Additions to Belgian waffles, coffee on the original menu have resulted in long lineups
Mia Stainsby
Sun
Moroccan-influenced breakfasts and brunches have drawn crowds to Medina Cafe. Photograph by : Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun
– MEDINA CAFE
556 Beatty St., 604-879-3114.
Open for breakfast, brunch and lunch Tuesday to Sunday. www.medinacafe.com
Overall 4
Food 4
Ambience 4
Service 3
Price $
Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars.
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I couldn’t wait for Medina Cafe to kick-start its kitchen, offering more than the Belgian waffles and coffee it began with.
It finally roared to life last month and surprise, surprise! Breakfasts, brunches and lunches are so busy, you’ll be cooling your heels in a lineup, resisting a horrible temptation to wrestle a passing server to the ground to get at the enticing food.
The reason for the buzz is Nicos Shuermans. He’s given us Chambar, a great-value restaurant that’s added much allure to the city’s dining scene. He (and wife Karri) crafted a stand-out package with great service, nice digs and delicious food. Medina is in partnership with Robbie Kane, a former server at Chambar. It’s named after the walled, market sections of many North African cities, and this venture is more about casual comfort food and well-fed mornings and afternoons.
Who would have thought Moroccan-influenced breakfasts would create lineups? Even I, normally loath to vacate my cozy nest to go out for breakfast or brunch on weekends, would gladly return for the heartily delicious food here, especially as the weather chills. Medina, like Chambar, sits on a slightly edgy street and while we waited in line, a rake-thin woman in a tiny tank top twitched and shivered in neurological chaos in a doorway in the rain.
Meanwhile, I went on to fatten up on my rustic breakfast of two poached eggs with spicy Moroccan meatballs, grilled focaccia (thick and spongy) and a yogurt cucumber salad. The meatballs arrived in a small tagine pot. I broke the eggs and swirled yolk into the tomato sauce.
Across from me, my partner similarly smooshed his lightly fried eggs into his cassoulet of baked beans, duck sausage, andouille sausage, bacon and baked beans. It’s smack-your-lips and wipe-sauce-off-your-chin food to eat with gusto.
I became a little bleary-brained after I’d mopped up every morsel of sauce with my bread and you know, I’ve forgotten what transpired afterwards. I know it was dessert. I just can’t remember anything about it.
Of course, you could be more restrained and order the Belgian waffles that are still on the menu.
I had a more clear-headed lunch with a friend one day. She had Les Merguez — a flatbread-wrapped merguez sausage with baba ganoush, grilled haloumi (cheese), grilled eggplant and tabbouleh. I had a generous bowl of saffrony bouillabaisse with grilled focaccia and a side salad. A lot of food for ladies who lunch, perhaps, but we were no ladies and we went on to share a cherry pie, nice and tall and taut, but not as cherry-licious as it could have been.
Other lunch dishes that vie for attention are the Tarte Feuilettée, with cardamom chicken, ricotta, caramelized onions and spinach. The Fricasse offers two fried eggs on braised short ribs, roasted potatoes, caramelized onions, arugula and smoked applewood cheddar. I don’t see a lot for vegetarians except perhaps the grilled veggie antipasto. However, on the breakfast menu, they could opt for the Libanais (soft boiled egg, chickpea salad, baba ganoush, tabouleh and fried pita).
Average cost of dishes are in the mid-teens but the waffles (one) go for $3.15 and $1 for each topping.
Shuermans says that in the evenings Medina can be used as a private party room (own music, servers, menu) which would be ultra cool. He’s also going to offer beer pairing meals twice a month starting this month. “We’ll have half pints so people can try more and we’ll have richer food to match the beers.”
Before summer and family vacations began, Medina hosted a once-a-month Freedom Night where parents could drop off their kidlets who were treated to kid food and entertainment and fun babysitters. That will probably start up again in the fall.
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
