Having had a succession of great meals in Sydney, as soon as Nick and I returned to Vancouver I was eager to continue my search for the city’s most delicious food. So one drizzly Saturday whilst out exploring and cafe hopping (working up quite the appetite), Nick and I joined a rather lengthy queue at Meat & Bread.

Located on Cambie Street in Vancouver’s historic Gastown neighbourhood, Meat & Bread serves up a selection of delectable sandwiches. With a total of four sandwiches on its menu, Meat & Bread offers three fixed sandwiches (Porchetta, Meatball, Grilled Cheese) and a daily rotating special, made using a range of meats, cuts and cooking styles. The menu also consists of a small variety of side dishes such as soups and salads.

While each sandwich offers something a little different it is the Porchetta — a crusty ciabatta roll stuffed with thinly sliced slow-roasted free range pork, crisp pork crackling and a house-made salsa verde topping — that steals the show. With mouthwatering ingredients like that, is there really any wonder?

The sandwiches at Meat & Bread are made-to-order. The meat is carved, chopped up and heaped onto lightly toasted rolls at order time. Therefore, patrons can expect a hot, fresh, soggy-free sandwich.

At $8 Meat & Bread’s sandwiches are great value. They are deliciously hearty and will leave you feeling truly satisfied. They will also leave you with a hankering to return again soon.

For those who eat-in, Meat & Bread’s sandwiches are served on wooden cutting boards with a dollop of house-made and if I may say so, the most delicious yellow mustard.

Chowing down all that meat and salty goodness is thirsty work, fortunately at Meat & Bread there are a selection of thirst-quenching drinks available. I recommend the ginger beer. It’s cold, sweet (but not too sweet) and the ultimate sandwich companion.

Everyday at lunch, without fail a line up of hungry eaters forms at Meat & Bread, but don’t let the line put you off. It moves swiftly thanks to the sandwich shop’s ordering system, which will have you served and seated within 10 mins or so.

In addition to a couple of individual seating options, there is a large wooden communal table. Stools can also be found at the main counter where the sandwiches are prepared. The communal dining really adds to Meat & Bread’s relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

As does, the specialised sandwich shop’s interior design. With a rather industrial feel (think exposed brick walls, thick wooden counter tops, and steel furnishings and fixtures) the Meat & Bread team have created a decidedly modern eatery with a casual and inviting vibe.

The ingredients used by Meat & Bread may be simple but boy what a sensational combination of texture and flavour they have achieved with their sandwiches.

With its memorable ambience and scrumptious eats I definitely recommend this place to everyone!

Nick and I have been in Vancouver a little over three months now, and still our search for a local go-to cafe continues. While we’ve enjoyed quite a few meals thus far nothing has really stood out (thanks NYC and your wondrous array of cafes you have completely ruined it for every other city). That was until we visited Cafe Medina.

Known to locals as one of Vancouver’s top breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch spots, Cafe Medina blends enticing bistro fare, exceptional coffee, and a seemingly endless supply of fresh, hot Belgian waffles.

True to its reputation, Cafe Medina serves up some of the most delicious food in the town. A tantalising menu offers a range of incredibly tasty meals: granola topped with fresh seasonal fruit, house-made waffles, fried eggs with smoked salmon, poached eggs with spicy Moroccan lamb meatballs, chorizo summer vegetable paella, and a whole lot more.

Naturally, a menu featuring so many appetising dishes makes deciding what to order extremely difficult. On my first visit, after a lot of umming and arring I eventually opted for the Fricasseè — a delicious dish comprising of two perfectly cooked fried eggs (sunny side up), braised short ribs, roasted potatoes, caramelised onions, applewood smoked cheddar, and a slice of grilled focaccia. Served in a hot skillet and simply bursting with flavour, the Fricasseè had me savouring every single bite.

If you’re after something sweet or want to round off your meal with dessert, be sure to order one (or a stack) of the cafe’s perfectly crisp Belgian waffles with your choice of topping. My pick is the gooey salted caramel sauce, which is not only utterly divine but also just one of Cafe Medina’s many scrumptious options. The list includes: dark chocolate, milk chocolate lavender, white chocolate pistachio rosewater, raspberry caramel, peach and bourbon butterscotch, yoghurt, and maple syrup.

I really feel like you can’t go wrong with the brunch choices at Cafe Medina. Everything is made in-house and the ingredients used are super fresh. The food is contemporary, creative, and sophisticated with mainly French dishes influenced by Middle Eastern, Spanish, Italian, Moroccan, and of course West Coast flavours.

As to be expected, with so many wonderful dishes Cafe Medina is constantly packed. Therefore if you’re planning to turn up after 9:30am, you should prepare for the inevitable wait. At the weekend the line up for a table is occasionally so long that people can hardly move along the footpath. Having said that though, the line does move steadily and the host sees to it that everybody is accommodated. Tip: make sure you put your name on the list and that you’re not just standing in the line.

It’s not just the food, however, that keeps diners coming back time and time again, but also the cafes warm ambience and charming character. While the cafe’s interior has a modern fit out (think timber tables, galvanised metal chairs, and industrial lighting), the space itself is casual and inviting, thanks to the cafe’s high ceilings, thoughtful decorative touches, and bar and table seating.

The coffee also might have something to do with the cafe’s popularity. Using coffee beans from Vancouver’s own 49th Parallel, Cafe Medina’s talented baristas work incredibly hard behind a very retro looking aqua coloured coffee machine, pumping out coffee after coffee. Whether you order a cappuccino or a lavender latte you can expect a beautifully presented and great tasting drink. As the sign above the entrance says “Life’s too short for bad coffee.”