Review Bruncheria Cafe - New Westminster

THE BEST BRUNCH BOWL For only 10 bucks you get a bunch of roasted potatoes, topped with two perfect egg benedict and a whole load of tangy pulled pork. Firm and crispy potatoes. The slightly creamy hollandaise sauce. Tender and juicy pork. Everything tastes so good together. Great value and service (took less than 10’ to pick up the order) Their updated menu comprises of so many convenient brunch options. All for only $10 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

BEST BRUNCH IN THE LOWER MAINLAND. Not many brunch spots in Burquitlam area so we went to New West. Found this place on Google Maps and decided to hit it up. Oh boy did we make the right choice. FOOD: If you love Jam Cafe in Vancouver/Victoria, this would be the next biggest thing but BETTER. It has a HUGE menu with a great selection of drinks AND a whole vegetarian section. It has a variety of savory and sweet brunch and lunch items. The portions are great and prices are very reasonable within the brunch scene. Yes it tastes great. SERVICE: I’d say they seem short staffed but given it’s in a fairly small space and they’ve got three people on the floor only, don’t take that offensively. they were super friendly, polite and let us know that they are slower than usual so that’s all that matters. This has become my new fave brunch spot in the lower mainland. 🙌🏻

Good, not so usual brunch selections. We got the Best Brunch Sandwich plus a pancake on the side, and the Perfect Breakfast Bowl . The pancake wasn't at all "light and fluffy" as described on the menu , but everyhting else was tasty and satisfying. Customer service was good. Just surprised that they charged us for hot water with lemon.

I come to this place to have Quality food. I see the owners preparing the ingredients fresh daily. Food is their passion and that's when I know I'm in a right place. We finally have a top notch brunch place in New Westminster and yes there are other brunch places in town but this one is a complete package. I have never been disappointed with the food nor service. Google maps let's me know when the busy times of the day are (that's normally associated with longer wait time anywhere) and I schedule it to be served outside of those hours. ;) They are also flexible and accommodating when I customized my breakfast plate. The Pancakes and specialty coffees are fantastic.

Dining room was warm and cozy. We found the food is on the expensive side. The food is ok nothing really say try me. Egg was poached perfect, omelette was cooked well done more than what I usually like. At the price point we expected a bit more.

Grilled cheese sandwich with scrambled eggs - sandwich was perfectly crispy toasted and yummy cheese + egg. Loved it. The hash was cold and not crispy though so that was a bummer. Meat and eggs - meat was average, ok eggs and cold non crispy hash. We've been here before and had a better experience with their pulled pork egg Benny and best sandwich ever. (hash was good last time!) Hopefully the hash was a one off :)

Since moving to New West I have eaten a lot from Bruncheria (dine in, take out, delivery). The food has been consistently good, and they make it very presentable each time. I think prior to the pandemic, the portions of their food were much bigger. Like the food portions were so big that even a big lumberjack looking dude couldn't even finish it. I witnessed this while dining in one time. Even with the food portions reduced it's still very filling so I still think theres good value. I will confess I am not a breakfast person where as my husband will eat breakfast all day. But I might convert now that I have tried the egg bennys from here... the runny egg on the bennys is just perfect and the amount of biscuit is just enough. They have now added donuts to their menu on weekends only which is another big bonus.

A little while ago, I heard about a newish restaurant in New Westminster called Bruncheria. A whole restaurant dedicated to brunch? I know, I know, it’s getting a lot more common around town… but I was still intrigued. Who wants to wait until the weekend until you can enjoy some great brunch grub? I decided to try this place out (located right on Columbia Street) around mid-October. The weather was a bit rainy outside and, hence, the windows were kind of fogged up so I couldn’t really see inside. Once I walked in, I immediately noticed the high ceilings and the brick walls on the sides (not to mention the wooden entrance barrier instructing you to wait to be seated). I decided to try an item that doesn’t normally spring to mind during brunch… grilled cheese. But this wasn’t just any old grilled cheese sandwich. This was their Smoked Pork Belly Grilled Cheese ($16 + $4 for the side of bacon) and I paired it off with a London Fog ($5.50). To be honest, the London Fog mug, although large, was a bit basic. It reminds me a bit of a croque madame (which is a ham and cheese sandwich topped with a fried egg). But, instead of regular ham, the inside of this sandwich is sliced pork belly (similar to roast pork without the crackling) with provolone, swiss, and cheddar cheese on sourdough bread. What I liked about it was the tender pork, the runny yolks, and the cheesiness of the sandwich. However, I thought that the sourdough could have used more of a grilled texture to the sandwich as I couldn’t really tell that this was supposed to be a grilled cheese sandwich. On my next visit the following week, I stuck with a classic brunch item… the Smoked Salmon Eggs Benny ($16) with arugula, smoked salmon, and perfectly poached eggs. I also added a Hot Chocolate ($5) which I enjoyed more than the London Fog the previous visit. Oh dear lord… that crispy outer edge of the muffin was heavenly (I hate a soggy muffin). The eggs weren’t super runny but the yolks were soft and lip-smackingly creamy as they slowly oozed once I cut into them. You know when you wipe your mouth and the napkin is covered in the remnants of a yellow lip-shaped stain from the runny yolk? Yup, this was a good brunch item! After a couple of good visits, I decided to return at the end of October and ordered the Prosciutto Eggs Benny ($16) and added the Roasted Potatoes ($5) and Hot Chocolate ($5). Unfortunately, this is where things fell apart… first, they forgot my roasted potatoes and I had to flag them down. They said “something happened” (didn’t elaborate but I’m assuming that meant they forgot my order) and that it would take another 3 minutes. In actuality, it took another 13 minutes. Of course, by this time, the rest of my food was cold (I was hoping to sop up some of the runny yolks with my potatoes). As for the potatoes themselves, they weren’t worth the $5 (seems like they weren’t cooked enough because they weren’t the least bit crispy) and I wound up leaving most of it on my plate. Also, the English muffin in the benny wasn’t toasted enough (which was one of the things I had enjoyed previously). The only saving grace was that they took the potatoes off my bill without me having to ask. It’s a bit of a shame since my first 2 visits were pretty good and service was friendly. However, on my last visit, they didn’t even come by to check up on me despite checking on other diners around me (think they were afraid of what I was going to say to them) and the food was mediocre at best on this visit. As many others have mentioned about this place, the prices are on the high side. There was a different waitress on my last visit so perhaps that was part of the problem and they just had a bad day? So, overall, I’ve got some mixed feelings about this place… I wanted to like it a lot more than I did but food and service was hit-and-miss. Maybe if they pull things together, it would be worth the prices that they charge.