Weekend Sixty-Two: Falconetti's East Side Grilled Sausages

Leaving our new secret location, we were destined for a fun catch up with good friends, with the return of the first ever guests on our blog, Melanie and Jeffrey. We met at Falconetti's East Side Grill on Commercial Drive, which had been nominated for this brunch by our guest stars for their home made sausages.

We arrived a few minutes after opening, which is 11:30 am, but this being Commercial Drive the staff were running a little late. Melanie and Jeffrey had been waiting outside for a few minutes before we made it and said that the waitress had come out to say they would open soon.

We were seated in the front of the restaurant in the coveted window seat (sorry for the back lit photos). The music changed once we sat down from happy Lionel Hampton upbeat Jazz to Brunch Hunger Rock. The change was perceptible to all seated. We were given a brunch menu that had lunch on the otherside; it was 11:30 am after all. Drinks were ordered with a Caesar for Jeffrey, coffee for Melanie, tea for Catie, and of course, orange juice for Dave.

Both Melanie and I were torn between "the Smokey" pulled pork Benny and the Poutine Breakfast ($12). Neither of us could resist the temptation of Poutine. I had it with pulled pork, while Melanie went with the Sweet Italian sausage in her Poutine. Though our protein was different the Poutine was equally fabulous!

Jeffrey chose the lunch menu Polish Sausage ($12). He said the sauerkraut was great but the grainy mustard over powered the rest of the sausage. Dave had the breakfast burrito ($11), which was titanic in a good way. We all agreed that the hash browns appeared to be french fries that had been sliced twice, but the taste seemed okay.

Overall, the atmosphere was good, the service was adequate, the food was meaty and good (though less mustard next time please), and the company was exceptional. If you can wait until 11:30 am for brunch this is a great option.

Weekend Sixty-One: Angelina's at the Quay

We apologize for the lack of blogging over the last two weeks. We have been preparing and moving into our new secret location and haven't had much time to brunch. We are now settled and have begun brunching once more. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. c+d

While in the middle of moving our secret location to a newer, more secret location, we were able to make time to have a little spot of brunch. We headed out on a little stroll. After just a few steps, we came upon Angelina's (no website, 906 Quayside Drive, New Westminster, 604-520-6468). The server greeted us and sat us down promptly.

Catie liked the design of the menus. Each of them has a different photo on the front, some featuring a distinctly Dutch motif, but, as the server said, "all of the photos are different, but all the insides are the same." I was momentarily distracted by the sundae dish of fresh fruit and yoghurt that was served to the man next to us. There was a dizzying array of pannekoek and waffles to choose from, as well as traditional brunch choices. Nevertheless, we managed to make our selections and settled in to enjoy our Sunday.

Of course, no brunch is complete without a tea and OJ. The OJ was fresh-squeezed, and the server brought more hot water for Catie.

My selection, the bratwurst hash, was huge. I liked the sausage pieces and the eggs had a good flavour, but the hash browns were simply too numerous. Perhaps this was because I had already eaten two slices of delicious raisin toast, but still. I didn't finish the hash browns.
 

Catie chose the Benny with bacon, and what bacon it was! She thinks it was actually back bacon due to its thickness. The hollandaise was a little bit sweet, which complimented the saltiness of the bacon well. As with me, Catie's hash browns were too numerous. Tasty, but too many.

We have only one real complaint about Angelina's. Having too much food really isn't much of a problem, but the time it took us to receive the food was. The server said that we had arrived just after a group of 6, and that the grill was too small to cook all of the meals at once. It took almost an hour from the time that we ordered!

That being said, Angelina's is a really popular spot with people of all ages. Good food, friendly service and reasonable prices make us want to go back, but we'll keep an eye out for groups of 6.