Maxine's

For a place that loves brunch, Vancouver doesn't have as many great brunch spots as it deserves.  Granted, there have been many places opening up in the past few years, yet to varying degrees of tastiness.  These include OEB, Egg & Co, Jam Cafe, Eggspectation, Palate Kitchen and a few more.  Of course we also have the existing ones including hotel restaurants.  Now let's add another participant in Maxine's on Burrard.  Being the sister restaurant to Tableau, there is some potential even before I even considered trying it out.  That I did one weekday morning (since they don't take resos for brunch and parking is a real pain in the area).

We decided as a table to share 5 dishes starting with the Smoked Salmon Rosti with potato rosti, poached eggs, dill cream cheese, pickled shallot, capers and hollandaise.  Not to be anti-climatic, but this was our favourite item hands down.  The rosti underneath was delicately crispy with a soft and moist potato centre.  On top, there was an abundance of buttery and smoky salmon with acidity provided by the pickled shallots and capers.  The combination of creamy Hollandaise (with a touch of tang) and perfectly poached runny egg added a luxuriousness to the dish.

Of course we had to order the Crispy Chicken Sandwich (as per my @shermaneatschickensandwiches IG account) with Carolina BBQ sauce, pickles and iceberg lettuce on brioche bun accompanied by a bounty of shoestring fries.  This was a solid sammie with a tender and moist chicken spiked with mustardy tangy BBQ sauce.  Pickles added even more tang while the restrained amount of lettuce didn't get in the way.  Brioche was expertly toasted where it held up with a light crunch yet giving way to fluffiness.  Side of fries were excellent, so much of it and good mouth-feel.

Another solid dish was the Dutch Baby featuring fried egg, shaved ham and Gruyère cheese mornay.  Although the pancake itself was on the thicker and denser side (should've been thinner), it was still tasty due to the rest of the ingredients.  The mornay sauce was cheesy and creamy while the perfectly fried egg added more silkiness.  Taking into account the ample ham, there was lots of classic breakfast flavours to be had.

Similar to a Shakshuka, the Eggs Cocotte sported soft baked eggs, San Marzano tomato, olive, spinach, Fiore di latte and grilled bread.  This was also well-prepared with runny soft-poached eggs and a beautiful tomato sauce that was tangy and rich.  Add in the stringy cheese and salty tanginess of the olives, it was a good compliment to the smoky, nutty and crunchy grilled sourdough.  Even the salad on the side was well-dressed and delicious.

To end things off with something sweet, we had the Brioche French Toast with whipped mascarpone, candied walnuts and preserve.  The toast itself could've benefited from a more aggressive soak of eggs and milk (as it was a bit dry), but the toppings were in perfect harmony.  Loved the combination of blueberry, lemon and mint on top.  With a side of real maple syrup, this was just plain delicious.  Overall, all of the dishes we tried were well-executed and appealing.  Would come back.

The Good:
- Well-executed
- Loved the dining space (inside and out)
- Fairly good service

The Bad:
- French toast could've been more fluffy and moist inside
- Parking in the area is terrible