Joe's Grill

For all the unique and fancy eats that are available in Vancity, we often forget about the basics.  Yes, lost amongst the poke bowls and Downtown brunch spots, there are little diners that dish up your typical greasy spoon breakfast.  One of the more well-known joints is Joe's Grill sporting 4 locations in Vancouver.  I frequented the West 4th location when it was still open where I could get a filling, well-made breakfast for pocket change.  So when we made our way to the Drive after Sunday morning hockey at Britannia, I was surprised to see a location right across the street.  Going down memory lane, we went basic with Joe's Grill.

Since the seating was at a premium, we waited a bit for a table.  We also waited awhile for our food too, but that was well worth it since they didn't merely slap things together.  Dr. Dre went for the Avocado and Tomato Benny served with house hash browns.  This was surprisingly composed dish where the effort put into making it really showed.  Softly toasted, the English muffin stood up to the creamy Hollandaise that was buttery and rich.  It could've used a touch more acidity though.  The ripe avocado added even more body to the dish while the bits of tomato cut the heaviness with some tang.  On the side, the hash browns were fantastic being crispy while soft in the middle.  They were beautifully caramelized and browned.  Kaiser Soze went for the 3 Pancakes with 2 sausages and strips of bacon.  He also added 2 eggs for good measure.  Boy, this was a lot of food where the pancakes were thin and fluffy while the rest of the items were prepared to his liking.

Milhouse went with the Corned Beef Hash that featured the same fantastic house made hash browns.  Hence, we knew it was going to be good.  Mixed in with the crispy, yet soft chunks of potato (with the skin on), the well-seared corned beef was aromatic and a bit crispy on the edges.  Combined with the peppers and onions, this was a solid hash that wasn't overly greasy.  His scrambled eggs were not bad as they were not overdone.  For myself, I went for lunch with the Reuben with fries.  The bread was extremely buttery which also meant it was super crunchy.  There was enough corned beef and sauerkraut for impact.  The accompanying house-cut fries were super crunchy while retaining some potato goodness inside. So judging by the pictures, you can clearly see that this wasn't some fancy breakfast.  However, it was well-made and well-priced.  Sometimes the basic is all that you need.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Overall well-made food
- Decent service

The Bad:
- Very few tables
- Food takes awhile to arrive