Ho Yummy

I just realised that I have been going out to brunch quite a lot lately, but what can I say, it is one of my favourite meals!  Karen and I hadn’t met up in quite a few months and brunch always seems to work out well for us as that’s when we usually have our catch up sessions. Karen left the location choice to me and I decided on Provence Marinaside because I had heard that their French toasted baguettes were on the 2009 Vancouver list of the best things to eat in Vancouver Magazine.

Provence Marinaside doesn’t take reservations for small parties for brunch because they are almost always packed during brunch hours on the weekends. Luckily for us, we did not have to wait for a table and were seated at a small table with big comfy couches.

I decided to stray from my usual black/green tea choices that day and went for a Mountain Berry tea. The tea was slightly tangy from the berry infusion and went really well with a small dab of honey.

I knew what I was going to have before I even entered the restaurant and was prepared to immediately order the French toasted baguettes. Our server told me that I had the option of adding a strawberry compote to the dish but said she preferred it on its own with some whipped cream and maple syrup. I decided to heed her advice and passed on the compote.

The baguettes turned out to be much more filling that I expected. They were sugary and crispy on the outside and the baguettes themselves appeared to be stuffed with a light custard filling. I really enjoyed this twist on traditional French toast and since it was already sweet from the brown sugar crust, I only dipped the toast in a little bit of the maple syrup. If you like sweet things for brunch, this is definitely something for you to try.

Karen decided to have the Croque Monsieur Eggs Benny. Instead of an english muffin, it was served on a slice of toast and there was some Black Forest ham and mozarella cheese to make this Croque Monsieur-ish. The eggs were poached just right and the Hollandaise sauce along with the cheese made this quite a rich dish but the flavours all went quite well together.

It had been quite some time since my last visit (brunch or otherwise) to Provence Marinaside and I’m glad to report that their brunch is still quite tasty. It has quite a bustling atmosphere in the mornings and is a fun place to meet up with friends. I’m not sure how often they rotate their brunch options but the items we had were definitely things that I wouldn’t mind trying again.

Details:
1177 Marinaside Crescent, Vancouver
Tel: 604-681-4144

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Price: $$