The Red Wagon (Hastings)

When asked about good brunch places in Vancouver, there seemed to be a few names that would frequently come up. The Red Wagon, being one of them, was the first place that came to my mind when R said he felt like Western Brunch.

Located on E. Hastings, I heard it’s a busy little place that always have long lineup for their weekend brunch. Anticipating that, I was prepared to wait in the cold. Luckily, the lineup wasn’t as long as I had in my mind. While we were waiting, they were nice enough to offer coffee and tea. By the time we got seated, I was nothing but ready to eat.

Super Trucker ($14.75)

A huge portion with scrambled egg, 2 buttermilk pancakes, crisp pork belly, roasted potato, and toasts. The crisp pork belly was indeed crisp on the outside. Not sure whether it was broiled or deep dried, it wasn’t overly oily even with the fatty part. The scrambled egg was made with real egg rather than liquid egg, which made the texture more natural. I guess many people couldn’t finish it so our server was quite surprised to see we actually finished it.

Pulled Pork Pancakes ($12.50)

3 buttermilk pancakes layered with pulled pork soaked in Jack Daniels maple syrup. The JD maple syrup made the buttermilk pancake taste richer. I personally thought the pulled pork was a bit dry to my taste but Greeny liked it. On the other hand, I really like the buttermilk pancakes – they were fluffy and quite filling as well. I could see myself ordering just the buttermilk pancakes and still be happy with it.

Omelette ($9.50)

We went with smoked brie, mushroom and arugula omelette that came with roasted potato and rye bread.  The smoked brie was well-mixed into the omelette. Yet there were a bit too few (in my opinion) mushroom and arugula. I thought it was alright. The roasted potato was buttery and with a nice soft texture on the inside. There was enough of herby taste with it that it wasn’t boring.

I think overall, the items we ordered were quite nicely done. I really like the buttermilk pancakes and would absolutely come back just for it.