The Ultimate Vancouver Brunch Guide: L'Abattoir

We’re taking a tasty tour of Vancouver’s many brunches to create The Ultimate Vancouver Brunch Guide. This week we’re at Gastown’s delightful L’Abbatoir.

With exceptional brunch fare, excellent service, and a charming ambience, Gastown’s L’Abattoir is a downtown Vancouver must-go brunch spot.

Gastown has earned itself quite the reputation for being a brunch destination neighbourhood. Indeed, come the weekend an array of Gastown’s most beloved cafés and restaurants open their doors bright and early to participate in this all-time-favourite weekend event.

While there are a number of fantastic brunch eateries in the area, none will leave you as joyously satisfied as L’Abattoir. Located on Carrall Street (near Maple Tree Square) L’Abattoir offers its patrons a perfectly chic, unpretentious and delicious brunch affair.

Having launched their brunch service (which runs from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays) in December of last year, L’Abattoir’s menu comprises of a wonderful mix of your standard breakfast and brunch fare, along with a handful of unique and innovative dishes.

With plenty of highlights on the menu, L’Abattoir’s friendly staff recommend kicking off the morning with a French press coffee and a freshly baked good, like their delightfully crumbly current scone ($7), which is dolloped with sweet homemade jam and clotted cream.

Although the made-in-house scones are almost a meal on their own (they’re huge and a fantastic treat to share), one must make sure to leave room for L’Abattoir’s main brunch plates. Plates that include Dungeness crab cakes with poached eggs, quiche with smoked steelhead, leeks and dill and L’Abattoir’s Full Breakfast, which consists of two eggs, duck sausage, pork and beans, rösti and toast.

A particular brunch crowd favourite is a dish that comprises of two perfectly oozy poached eggs with smoked pork belly and cheddar sabayon on homemade English muffins ($17). The cheese-based sauce is creamy and rich but not overpoweringly so and goes amazingly well with the crispy yet tender chunks of pork belly.

Craving more fat, crunch and salt? Don’t miss L’Abattoir’s Breakfast Burger, which is made up of a quarter pound patty, hash brown patty, fried egg, cheese, lettuce and a special homemade sauce. At $15 this towering beast of a burger is a flavour-packed meaty sensation.

Just as enticing as the food is L’Abattoir’s list of fruity drinks. There are cocktails if you fancy, such as the Spanish Steps ($8), a concoction of gin, lime bitters and rose bubbles topped off with fresh strawberries, as well as a handful of booze–free beverages like L’Abattoir’s Passionfruit Smash ($4), a refreshingly sweet and zesty combination of passionfruit, fresh lime, agave nectar and ginger beer.

Indulgence of the brunch variety at L’Abattoir doesn’t have to end as soon as your plates have been cleared away. To round off the meal with something sweet brunch-goers have the option to devour homemade jam filled doughnuts, as well as a basket full of other irresistible pastries, which include pain au chocolats and pain aux raisins just to name a few.

Brunch at L’Abattoir is exactly what brunch should be – leisurely and delicious. The team at L’Abattoir has created not only a scrumptious menu to be relished but also a modern and inviting space in which to enjoy it.

Housed in a refurbished brick and beam building (on the site of Vancouver’s first jail), L’Abattoir’s gorgeous multi-level space has been tastefully designed and kitted out accordingly with classic French tiled flooring, industrial fixtures, glass and steel finishes and natural timbers.

In addition to the rustic décor, there’s an array of seating options (bar seating, an elevated dining room, and a row of tables in the glass atrium at the back) making dining at L’Abattoir an incredibly pleasant and comfortable experience.

Unlike other downtown brunch establishments L’Abattoir does, in fact, accept reservations, so unless you plan to visit at 10:30 a.m. or soon after it’s best to call ahead and book a table.

L’Abattoir

Address: 217 Carrall Street, Vancouver

Phone: 604-568-1701

Hours:
Brunch served Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Open for dinner in the evenings Sunday to Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
and Friday and Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Website: www.labattoir.ca

 

All photos by Jess Fleming / Vancity Buzz