Jess' Cafe (Brunch)

Once upon a time, there was a glitzy restaurant on 41st Ave right in the heart of Kerrisdale.  It was high end and served refined dinner plates as well as offering a wonderful high tea service.  Then it moved closer to Korean fusion and now they have gone a complete 180 where brunch/lunch is the game.  In fact, it is the only game as they don't even open for dinner!  So the actual restaurant remains the same, being a bit Vegas-like complete with beautiful washrooms.

In terms of the menu, it is now highly influenced by Korean croffles (croissant waffle).  Then it was no surprise that they had a version in the Korean Fried Chicken & Croffle.  Really solid dish where the croffle was crispy and buttery while not overly heavy despite being squished in a waffle iron.  The fried chicken thighs were juicy and featured a crispy batter.  There was a bit of sweet and slight spice going on.  We added more syrup to make it even sweeter.

The use of croffles continued on with the Eggs Benedict as well.  We tried both the Smoked Salmon Benedict (not pictured) and also the Truffle Mushroom Benedict (pictured).  We added a side of Maple-glazed bacon for good measure.  Despite being perfectly runny with cooked whites, we would've liked to see free form poached eggs instead (it appears they might be doing this now?).  I found the Hollandaise to be rich, buttery and creamy.  Croffle once again was crispy while those hashbrowns were killer.  They were nicely-seasoned and crispy with soft fluffy potato inside.

Another savory item with the croffle, we had the Spicy Chicken Croffle Sandwich.  This ate somewhat like a club sandwich with plenty of ripe tomatoes and lettuce.  Once again, the croffle was great and held everything together.  The spicy mayo was good, but the sandwich could've used more of it.  I thought the grilled chicken wasn't dry, but not particularly juicy either.  I know grilled is healthier, but a fried piece of chicken would've been better?

Okay, onto a dish that didn't feature a croffle, we had the Steak & Eggs featuring a 6oz AAA striploin.  We asked for the steak to be cooked medium-rare and it came out more rare, but in reality, that didn't matter as it was tender.  It was nicely charred.  It came with a side of jus that helped add flavour without overwhelming the natural meatiness.  The 2 sunny side eggs were prepared well with runny yolks and a slightly crispy edge.

One of my favourite dishes of the meal was the Bread Pudding French Toast.  I found the name of the dish appropriate as the bread was soaked enough to create a bread pudding texture.  However, they were able to keep the edges crispy and firm.  On top, we found berries, vanilla ice cream and syrup.  Naturally, this ate on the sweeter side, but not overwhelmingly.  I just liked the textures very much.

From the French toast, we moved onto some actual desserts in the Oreo Croffle as well as the Poached Pear Croffle.  As expected, the croffles were exactly like the ones found in the aforementioned dishes.  If I had to pick one that I liked best, it would've been the pear because it was less sweet and more "elevated".  The Oreo was fine too, but more for those with a sweet tooth.  I liked how they included plenty of cookie portions.

Finally, we had to get some drinks to go with our food right?  Well, they serve %Arabica coffee and we had the Affogato and the Iced Latte.  Both were good with plenty of aromatic coffee flavour while being purposefully sweet.  Nice compliment to our eats.  Overall, the bunch at the reimagined Jess' Cafe is pretty solid.  Portions are generous and the pricing is outright a steal.  Other than the steak & eggs, everything else is well below $20.  Combine this with the decor and ambiance as well as the area, it is a good value.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Generous portions
- Well-priced
- Nice dining space

The Bad:
- Poached eggs should be free-form (I think they do this now?)
- Maybe too many things with croffles?