Vancouver - Best breakfast?
 

My 15 year old son and I will be staying in Vancouver in mid August. I am looking for a nice place to have breakfast each day (lots of good food and a nice view would be great...) Any ideas?? Thanks.

On the food message board called ChowHounds http://www.chowhound.com/canada/boar...da/canada.html about a quarter way down the page there is a thread called "Breakfast in Vancouver"
among those listed is Heron's, Cafe Zen, and Elbow Room ... there are A LOT listed, so just go check out the link. :)

I've been to Cafe Zen in Kitsilano and, while it is good value and just packed on a weekend, I didn't think it was that special. It depends what your definition of "nice" is I guess.

Sophie's Cosmic Cafe on 4th Avenue is kitschy and very popular.

The Elbow Room Cafe - I haven't been there but it usually gets good reviews. The wait staff apparently are all stand-up comics and hurl friendly "abuse" at the patrons. And if you don't finish your meal, you have to make a small donation to charity.

What area will you be staying in?

We are staying at the Crowne Plaza. I've heard good things about Sophie's (so that's one down and two to go...)

I'd recommend Sophie's on West 4th: great food, good prices, funky diner atmosphere, very popular. Elbow Room has good food too, but be warned, the staff has built a reputation on their rudeness (it's all in fun, though... for instance, if you ask for a coffee refill, they'll tell you to get up and get it yourself!) Have fun!

One of my favorite breafasts in Vancouver was the Pancake House (I forget the Dutch spelling) on Robson. The pancakes were wonderful as well as some of the other dishes as well. I look forward to going there again. One of the best breakfasts this side of Amsterdam.

If you and your son go to Granville Market early in the day, you can get complete breakfast items from various "restaurants" (more like a food court) and then take the food outside and eat it while watching the comings and goings in the harbor.

But even better is to construct your own breakfast out of the smoked salmon, various cheeses, different pastries, with frit for dessert, bought from the food retailers at the market.You might stock up on some pastic knives and forks and little packets of salt and pepper as you visit other eateries prior to your visit.

There's cold sliced meats, too, and there's no law that says you can't have beautiful, tiny, British Columbia shrimp for breakfast, either.

Beats a restaurant, especially if you are 15. Plus you'll have leftovers to take back to the hotel for snacks later.

BAK

Cafe Artignagno wins hands down. Super coffee and cakes and sandwiches that looked so good we nearly stayed put for lunch! We enjoyed it so much we walked there two days running from Stanley Park- yes before breakfast!

I've had lunch several times at the Cafe L'Artigiano (just today in fact) since I work nearby. The coffee is fabulous - the closest to European I have found here.

Lunches are terrific there (paninis and salads) and their muffins and pastries look fantastic as well. Lunch runs about $7.00 CDN per person.

It's located across from the Art Gallery on Hornby, half a block south of West Georgia.

For breakfasts there's alway the De Dutch Pannekoek Houses as well, although I don't know if there are any downtown.