Cafe Medina (Vancouver, BC)

This post was actually a long time coming - seeing as it is now February and I went to Cafe Medina when I was noshing for waffles around the time that I visited Patisserie Lebeau and Damien's Belgium Waffles.

Upon seeing Frank at Vanfoodies at the East is East dinner, he questioned whether I was done writing Cafe Medina. I remembered that I had, in fact, bumped into him there. (Rather - we were milling about in the "waiting crowd" outside on a weekend morning for brunch.) I was reminded again as he posted about it a couple days later.

I visited Cafe Medina with two of my favourite ladies in the world, MYY and F-to-the-Izzo (my favourite Izzo of them all, that is. :) (Fine, lets make that FMace, as in favourite Mace of them all, while we're at it.) Cousin Nate was also along for the ride and be still your hearts, his six-year-old-full-of-frenetic-energy body actually lasted the long 20-30 minute wait he had to endure!

We started off with an assortment of hot beverages (clockwise from top left): a matcha tea latte, a mocha, hot chocolate, and a London Fog. Pretty and delicious at the same time!



Cousin Nate ordered a duo of waffles with milk chocolate lavendar. We were a little afraid his pint-sized tastebuds wouldn't appreciate the lavendar, but he liked it just fine! It kept him busy for...about ten minutes.

What'd the ladies have? We ordered the Les Boulettes, the Tagine, and the Fricasse. As per the menu, the Les Boulettes includes "2 poached eggs, spicy Moroccan meatballs, cilantro, hummus cucumber tomato salad. Grilled Foccacia.", while the Tagine had "2 poached eggs on spicy tomato stew and red pepper, merguez sausage, sundried black olives, and cilantro. Grilled Foccaccia.". Meanwhile, the Fricasse had "2 fried eggs on braised short ribs, roasted potatoes, caramelized onions, arugula and smoked applewood cheddar. Grilled Foccacia."

It was a lot of egg, and a lot of meat. That being said, it was flavourful. The Les Boulettes (F'maces' choice), shown above, had perfectly poached eggs that were perfect for dunking the foccacia into. The meatballs, although billed as being spicy, were lightly spiced and were a touch dry. The sauce was spicy, though, and made up for the lack of spice in the meatball. The sauce was also enjoyed on the focaccia.



The Tagine (above, left) was ordered by yours truely. the sausage was a little on the dry / lean side again, but the dish was executed nicely with spicy sauce and the occasional olive. Poached eggs again on this one.

The Fricasse had to be the heaviest meal of them all. Roasted potatoes, onions, cheddar, and braised short ribs. The meat was the best by far in this dish, and although Fizzo tried her hardest...she couldn't finish it.

What? Did I forget something? Yes, I went there for waffles, right? The waffles were, as rumoured and enjoyed by many, were delicious. The accompanying dipping sauces were yummy as well. 

While Nate had ordered the milk chocolate lavender early on, we finished with a single white chocolate pistachio rosewater dip - to share. *That* is how full we were from our meals. While the milk chocolate sauce was light on the milk chocolate, the latter had nice white chocolate, hints of pistachio, and just a whisper of rosewater. I'd order the latter again.

In light of the Olympics, Cafe Medina will be open late every night during the Olympics, and will also have a take-out window for all your yummy street-eating needs!

Cafe Medina
556 Beatty Street
Vancouver BC
P: 604-879-3114