Jam Cafe: Hipster brunch joint in Vancouver
Jam Cafe is a hot brunch spot originally from Victoria on Vancouver Island. They now have 2 locations in Vancouver and this review will be on the downtown Vancouver location, not the Kitsilano location.
The downtown location is notorious for its big lineups during the weekends. We got there around 10:30 am on a Saturday and waited 1 hour until we were finally seated inside.
Interior
Since there is an hour wait outside, it’s no surprise that the restaurant itself is quite tiny. Think of it is a hallway with two rows of seating on each side. If you have a table of more than 4, expect to wait even longer.
The interior is cute and rustic with wooden furniture and shelves decking the walls. Decorations are hipster and give off a retro farm look.
Drinks
Jam iced coffee ($4.50)
Jam Cafe uses hipster cups as well (i.e. a mason jar, classic). The iced coffee is already sweetened and tastes like HK style milk tea.
Food
Buffalo blue fried chicken eggs benedicts ($17)
My boyfriend orders the eggs benny with buttermilk fried chicken tossed in buffalo sauce, top with blue cheese and pickled cabbage. The dish also comes with hashbrowns – you can add half an avocado for $4 (half an avocado…).
The poached eggs and hollandaise sauce taste great but my boyfriend isn’t a fan of the buffalo blue fried chicken. Mostly I think he didn’t select the right menu item for himself. He found the buffalo sauce to be too sour and he didn’t like how strong the blue cheese is. His recommendation is to just order the normal fried chicken eggs benny.
Fried chicken eggs benedicts ($16)
I have actually ordered the fried chicken eggs benny during my first visit to Jam Cafe. From what I remember, it was a perfectly fine eggs benny and it wasn’t difficult to eat the fried chicken with the poached eggs. The fried chicken was fried nicely – not soggy or too dry.
I did, however, feel like I should have ordered a more unique dish after waiting for an hour to get in.
Chicken french toast ($18)
This time, I try to choose a more unique dish and after looking at some photos, I decided on the chicken french toast.
The french toast is thick cut brioche with more buttermilk fried chicken on top. They add pickled cabbage, which is pink, and jalapeno sour cream. They have a very interesting sauce comprised of tomato and maple bourbon BBQ. Also, they add hot honey sauce, green onions and cilantro.
So there is a bunch of things on top of my fried chicken and french toast. The fried chicken is – again – delicious. Easy to cut and to eat with pieces of the french toast.
The french toast seemed average to me. It almost didn’t taste like french toast as it isn’t very sweet. The batter on it must be light.
The glaze and sauce is what makes this dish unique. The tomato and maple bourbon BBQ glaze is sour and sweet at the same time and the cilantro they sprinkle on top gives it a nice kick (I usually hate cilantro). The honey mustard went really well with the fried chicken.
It is mostly a savoury dish but with little tangs of sweetness.
Final thoughts
So you must know by know that we love fried chicken because we didn’t order a single dish that didn’t have fried chicken on top of it.
Our total bill came to around $46 for 2 people after tax and tip.
My boyfriend didn’t like his dish too much. Even though I really enjoyed mine, we both think Jam Cafe just isn’t worth it when you consider the 1 hour standing time outside. I don’t ever see it as a place I would go to on a regular basis.
If there is a lineup that is shorter than 20 minutes and you order a unique dish right for your tastebuds, then Jam Cafe is definitely a winner. My advice is to actually visit the Kitsilano location or visit the Vancouver location on a weekday.
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