Contrasts In Vancouver

The Elbow Room (Davies and Seymour) has been recommended to me by a friend. On arrival I felt it lacked the ambience I had expected perhaps because it was not busy, perhaps because the wall decorations were reminiscent of Ellen's Stardust Diner in New York without the singing. However, we were soon enough treated to some engaging and sassy service, a lesson in how to clean your coffee pot with salt and an undeniably excellent breakfast. I was delighted to use Chip & PIN on payment as they have remained stubbornly resistant to this further south whilst being puzzled at the amount of credit card fraud. Go figure as they say round here.

8.5 out of 10 for quality of food

The following morning, Moneypennies closer to our hotel failed to live up to expectations nor come close to Elbow Room for excellence. It became apparent that it is essentially an omelette restaurant but rather than face the embarrassing search for an alternative, we stayed long enough to spot the breakfast special. Promising in print, its main characteristic was dryness. I was genuinely puzzled as to how I would butter my four pieces of toast with the portion provided, the smallest I have ever seen.

1.5 out of 10 - lack of effort