming from someone who likes feta cheese. The flavour was too strong and frankly distracted me from the cheese sauce. But when I wasn't being distracted by the feta, the corn nuts got me: crunchy chip like chunks that were completely out of place and just ruined the overall texture. I feared that I would chip a tooth with this one. Gemma ordered the Veggie BLT (which is found on their breakfast menu, oddly enough) and I ordered the FD Burger. We both got an order of housemade creamy tomato soup as a side. I tried a few bites of the Veggie BLT, which obviously doesn't have any bacon in it since it's veggie. But the bacon was replaced with something out of the blue - smoked shiitake mushrooms. If you've ever had any dishes with shiitake mushrooms in them, you'll know that they are slimy and slippery and just unpleasant. Biting into that in a sandwich was not a good day. The FD Burger was a standard burger that allowed you the option of a variety of add-ons ranging from $1-2 in price. We're talking basic stuff like a cheddar slice or bacon and really wacky stuff like cola onions and kimchi. I just went classic with a cheese slice in my housemade, double pattied burger that had lettuce, tomato, pickles and a special housemade sauce. There is nothing special about this burger; but then again, I'm not sure what I was expecting. However, the biggest problem that arose with this burger was the fact that the patties are cooked at medium-well. Ground beef in any kind of manifestation should always be cooked well done to avoid food poisoning. Apparently, medium-well burger patties were at one point taboo (because hello, salmonella?), but are now making a comeback as the new hip thing. I didn't notice this on the menu until afterwards. Needless to say, I had a stomach ache afterwards and felt overall very squeamish. We could potentially point fingers in a couple different places, but I think we can all agree on the undercooked ground beef. The one saving grace was the creamy tomato soup. Step aside, Campbell's, Fable has this down. A delicious little soup that is not too sour and just creamy enough to the point where it is so light. There are no words, which might be a good thing after all of the disappointment that I felt already. All the desserts and the milkshakes looked and sounded delicious, but unfortunately (or maybe not?) we were too full to try any of them, nor did we try any of their cute little cocktails. I say cute because each of the cocktails are named after a fable. I will give their service the credit that it is due - their service is phenomenal. Our server was incredibly friendly and helped us answer all the questions that we had about the food. Despite how busy it was that day, all the servers were professional, friendly, and the food came out quite promptly, and frankly much quicker than other places that were much less busy, so kudos to them! I had been waiting to go to Fable Diner for a long time, and the moral of the story (as with many other things in life) is to not put anything on a pedestal. I had high expectations for what was described in the media as a upscale diner experience that brought unique and innovative tastes to the table. Maybe it was the high expectations or maybe we chose the wrong combination of dishes. Don't judge a book by its cover, and of course, take this review with a grain of salt. But maybe steer clear of these dishes and find something else that tickles your fancy. I plan on returning sometime in the future - after my stomach forgives me first. 556 Beatty Street, Vancouver | 542 Herald Street, Victoria This Victoria all day breakfast place made its trek across the Straight of Georgia to Beatty Street by Stadium Chinatown station, and it was quite the feat. My friend Kim took me to Jam Cafe, which hails from Victoria. Upon entry into the restaurant, we had thankfully beat the brunch rush and didn't have to wait at all to get a comfy table. Everything on the menu looked delicious, and the items were quite interesting, which included red velvet pancakes, brioche French toast and their biscuit bowls. We were warned by our server that the portions were huge - and they weren't wrong. We decided to get the little versions of the bowls - the Little Charlie and the Little Veggie - and found out that that it was virtually impossible for anyone to finish even the little version. That boggled me, but at the end of our meal, I found that our server was right. The Little Veggie consisted of biscuits, hashbrowns, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, green onions, cheddar and mushrooms, topped with two sunny-side up eggs. It was delicious but incredibly overwhelming. As the waiter predicted, I couldn't finish my bowl, and I felt super bad about it. Looking around at other dishes, I could see that other dishes such as their chicken and waffles or their blueberry pancakes were massive, and unless you hadn't eaten for days, you wouldn't be able to finish it at all. I watched two girls both order the blueberry pancakes, and neither of them made a dent in the pancakes. In fact, even if they shared the pancakes, they probably wouldn't be able to finish them. The food is absolutely delicious, but my suggestion is to go with some super hungry friends and share the dishes. The amount of wastage makes my heart sink, but nevertheless go check them out, and bring your appetite! They have all day breakfast and lunch options for those that may not be feeling breakfast. |
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