Bon’s Off Broadway
Bon’s Off Broadway
2451 Nanaimo Street
Vancouver, BC
It is said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. How much? Some even say breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, sup like a pauper. In my case, I usually end up having a bowl of cereal with some fruit (either banana or some berries) and soy milk. Once in a while, some bread or a bagel with jam and a glass of soy milk. Not necessarily a king’s breakfast; however, it gets me there for lunch which, for me, is usually noon sharp… Last weekend, I had a very important appointment for 10:00 a.m. and, while I could have breakfast at home, I chose to have breakfast outside (I was driving anyway). However, I did not want to go to Denny’s or IHOP. I wanted something a bit out of the way, something like Bon’s Off Broadway.
Bon’s claim to fame is their cheap breakfast. How cheap? How about $3.00? No, no typo here, it is $3.00 (actually $2.95…). But, having such cheap eats there will be some compromises, right? Anyway, I got there around 9:00 a.m. and the place was already packed. While that dwindled down during my meal (by then, it is borderline brunch, anyway), it showed you it is a popular place in its own rights. How so? When I walked in, I was told “sit wherever you want”. The problem was that I had to walk around to find an open table! Anyway, after seating, I had to grab the menu myself, as the waitresses were really busy.
Ah, my infamous condiments picture!
I made my order and started to look around. As mentioned before, if you have to pay only $3 for breakfast, there will be compromises. (Other items, though, are on the $4-$6 range). So, it won’t be a surprise that the carpet is really worn out, somewhat dirty and so on. That won’t freak me out (I have experienced a lot worse); this is a caveat emptor to those who expect something “clean”. But, and here is an odd but, at the same time, trying their best with decoration, they manage to give an odd kitsch feeling to the place… Anyway, to the food!
I ordered $3 breakfast special with an large glass of orange juice (something that I also seldom order). Two eggs (in my case, sunny side up), that looks like medium size eggs (again, compromises…), rye toast with some butter, three sausages (one that was over cooked to the point it was starting to be crispy) and some hash, which is made from whole potato. While some parts where not as tasty as it could be (namely, the sausage), the overall meal was better than what I expected. The hash, for example, had the right “bite” (though slightly underseasoned) and the eggs were cooked with the white cooked through but the yolk still runny.
Was it worth the $3? I know of places that charges more (a LOT more) and can’t make it as good as this (of course, they will “decorate/arrange” it better on the plate but, hey, when it hits your stomach, it does not make any difference). In fact, I was so “guilty” of being charged only $3 for the breakfast (and $3 for the large glass of orange juice, for a total of $6), that I paid with a $10 bill and left the change as tip. Sure, no service at all (no “is everything OK”, which was appreciated) but that is not what that matters. This is a place I will definitely come back.
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Ah yes, you made it to Bon’s! I love cheap eats, it’s never how much you pay for a meal rather what you get for the money that you spent. In this case, a whole lot for $3. Too bad some people would never set food in a “dive” such as this or Burger Burger. These places, in my mind are the best!
I’m surprised you enjoyed it at Bon’s. We were there the same day (but I went at about 11:00) and I *HATED* it. You can see my review on my blog, but basically the food was horrible and service was understandably lacking; location was filthy and general feel of the place was grimy and not in a good, kitschy way. I honestly don’t think quantity = quality nor do I think a cheap meal is always a good meal. In this case, it was at best mediocre food in an undesirable environment, which amounts to a generally distasteful dining experience.
Bon’s is greasy..and some of my friends cant stand it. I personally am okay with it, and will occasionally go for breakfast, especially if we were up all night.
Weak stomaches is what I say to them!
Mrs Loquacious, welcome! Most probably our expectations were completely different – Noticed I mentioned “compromise” a lot of times in the post? ^_^ From afar, I had a hunch this place was a dive, something fellow blogger Sherman confirmed. As a result, there would be no way I would be expecting anything less (well, when you are rock bottom…). Given this scenario, there is no point for me to compare it with restaurants that will charges me 3 times (or more) than what Bon’s Off would charge. But, if you want one, take my visit to DeDutch (here). Was it better? Nope… As for the characters you will run into, again, that is part of life. To badly misquote Anthony Bourdain (on, out of all dives in the world, Save-on-Meats in Hastings): “Strangely enough, I’ve found that mystery meat only gets better the dodgier the neighborhood is. I mean what’s mystery meat without the mystery”. Notice that I never made reference to quantity and, while a cheap meal might not necessarily be a good meal, an expensive meal does not necessarily mean a good meal either. At least, if I have a bad experience with a cheap meal, I won’t feel cheated the same way I would be if I had that bad experience with an expensive one! In the end, it is what you make out of it. In my case, it was an interesting option.
Thanks KimHo, and true – a cheap bad experience is always better than an expensive bad one.
To each their own, but I guess that for me, there’s a lower threshold for dives. I am only willing to overlook nasty conditions if the food is great (e.g. the congee/rice roll place on Fu Ning St. in Kowloon, HK) but not if it’s only mediocre or it is stale (like my Ukrainian sausages were). I would love to find a super cheap and tasty place in Van to dine at, but so far, my “cheap” experiences have been less than stellar.
I do have a weak stomach, Kevin – IBS too! That said, I am happy to scarf down a hotdog from the vendor on the corner (that’s the ultimate mystery meat) and enjoy the whole experience of devouring it, so I’m not a complete culinary wimp
Mrs Loquacious, out of curiosity, would you go to Save-on-Meats burger shop (assuming it is still open) or Burger Burger?
Any comparison between HK dives with North American dives would be extremely unfair, given the type of food that would be served, not to mention it will be difficult for me to make judgment (as I have my own bias for Chinese food).
$3 breakfast + star wars + creatures from mars + kill bill…where do I sign up Kim. That is my kind of dive breakfast adventure.
Raidar, next time you are in Vancouver, drop me an email! ^_^
I live very close to Bon’s and have had breakfast there a number of times over the last decade…I have to admit that I’m not a fan (my wife calls it “Mal’s”).
I have an iron stomach and I love dives…but Bon’s is in a different league. Everything tastes the same – the eggs, bacon, ham, pancakes, even the coffee has a murky “dirty rusty griddle” note. And I have to agree with Mrs Loquacious…the place is filthy and the owners don’t seem to have enough pride in the place to clean it.
Frankly, I would much rather eat at Golden Phoenix next door….I might have to spend $10 to eat well there, though.
Sorry to be so negative…the only other place that inspires this kind of negativity in me is the Naam.
A 3 dollar breakfast… I don’t think you’ll ever find that here where I live.