corned beef Archives - Curiously Carmen

Hi all!!

I have driven by this place many times, and always see it completely packed. I’ve also heard it was really good so I decided to finally check this place out for brunch. After reading the reviews, I was prepared on what to order and what not to order.

This place was also featured on The Food Network’s Diners, Drive Ins, and Drives which automatically gives it a higher rating BUT a lot of people said it was very disappointing and did not meet their expectations. So, I came here with low expectations but somehow we left still feeling disappointed and unsatisfied.

We came after the lunch rush around 1 pm, and luckily did not have to wait. The restaurant is pretty small and cramped with very plain decor. Actually, there’s not much decor than the big chalkboard wall. They could really use some decor to make this place feel more comfortable and welcoming.
Started off with the corned beef hash with poached eggs, served with my choice of rye bread. Nothing in this dish really stood out to me and it was really meh, especially the corned beef. The corned beef also came out in little tiny, dry crumpled pieces.
The second dish was a lot better, though – smoked salmon eggs benedict with potatoes. The eggs benny was flavourful, with a rich hollandaise sauce but the potatoes were lacking in flavour. They were also very dry and starchy, they could have peeled off more of the potato skin as well.

Yes I know that some restaurants leave the potato skin on and I do enjoy potato skin, but all my tongue could taste or feel was potato skin and nothing else.
Continuing on to even more mediocre-ness, was our side of sausages. They were your typically greasy, oily breakfast sausages that you would expect at a free 3 star hotel breakfast. Good if it’s free, but I wouldn’t want to have to pay for these.

But at this point, we finished it all since there wasn’t anything good other than the smoked salmon benny.

Lastly, we ordered a side of pancakes because I read that it was a “must order” and it was their specialty. If this is their “specialty”, then clearly it needs some work because these were really mediocre and disappointing as well.

They had a rich buttermilk flavour to it, but they weren’t fluffy at all. All of the pancakes were also a bit burnt. You would try to cut it up but the burnt bottom part would stick to the plate and it just became a mess. To add to this, the inside looked a bit undercooked so they probably cooked it on too much high heat, resulting in a burnt exterior but raw interior.

Needless to say, our visit was really disappointing and we probably won’t be coming back. There was no sense of quality preparation in any of the dishes except for the smoked salmon benny. We had already braced ourselves that this place wouldn’t be amazing, but I didn’t think it would be THAT disappointing, especially for a restaurant that had been featured on The Food Network.

-Carmen

Nay.

I have driven by Roundel Cafe many times, but haven’t really noticed it among all the other merchants by Hastings and Nanaimo. This area has a lot of restaurants- from Sushi Nanaimo, East Cafe, The Red Wagon, Basho, Platform 7, and many, many more!

My friend and I planned to go here during the Easter weekend, but there was a really long wait so we decided to go to Basho. I came back here two weeks after, because I was really interested and wanted to see if they had good brunch.

The Red Wagon is pretty much across the street from them, so they do have lots of competition because that place is really famous for their brunch. I wanted to see if they held up as a good brunch diner.
It was a lot quieter when we went this time around, only about three other tables were seated. Service was very friendly, informative and efficient. We both had questions to ask about the menu, and our server happily answered them.
I finally decided on ordering their corned beef hash, served with eggs and salad. I thought the beef was very flavourful and cooked well. It was also mixed with onions and peppers which gave it a sweeter flavour.

Underneath the beef was the roasted potatoes. They served the usual white potatoes, but there was also a mix of sweet orange potatoes. I appreciated the mix, as the sweet potatoes were less starchy and dry. Some of the potatoes were really burnt though.

The salad and eggs were average, I think the star of this dish was the corned beef.
My friend ordered the free range eggs any style combo, which came with salad, roasted potatoes, and a choice of either ham/bacon/farmers sausage.

She thought that her dish was really delicious, especially the farmers sausage which was very juicy and had a hint of smokiness to it. Her roasted potatoes were a bit burnt as well.

For both our dishes, you can request for toast if you’d like. Their jam is house made, and we both found it to be very tart and not sweet. It had a very strong rhubarb taste. We would have preferred a sweeter strawberry jam!

It was a lovely afternoon, and we decided to indulge in a strawberry ice cream milkshake! It was smooth, rich, creamy, and thick. We also asked for soy milk since I didn’t want that much dairy, and she also did not charge us for that which was nice!
To end the meal, we recieved a fortune cookie. This fortune cookie was not true for me. I was about to start school the following week and was nervous for one of my courses! Haha 🙂

Overall, we had a satisfying and enjoyable visit to Roundel Cafe. Nothing really stands out to me, but it’s not bad either. I would come back if I was in the neighbourhood and it was convenient, but wouldn’t specifically plan another visit here.

I’ve read some other reviews on Urbanspoon where people mentioned their pancakes weren’t that good, so if you are craving pancakes, I would suggest crossing the street to The Red Wagon.

Jethro’s Fine Grub – Fraser Street Location

Roundel Cafe, East Van