Nestled around the corner of Victoria Drive and Kingsway, The Tipper Restaurant is a casual eatery showcasing local art and music, and offering classic comfort food.
We stumbled upon The Tipper on Google Maps when Dan wanted to dine out for breakfast and we didn’t want to go to our usual spot. There’s parking in front of the restaurant, but not in the back. If the front is busy (which can be throughout weekdays!), we parked on the residential street a block away.
Upon entering the restaurant, we were instantly greeted and were surrounded by adorable artwork by children. Our server promptly gave us menus and, noticing Theo, asked if we wanted a high chair since we didn’t see any nearby.
I remember looking at the menu online and was happy to see non-breakfast items (I dislike breakfast but put up with it for Dan), but when I opened the menu in front of me, it had only one page of food and they were all breakfast food! The rest of the menu was drinks. Since we went early, I assumed lunch and dinner menus weren’t offered yet, even though Dan suggested they could still probably make non-breakfast items if we had asked. Either way, I didn’t want to cause any inconvenience so I ordered the Three Cheese Benny, the Big Breakfast for Dan, and a side of toast for Theo.
It was fairly quiet when we were there so our food arrived quickly. At first glance, the portions were big, typical of many other brunch places. I loved seeing how cheesy my bennies were!
Dan’s plate was very typical of a breakfast platter. Since it’s hard to critique basic breakfast foods (such as toast, eggs, and sausages) – really, you need to be an amateur cook not to be able to scramble eggs and season them – we typically judge and rate a restaurant based on their potatoes. Tipper’s cut-up potato chunks were well seasoned and so, so crispy on the outside, which is a win for us! The only place we’ve ever truly loved the hash was OEB in Brentwood.
My eggs benedict dish, at first glance, was so cheesy! I felt my mouth salivate when she placed the plate before me. After nearly finishing my hash (I had to remind myself to stop eating all the potatoes to have some space to try the bennies), I cut into the egg yolk. Much to my dismay… the yolk did not run. It did not even trickle down. I cut further in and saw my egg yolk was nearly fully cooked.
Despite the overcooked egg, I enjoyed my dish. I was able to taste the different cheeses in all my bites which I find rare for cheesy dishes as I feel most restaurants skimp out and only cheese on the top. The Tipper cheesed in between the English muffin and egg, as well as the top. The one egg benedict and the hash had me full, and Dan was able to finish the rest of my dish. When we cut into the second egg, the yolk trickled down a bit so it wasn’t fully done, but not as runny as you would expect.
Price-wise, we both agreed that we felt it was rightly priced. For the quality and quantity, we were thrilled that our dishes were less than $20 each, considering we believe that brunch shouldn’t cost $25 a plate (looking at you, OEB!). The only grievance I have is that Theo’s toast (with jam) was $4.29 – for that price, he could’ve gotten the whole loaf! I think extra toast should only be $2-3.
Overall, I think Tipper has great potential to be our new brunch spot given the location and price range! We love the casual atmosphere, fast and friendly service, and the food. I would love to come back and try their lunch or dinner menu as well, especially on a night when they have live music.
The Tipper Restaurant is at 2066 Kingsway, Vancouver, BC V5N 2T3. Check out their website here.
*Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by The Tipper. All opinions are mine and we are not affiliated with The Tipper.
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