Three Lions Cafe

Three Lions Cafe
1 E Broadway
Vancouver, BC

If you have noticed the trend of the posts this week, there was that chance that it would have been Asian after Asian after Asian post. While I could have (I have a post in the queue for Honolulu Cafe), I would rather switch and shuffle them around before anybody “complains”, hehehe. Again, during the end year break, I did something I seldom have the chance to do: go out for breakfast. I normally eat breakfast at home but this day, I woke up “late”. After going through the usual routine , it was already 10:00 a.m., which is way past my normal breakfast time and way too early for lunch. And while I have no particular love for brunch, I guess, by that time of the day, there is not much you can do (other than starve until lunchtime). While I could have gone anywhere open (keyword here: open!), I wanted something more particular. That was the reason I went to The Three Lions Cafe.

Located exactly where Broadway switch from East/West, the area where The Three Lions Cafe is located is interesting for the lack of a better word. It is in a process of gentrification (for good or for bad), if you cross the street, you can see differences. Not “colorful” as Downtown Eastside, not too quiet as the suburbs, but it has its own quirks. Not a place I would necessarily like to live but the question now is whether a place I would go for a bite.

Now, here is the reason I was interested in driving to this area (which, although centric, has its own quirks, parking being one of them): It is an English pub. As I have mentioned in several previous instances, I have a really low alcohol tolerance so chances I won’t go there by myself after hours (not even to watch a football game). Even if I go in a group, I might not be as merry as others. However, for the food, now, that is a different story. And, at around 11:00 a.m., there was one thing I should have ordered… An English Breakfast. But, before that…

I was offered this as an amuse-bouche. I must mention that, at that moment, I haven’t produced my camera yet (though me carrying it in my bag could have given hints) and the waiter had another similar plate whom he gave to another customer. So, I do not think it was an attempt to sway me. But, as for the amuse-bouche itself, I was just told it was a “bread”. Of course, it amused me (no pun intended) a little bit, as it is not a single bite item but a regular piece of bread. It could have been complimentary bread and I won’t have noticed any difference. That was until I tore a piece. It had a crumbly texture, in lines of a biscuit and had an interesting lemon-y hint. I thought I saw some herbs in it, which, unfortunately, I couldn’t tell exactly which one it was. A departure of the regular bread and an appreciated token.

As for drinks, I went for Earl Grey. Of course, being an English pub, I would expect some particularities when ordering tea. From an ordering perspective, I thought they should have included a slice of lemon. But, oh, well… As for myself, I drink the tea straight – no sugar, lemon, cream, milk, etc. However, I do appreciate the orange-y hint of Earl Grey.

Oh, yeah, this is their Traditional English Breakfast! According to their menu, it has Lincolnshire sausage, Wiltshire bacon, baked beans, grilled tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, two eggs, hash browns and toast. For the egg, I initially thought of sunny-side up but then changed my mind to poached. As for the toast, I asked for brown.

Starting with the beans, since they aren’t really focused in the previous picture, it is quite similar to your canned pork-n-beans I used to eat while growing up. However, unlike those from a can, or at least those sold in Panama, it had a slightly sweeter taste than what I am used to and more tomato taste. The consistency, though, not that different. I must mention I am biased here as I like to eat these no problem at all. And just to the left of it, the Wiltshire bacon. To me, it looks like a thinly slice of back bacon so I am not sure if I missed anything from their description. Taste-wise… Well, almost the same as back bacon! So not much to talk about.

As mentioned, I asked the eggs to be poached. I will have to say they did quite a good job here: The egg yolk was still soft, while the white was hardened a bit. When I pierced it over the bread, the yellow gooey yolk started to ooze out. The mushroom gave some savoury tones but, otherwise, it was there as a token. The potatoes were good, though I am not sure if I would call it a hash – home fries, may be. In the case of the potatoes, it had a slight crunchy exterior, not oily in any way, followed by the soft starchy goodness of it. While I could see the salt crystals, I would have preferred it to be more seasoned with herbs or something similar.

And then, the sausage and the tomato. I won’t comment much about the tomato, given it is not in season, but the fact it was grilled took away some of its raw taste and sweetened it a little bit. As for the sausage… Well, I did not find any highlights to it. While I could “feel” some pork chunkiness in the sausage, I did not find it was seasoned enough. Sure, I could taste some slight herby/peppery tones but I had to concentrate a bit too much to “taste” it. Of course, there is also another possible reason: see the grill marks? Assuming it was grilled from the very get go, it wasn’t really exposed to as much fat as other cooking methods (not that the sausage did not have fat to begin with). Since fat == flavour… On that note, I noticed that the overall dish did not have a pool of fat after I finished!

I will have to mention that I did run into one disappointment that I did not notice until halfway through the meal. If you have checked their site on-line you will easily notice what/why: where is the black pudding? When I made my order, I am sure I mentioned “black pudding” but, somehow, that got lost. As a result, I wasn’t able to taste that “unique” dish. But, that shouldn’t be that much of an issue because, while some of the parts were under-seasoned, I quite liked what was produced and chances are I will come back. Heck, I could/want to eat this every morning! Oh, wait, probably not, unless I can scheduled quad-bypass every other week… ^_^;;

Tagged under: Breakfast • European • Vancouver