Anna B.
Yelp
We were thinking of spots to enjoy brunch together with the fam today as it's one of the fleeting warm, sunny days in Vancouver this year. The criteria included an outdoor patio, preferably with a view, and a brunch menu as my husband's fave meal of the day is breakfast and my mum is not an early riser. We ran through the list of usual suspects when I proposed Dockside - surprisingly, I was the only one who had been here.
We weren't able to make a reservation online for the patio, but decided to chance it and try our luck for a walk-in at 11:30AM today. Success! The front of house team welcomed us and actually scanned our vaccine passports (!), which we were super happy to see since many establishments are still not doing this despite the new laws.
We got a great partially-shaded spot on their patio overlooking False Creek (see pic). I ordered the avocado toast (with organic whole grain & honey toast, alfalfa sprouts, heirloom tomatoes, sunflower seeds, za'atar and added a soft-poached egg), and both my husband and mum ordered the smoked meat breakfast sandwich (house-made montreal smoked meat, fried egg, provolone, alfalfa sprouts, horseradish mayo, sesame brioche) with salad. To drink, I ordered their breakfast tea, my husband had the coffee, and mum had the grapefruit juice.
The presentation of my avocado toast was nice (see pic), and the egg was soft as requested though the flavour of the dish was surprisingly bland... Pretty disappointing for toast that cost over $20. It definitely needed something, even just a citrus/acidic drizzle of some sort on top. I wasn't super hungry this morning so the portion size was perfect for me, but I do think that they should adjust the price or add something on the side.
Both my husband and mum loved their smoked meat breakfast sandwiches (see pic) - the meat was piled high, and the sesame brioche bun was a hit. Both mentioned it was quite salty (which is saying something since they are both salt enthusiasts), so if that's not a plus for you, you may want to factor that into your menu choice. Husband and mum agreed that getting the side salad was the right choice as it was tasty, fresh, and because they both probably could have done with half the sandwich and been okay (if taking the other half for later), though the fries would have been way too much.
When it comes to service, this is where they lost a star for me. Our server was pretty abrupt and frankly, rude at the beginning. We had sat down and she asked us about drinks, we said we were just waiting on one more person before ordering and she stormed off. I'm not sure what was going on behind the scenes, because there was nothing on our end. She sort of recovered through the end of service and was more friendly, but it was a bizarre encounter. That being said, everyone has their off days and let's leave it at that.
The sprawling patio at Dockside really is what makes the experience, and I would definitely recommend it if you're looking to enjoy some sunshine and a view. We look forward to going back for another brunch date and splitting the stuffed French toast, as we saw this dish going to a few tables today and it looked delicious! When life goes back to some semblance of normal post-COVID and the theatre and comedy shows start up again, this would also be a nice spot to go for a drink and a bite before or after a show.