Lunch Time: Brioche is one of Gastown's hottest haunts

Located at where Homer street meets Cordova the "urban bakery" known as Brioche is a Vancouver classic. This restaurant is located in one of the many heritage buildings in the area featuring a uniquely traditional café design which is hard to find in this city. On the main menu you will find a variety of staples that make up a good lunch. On the left you will see another board, actually a door painted to be a chalkboard, which features daily selections. There are a lot of daily items on there but they are almost all universally good so be adventurous when you have the chance.

If you follow that door and you will find an almost-private room in the back where additional seating is available along the Water street side of the building. Outside of lunch hours this is a great place to have a meeting while you enjoy the rich flavours of the menu. As with many cafés in Vancouver's Gastown you can also opt to sit outdoors if the weather permits, though seating can be limited when the kitchen is brewing up a storm. Like other heritage buildings, Brioche lacks air conditioning which only adds to the old-world appeal of this venue.

The range of clients in this establishment varies widely: you will find students, designers, business people and even some tourists. It can be a daunting menu if meat and potatoes are your fare as many dishes use names from their native languages, meaning a sandwich is actually a panini. On more than one occasion I have seen staff here kindly translating the names for weary tourists.

Speaking of which, the staff here are an entertaining group of people. Always a little crass but with a good sense of humor they really put the icing on the cake. On a rainy day when everything is going wrong Brioche usually makes things right. Maybe it is the food that has a home made feel to it, maybe it is the quick conversations you have with the people there... maybe it is both.

My personal favourites on the menu include the Ham, Brie and Mushroom panini and the Cajun Chicken panini, with a side of soup if I am looking for a lot of food (sometimes it's good to get half of the sandwhich to go). There are usually two soups on tap, three different salads in the cooler, a couple options for home style pizza by the slice and countless delicious pasta dishes. Suffice it to say you have a lot of options available to you.

The prices at Brioche range but typically sit a little above most soup and sandwich places by a couple dollars. The Ham & Brie goes for about $7 but the Cajun Chicken will cost you around $9 plus any side dishes you add on. Pastas are closer to dinner rates, coming in somewhere around $12-14. The pizza is also a pricey lot as well at about $4-5 but I would say it is worth the effort if you are tired of the meager toppings at the dollar pizza places around town.

Sometimes I prefer visiting this place before it closes at 8pm since the lunch hour rush has obviously subsided. Even as a to-go item I've always been satisfied with the food here. Catering is available too if you are planning an event in the area.

Brioche Urban Bakery
401 West Cordova Street, Vancouver
604-682-4037

Photo: Ryan Weal