where jess ate

While Wildebeest (@WildebeestYVR) may be primarily known for their dinner service, this nose-to-tail restaurant offers a killer brunch on weekends.

The restaurant is located in Gastown inside a beautiful refurbished 19^th century building. I love the industrial design of the space which features exposed brick walls, high ceilings, hanging Edison bulb lights and lots of wood and iron elements. Upon entering Wildebeest, I was shocked at how far back the space extended. It’s much larger than it looks from the outside!

Our party of three had a reservation for 1:00 on a Saturday and it wasn’t particularly busy. Meanwhile, Catch 122, a few storefronts down had a large crowd of people waiting for a table outside. While I can’t attest to which brunch is better, you really can’t go wrong at Wildebeest – we had an incredible brunch with no wait!

According to their website, “the gastronomically daring menu focuses on whole-animal cookery prepared with the utmost integrity.” They work closely with local farmers and use contemporary techniques to create their delicious dishes.

We had a very tough time narrowing down what to order – everything made my mouth water. You’ll notice that the prices are on the high side for brunch with most entrees hovering around the $15-$16 range (aside from the Wildebeest brunch which rings in at $26). For more variety, the three of us decided to share three entrees.

We also couldn’t resist starting out with an order of Mini Donuts – with salted caramel ($4). I can never say no to donuts! One order comes with three donuts covered in sugar. They were quite crispy on the outside and were hot and fluffy on the inside. I loved the salted caramel that accompanied it – I just wished there was more of it. There was only a small pool of it sitting on the bottom of the plate.

After polishing off the donuts, I dug into the Scrambled Eggs – bone marrow, parsley, triple-cooked potatoes, toast ($15). They certainly aren’t your average scrambled eggs. The bone marrow made them very rich and indulgent. Undoubtedly, it’s a very simple dish since there wasn’t anything else in it besides parsley but boy was it satisfying.

Many of Wildebeest’s brunch dishes come with a side of triple-cooked potatoes. Thank goodness we ended up with three orders of them. We each really needed our own. They were extra crispy and were perfectly seasoned. Some of the best brunch potatoes I’ve had!

My go-to brunch dish is a benny, so naturally we had to order the Back Bacon Benedict – jalapeno & cheddar biscuit, hollandaise, triple-cooked potatoes ($16). Everything about this benny was totally on point. I particularly enjoyed the jalapeno and cheddar biscuit. Biscuits are such a great vehicle for benny’s. They can soak up all the egg yolk and hollandaise without getting too soggy.

I’m pretty sure they sous-vide the eggs here which gives the whites a runnier, jiggly texture reminiscent of Jello. Our server mentioned that some people find the texture a little off-putting but I’m a fan.

The last dish we shared was the Wildebeest Brunch – Angus beef bavette, smoked bierwurst, bacon, peppercorn sauce, three fried eggs, triple-cooked potatoes ($26). Don’t let the high price tag scare you away. It’s a lot of food (great for sharing) and well worth the money.

The bavette steak (my favourite component) was cooked rare and was wonderfully tender, the thick slab of bacon was deliciously indulgent and the bierwurst had a nice smokiness to it. It’s definitely a hungry (wo)man kinda meal!

Needless to say, we had a fantastic experience at Wildebeest. I loved the atmosphere, service was pleasant and the food was top notch. I’d come back in a heartbeat!

At a glance:

• Located in Gastown (Hastings and Abbott)
• Specializes in nose-to-tail dining
• Open 7 days a week from 5pm till midnight; brunch on weekends from 10am to 2pm
• Takes reservations (including for brunch!)
• Prices are on the higher side for brunch (most mains hover around the $15-$16 range)
• Loved their brunch offerings, would come back for brunch in a heartbeat

Ratings (out of 5):

• Food: 4 stars
• Service: 3 stars
• Atmosphere: 4 stars