Breakfasting at PHAT Deli
5 Comments
Karen Hamilton
March 5, 2008
I’ve been visiting a chiropractor in Yaletown for the past few weeks. A curious side effect of this medical attention is an obsession with nearby Yaletown landmark PHAT Deli. It’s a colourful eatery on Mainland and Nelson that draws people in with promises of Montreal smoked meat and house-made bagels.
On chiro days, this deli is en route to the office. The tiny Kurt accountant on my shoulder that normally warns me of unnecessary spending gets silenced as I near its doors. Despite all of my good intentions, somehow I wind up in front of the counter, stacked enticingly with freshly baked goodies, blurting out my request for the usual $3 toasted bagel with cream cheese to go. There’s a multitude of bagels and half a dozen flavours of cream cheese—blended, I suspect, in-house—so I have yet to exhaust the combos possible. But I’m making a valiant effort.
That’s sadly all the interaction I normally have time for. Last week, on a non-chiro morning, I left extra early in order to have a sit-down experience and to try one of the eggs benedict offerings. The camera came with me, of course. Its presence caused a stir throughout the entire meal. Staff eyed me warily while a few PHAT regulars guessed at my identity. I wondered whether I breached protocol by not asking permission to take photos. Would they kick me out? Will I go lacking for tasty bagels forever because of my presumption? It was a little unnerving in such a small cafe where owner William Kaminski seems to know everyone on a first-name basis.
In the end, the meal ended on a good note. The benny was sublime. Two perfectly rounded, poached eggs atop each slice of multigrain bagel, with generous helpings of avocado and tomato, smears of cream cheese and all smothered with hollandaise. Not bad at all for $8.99. William eventually approached me, so I confessed to being a food blogger and expressed my addiction to PHAT. He had a good chuckle and thanked me for coming (and now we say good morning whenever I grab a bagel).
One of these days, a lunch date at PHAT is in order. I have heard nothing but praise for their Montreal smoked meat. Let’s hope that that visit will go more smoothly, even if I do bring the camera out. You will be the first to know what comes of that.
PHAT Deli
1055 Mainland Street | Vancouver
(604) 684-6239
For more photos and info on PHAT Deli, visit its Tiny Bites restaurant profile.
Categories: Downtown, Food, Restaurants, Yaletown
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Tiny Bites is a food blog that explores all things edible and imbibable in Vancouver, British Columbia. More >
Articles by Karen Hamilton
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Thanks for the heads up on the bennies at PHAT. I didn’t know they do hot breakfasts, although they’ve been on my list forever to try the smoked meat. I think their 4th Avenue location is supposed to open soon but I can’t imagine they’ll have full brekkies in such a tiny spot. Enjoying your posts!
Grayelf: Their bennies are worth a sit-down breakfast. My favourite is the one above (I am a sucker for avocado) but I also enjoy the smoked meat benny. You get to choose which bagel you prefer out of their housemade selection. Their smoked meat sandwiches are good; the Reuben is the one I favour most.
Please let me know what you think once you get the chance to sample PHAT!
I’ve tried their Reuben sandwich before…it was pretty good but I’m just not sure if the price was worth it. Those bennys look great though.
Hey,
This is a inquiry for the webmaster/admin here at tinybites.ca.
Can I use some of the information from this post above if I give a link back to your site?
Thanks,
James
Hey Karen,
The sad part about being a known food critic is the fact that people know who you are and treat you like one. Although I agree with you that the quality of the food at PHAT is decent, I have truly had THE worst service of my life there, strictly because of the OWNER himself. You can read my review here:
http://www.yelp.ca/biz/phat-pretty-hot-and-tasty-foods-vancouver#hrid:a8MbKclyEvfe40KZwrLI6g
I hope people realize that even if the food is good, if you feel unappreciated as a customer and put in a bad mood, the food quality becomes trivial as the experience of eating is destroyed.