Vancouver Best Eats! - Northern Cafe
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- Fun, quirky and iconic, Northern Cafe is a unique find in south east Vancouver! We wouldn't call the food exceptional, but the vibe is, and you just might make some new friends! Make sure to park outside the lumber yard and be careful on those stairs. :-)
Northern Cafe
1640 East Kent Ave S, Vancouver, BC V5P 2S7
g.co/kgs/RWpJGNN
And check out Coldfish Seafood Co while you're at it: g.co/kgs/j1mp87L
I live down the street for ever, been going there decades. It’s really gone from full greasy spoon to a new novelty. Good for them. Love the Northern and its associated businesses
Thanks for commenting! 😎
I've been going there for decades. It is what it is: cheap food that won't kill you until after you've left. Love it.
Was it Shakespeare who said something about “damning with faint praise”? 🤣. Thanks for your comment!
I am so addicted to your Vlog now🤩
Ha ha!! That’s how it starts! We don’t normally encourage addiction, but we’ll make an exception in this case….
@@Global_Feast I like Vancouver Asian and mediterranean food that are reasonably priced . I suggest you try Singapore Hawker at Kingsway near Edmond or the other outlet in Coquitlam centre
@ thanks for that! That is in amazing area with very high density of cool and authentic looking Asian eateries that we’ve only just begun to explore. It’s a very different Burnaby from when we were kids! 🙏
I think you’re such a great couple- very much appreciate your videos! I live in the Seattle area but like to come to Vancouver to eat! Thanks much for all your guidance to good eats😋
That’s such a sweet comment, Betty! Thanks for that. Where do you like to go when you come to Vancouver? We have some family in Seattle and love that city too. The charcuterie at Salumi is mind blowing! We’re in Montreal at the moment, and looking forward to returning to film some more hidden gems in Vancouver next week. Your comment really made our day! ❤️🙏
@@Global_Feast we moved to Washington about 5 years ago but didn’t travel much because of Covid. So now just started exploring Vancouver. We’ve gone to Richmond - lots of good food there. Had fun at the Public Market trying different things.
I’ll keep watching your videos for advice! Have fun in Montreal- great place for eating as well!
Thanks for the comment. We'll be doing more filming in Richmond when we get back to be sure. In the meantime, check out our video on Szechuan Delicious in Richmond. Great food and great value. Tonight we're going to Joe Beef and tomorrow we're eating at Au Pied Du Cochon in Montreal. Google those two and make sure your Lipitor prescription is up to date!
Recently ate there and had a wonderful Wonton BBQ Pork noodle soup. Broth was delicious and the wontons homemade by the mother of the clan. Love old Vancouver and these iconic places that have disappeared. Please stay.
@@eminbc Thanks for commenting! Glad you had a positive experience there. As delightful as mom’s home cooking is, we’re still suckers for the old school Hong Kong style noodle houses!
I used to eat here a lot before it was popular, the food was great, the prices low and the family is super friendly.
Thanks for the comment! The family that runs it is incredibly friendly. They put a lot of ♥️ into the business.
My Brazilian coworker told me about this place about a year ago. She and her husband are BIG breakfast people and frequent this restaurant often. I rarely go into Vancouver, I live in New Westminster, but have been meaning to get out of my comfort zone to give this place a try. Thank you for sharing this review.
If you're looking for another breakfast place to try, Amelia's in the River Market in the New Westminster Quay is AMAZING!!! Prepare for a bit of a wait. Whatever the wait though, is worth it. Perfect location too!
Thanks for your comment and suggestion! We normally don’t go for breakfast places, but when we stumbled (literally) on this place, we found it to be so delightfully weird that we had to film it. Depending on your palate preferences, you may or may not embrace a place like this. We happen to like a little weird in our lives!
The last time I was there I noticed the lady washing dishes behind the counter throwing food scraps out the kitchen window. All the seagulls were waiting there on the roof to fight over the scraps!
Oh wow! We didn’t see that, but it would seem to fit in with the funkiness of the place! Thanks for your comment!
Glad she did that and gave some food to the poor starving Seagulls.
Cool spot and a great review! You both crack me up:)
Thanks so much for the nice comment! And we're glad you get our sense of humour. Really appreciate you chiming in.
Good to see that nothing has changed at the Northern Cafe since we went there before the pandemic. Found the novelty of the uneven flooring more enjoyable than the food. What's actually more exciting is learning that Rob is a part of the new line up for Strange Advance. I have We Run on Spotify and will just added World's Away. Best of luck with your tour. Look forward to more of your food adventures. Cheers.
Thanks for the comment! Your observation about the flooring being more remarkable than the food is pretty spot on. This place is a marvellous oddity, but truth be told, if we want a bowl of won ton, this would not be our first call! But heck… it’s kinda fun.
We just returned from the Eastern Canada SA tour very late last night, and after several days of bad food, exhaustion (and great crowds!), we’re looking forward to a soothing bowl of congee this morning. We’re heading to Richmond to explore some more great Chinese in the next couple of weeks! 🤘
@@Global_Feast Good to hear that the SA tour is going strong. Too bad about the tour food. I've also had the wonton at the Northern Cafe and didn't find that the wow factor was there. My go-to is Congee Noodle House (one of your other reviews), Congee Noodle King, Congee Noodle Delight and Ho Yuen Kee. I luckily just had both wonton and congee the other day so you're not making me envious of your congee adventure this a.m. :)
Congee was like a warm welcome home
Hug this morning! CNH is still our favourite!
It's a great place to eat! And the floors are crazy!
Yes they are! Thanks for commenting. 🙏
Its been years.sign up for a seat? Wow! Great place.
It’s a lot of fun. Just make sure you haven’t been drinking because with those floors, balance can be an issue! 😂
I always relate to the young ones my love of the “Chinese & Canadian“ food restaurants. I grew up eating s&s, chicken chow mein, and chip suey at 1am after a night out. I find they do the best cheese burgers and fries.
There’s a good example at the Parkway Diner at Holden and Broadway in Burnaby.
They are classic for a reason! Did you mean Holdom and Broadway? That’s right where Rob grew up! The Parkcrest Diner was a regular stop, and Rob’s mother worked at the bank next door. They had those jukebox controllers in every booth! Thanks so much for the comment!
You guys are a scream.
I had to jack up one side of the TV and everything looked level 😂😂
Ha ha... Thanks! We try to mix in a little entertainment with what we hope is good information! We're still a little dizzy from trying to walk on that floor...
@@Global_Feast Mate next time pack a 2" block of wood in one shoe and you will be sweet, just make sure it's the right shoe 😂😂
No comments about packing wood. This is a family show.. 😉
@@Global_Feast When are we going to hear you play something 🤔👍
We’re playing in Montreal tomorrow night.. th-cam.com/video/OIK8eNiYf94/w-d-xo.htmlsi=056bA6if2DP-cJPN
Oh my goodness, I have to try that place. There is still one left in New West. Amelia’s on 12th street. It’s a diner and All the city worker guys go there for lunch.
Thanks for the comment! If you want good basic grub, follow the trades and the cab drivers!
This place and Bons is the best
The price point at Northern is substantially higher than Bons, but they both offer a no nonsense breakfast. Nothing trendy! You probably won't find the bernaise sauce at Bon's. We've been toying with filiming an episode there, but we're still on the fence... Thanks for your comment!
The place looks like it should be condemned but it one of Vancouver's little hideaway treasures, a family run business with very good comfort food.
Thanks for the comment. It's a pretty fun place! Although... we can't figure out how they got past the building code...😉
@@Global_Feastshhhhhhhh lol
@@YS-fr6nu We won't say anything if you won't! 🤣
@ I live in Poco and I just subscribed to you guys, I love to try out nice small ma/pa restaurants do you guys check out Burnaby restaurants too?
Like Fraser park restaurant? It’s a mother daughter restaurant and they make the best potato pancake ever.
@@YS-fr6nu Hi, and thanks for subscribing! Yes, we've checked out many places in Burnaby (check the list of videos), and we have a very long list of other ones we want to try. However, that will have to wait until our 2 month visit to Spain, Morocco, and Portugal is finished in Mid March! Then we'll get back to working our way down the list. In the meantime, we hope that you'll join us on another adventure! Last year it was Vietnam, Bali, Cambodia, and Indonesia. This year its Europe and North Africa!
I can’t believe how popular that place is now. I used to eat there only if I was very hungry when I bought construction supplies. The burger and fries was a safe go to. Everything else seemed dodgy at best.
Thanks for commenting. Northern Cafe is more of an oddity than a temple of gastronomy. We just thought it was so outright weird that there was a long running cafe upstairs in a creaky old building INSIDE a lumber yard that we simply had to go! "Dodgy" might be a little harsh though. A really sweet family runs the place, and while no Michelin stars appear to be on the horizon, the food was perfectly fine.
never went up the stairs my world is at the bottom but for wonton will make exception, building center underneath is great also
It did indeed look like a well appointed building centre! The wontons are "okay" . We recommend the dumplings with noodle in soup at Congee Noodle hose on Broadway!
pls do a review on commercial sushi, chef hungs, got pho, and memphis blues!!! i really hope i’ll be able to run into you both 😊❤
Wow, that’s quite a list! You must be a denizen of Commercial Drive. One of the founders of Memphis Blues is a friend of ours, so to avoid any perceived conflict of interest, we probably do a segment there! 😉. We loved Chef Hung, and were very saddened when the one in North Van closed down. We’ll have a look a the others, although not likely before be leave for Spain, Morocco, and Portugal in a couple of weeks. Love your enthusiasm, and hope to run into you on the Drive. We’re easy to spot! 🤣
@@Global_Feast the fact i’m more near to metrotown than commercial drive is a real laugh. i’m wishing you lot the absolute best on your trips-that must be so exciting!!! i do hope we cross paths at some point! recommendations will always be welcomed and needed 😊 i just had my 22nd birthday meal at the new peaceful restaurant located near the edmonds community centre. and it was… okay… it felt kinda sparse in portion sizes (especially for three of us sharing different dishes) compared to the location on broadway or the, now replaced, spot that was on kingsway by the london drugs…. i’d definitely love to see what you lot think if you stop by both locations to compare and contrast!!!
Thanks for the kind words and good wishes. And we wish you a belated happy birthday!🎉. We loved the old Peaceful on Broadway. Dependably good noodles. 🍜. Things change though, and sometimes not for the better. The venerable Hons started on Main Street in the 70s (yes, we’re that old…) and move to Keefer in the 80s. That closed down a few years back, and the new location on W 2nd is a mere shadow of its former glory. 😢. The flip side is that since the mid 90s, Chinatown had basically moved to Richmond, where there has been an explosion of great restaurants. We’re doing our best to find them all! Happy birthday again, and thanks for the great comments. 🙏
Food for thought... all Sockeye are wild... you cannot farm sockeye salmon.
@@robertbessler5513 yup. Virtually all farmed salmon are variants of Atlantic species. I think that their sign was meant to reassure salmon lovers that might not have been aware of that. Wild salmon rules!
They probably use club soda to the pancake batter to make them fluffy. 😊
Could be! We didn’t ask the secret…
th-cam.com/video/6XCByyFKklA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=TYVJrP6hU0p4jOtc
It looks like a place Anthony Bourdain would appreciate
No doubt! He was a fan of the funky…
it was all over the place as best breakfast
Definitely an experience! You go there as much for the atmosphere as you do for a big breakfast!
So glad I found your channel. Having grown up in Vancouver - Kitsilano area- this restaurant intrigues me. Definitely up for a visit. Love the funky , old Vancouver charm. Those stairs are a bit of a concern ….haha. And so remember those corner stores and Mom and Pop restaurants. Wonderful memories of a by gone era.
Well we're glad you found our channel too! Also glad that you get the reference to the corner stores and cafes of our youth. Definitely a bygone era! Northern Cafe will never be a gastronomic experience that will make you swoon, but damn... it's funky AF!
@@Global_Feast go back to Memory Corner (Taiwanese) in Richmond. No reservations but the interior really is like a Taiwanese street/alley. Reminds us of home
wow and zamzam water
We're unfamiliar with that expression, but we'll go out on a limb and assume it's a positive one! :-). Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment!
Apparently Northern Cafe is the oldest cafe in Canada.
Thanks for the interesting note! We're wondering what your source of information was? A cursory Google search for us was inconclusive..
@@Global_Feast
I recall it was on Global News about a year ago.
It should be on one of the framed news article on the wall.
Too bad they don’t have Chow Mein on the menu anymore. At least they still have wonton soup.
Ha ha.. we can’t remember the last time we went out for chow mein! Szechuan noodles yes, but chow mein… not so much. That’s a very 1960s menu item! Thanks for chiming in!
Paul's Cafe north Burnaby not the same anymore
Paul’s on Hastings (near Alpha) was
Legendary! The go to place for high school students who would rather smoke and drink coffee than attend regular classes… 😉
We would think it reasonable to expect at least a few changes over the last 50 years!
Expensive
Well, it ain’t budget exactly… but hey, it’s vancouver! Even a half decent burger in this town is 20 bucks before tax and tip!
got sick there; spent all nite with head in toilet. AVOID>
Sorry to hear. That sounds like an awful experience! Quite different from the experience that we had there. 😢
over rated
Food wise you’re probably right. It leans more to Ripleys Believe It Or Not than the Michelin Guide. We still had a very enjoyable time there. A very entertaining morning for us!
Over priced, iffy quality, I stopped going 5 years ago. Jeez, are these two straight. I bet she was wearing capri's and Birkenstocks.
🤣we appreciate comments that come in all flavours. Some are sweet. Some are a little salty. And some are even bitter!
Haha Love their comeback. It's an internet thing that brings out the nasty I suppose.
@ Glad you appreciated that!. Our rule of thumb is “never say anything on the Internet that you wouldn’t say to someone’s face”. 😊
@@Global_Feast I will happily say what I said, to your faces. Not bitter but you two are so straight
acting like you made some great foodie discovery. Many of us have been going to these places for years. I eat in neighborhood places that you would be afraid to park near. So what flavor is a foodie wanna-be? Bland as white bread.
@modtomodern 🤣 Thanks for the morning chuckle. "Bland as white bread" really made us laugh. Rob has been the keyboard player for Alice Cooper and Laurel has been a stage actor for years. We've lived in India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Given those bona fides, one might be inclined to think that bland is a bit of a stretch... But as we said, we appreciate comments in all flavours! BTW, please post the link to your food channel. It sounds exciting. We’d love to see your work.