Checking In

Queue up for Cabin 12

Driving downtown last Sunday morning we witnessed the John’s Place lineup and smiled . . . because we weren’t in it. Weekend brunch queues in Victoria are an all-too-common sight, and while it may not be the hungry-person-on-the-sidewalk’s favourite time of the week, I’m sure the folks at Cabin 12 have Sunday morning waiting lists as one of their goals.

According to a recent Times Colonist article, Cabin 12 began with Corey Judd raising seed money Ron Paul-style, by getting many small donations from supporters using the internet as a fundraising tool. The place isn’t fancy but is a good example of a West Coast urban diner, targeting hungry people of all ages who want an unpretentious, inexpensive plate of eggs and hash, a dash of rock ‘n’ roll and a smiling server to refill their coffee.

My first visit—a lunch for two in an almost empty room a few months ago—featured great, friendly service and decent enough food. But we were more satisfied with our recent brunch, which was ordered from the same all-day breakfast/lunch menu they offer every day, a fun one that features names of local and not-so-local celebrities as titles for some of the dishes.

I was strangely attracted to the Pamela Scrambleson (scrambled eggs, tofu, red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, feta and spinach, $9.95) and I almost went for the Bowie (four slices of sourdough French toast with icing sugar, $6.95), if only because I’ve recently been downloading some great early Bowie albums. But it was the Jack Knox (author of the aforementioned TC article, $9.95) that won me over. Scrambled eggs are tossed with breakfast sausage, fried tomato, Monterey Jack and cheddar cheeses and wrapped in a large, warmed flour tortilla. Chipotle mayo adds just a bit of spice and hot sauce is offered for those who like it kicked up a notch further. Apart from the plain and slightly underdone hash browns, it was very tasty.

If you’re looking for a basic egg breaky, it all depends on how hungry you are. The Starving Artist (two eggs, one slice of toast and hash browns) is only $4.95, while the Big Boy Breakfast—which piles on bacon, ham, and sausage, three eggs, toast and hash browns—goes for $10.95. My daughter’s medium-sized Eggs Meat Toast (two eggs, choice of breakfast meat, hash and toast, $7.95) arrived with over-easy eggs, your basic breakfast sausages and two slices of thin, lightly toasted bread. She was happy.

If omelets are your thing, choose from about 20 ingredients, starting with three fillings for $9.95, and adding 50 cents for each additional ingredient. I can certainly recommend my wife’s chosen combo of bacon, red pepper, Jack cheese and avocado (which came sliced fresh on top). It was on the small side compared to the behemoths you get at some breakfast spots, but it was plenty—and less egg actually improves the egg-to-fillings ratio. And the plentiful crispy bacon was especially appreciated.

Now, in my family you can’t get away with calling it brunch unless there are eggs benedict involved—luckily, there are five to choose from here, from a basic version called the Canadian ($8.95) to the Kobayashi Maru with steak, mushrooms and onion ($11.95).

The benny is generally a good index of the skills and attentiveness in a brunch-producing kitchen, and my daughter’s Canadian was pretty much a microcosm of our Cabin 12 experience as a whole—uneven with a couple of things to work on, but tasty and satisfying overall. (The English muffin was standard, if a bit soggy, but the back bacon was abundant and nicely seared; one egg was nicely shaped and runny while the other was oddly shaped and overdone.) Luckily, the lemony hollandaise tasted great, even if it lacked textural finesse, being thicker and heavier than it should be.

If you are an avid foodie or a dedicated locavore, you won’t find a lot to get excited about here, but otherwise Cabin 12 is a good place to go to avoid the lineups at some of the more veteran downtown brunch spots. A bit more consistency and attention to detail in the kitchen might be all it takes to get this place on the preferred brunch circuit, as there are already a few things going for the place. Keeping things simple works in their favour, as does the fun menu, good prices, specially brewed Phillips Breakfast Beer, central location, window seats, comfy couches and free wireless internet. And there is an emphasis on friendly good service. Maybe we’ll be waiting in line before we know it. M

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Cabin 12
607 Pandora Ave
9 a.m.-4 p.m. daily
250-590-1500