Tasty Hash Browns at Deacon's Corner

Deacon's Corner is in that Gastown-east sort-of-quiet neighbourhood where ten years ago you might have seen more disreputable types and heard stories about being mugged in broad daylight. In fact, one of my friends did get mugged. Nowadays, with some nicer establishments popping up in and around it (like the Alibi Room just across the street), you can probably feel safe enough walking to it for brunch.
On the Saturday morning, two police cruisers were parked outside and there were three officers in it. And shortly after 10am, there was a lineup at the door, so you can at least feel the safety in numbers if the neighbourhood still has a bad rap with you.

The restaurant is mostly a lunch/brunch place. According to our friendly server, on weekdays they mostly get the lunch crowd from the courthouse. On weekends, its busy for brunch. Presumably things quiet down a lot after that.

I had my eye on the "Classic Southern Beer Meatloaf", but though it is still on the online PDF menu (as of the time I am writing this), it has now been taken off the menu because not enough people ordered it and they can't just whip one up on the spot. (BTW, I really hate that -- seeing something interesting on the menu, only to discover it's not available in the restaurant!)
I wasn't up for a big brunch, so I picked out a house special -- Deacon's Pulled pork S/W. My dining companion, an aspiring fitness instructor who's thinking of losing 10 pounds, somehow ended up with one of the "Deacon's Big Hearty Breakfast" choices, which showed up on the bill as "Hungryman Biscuits 'n Sausage". Her coffee was $2, extra bacon (2 strips) was $2.50, my Numi certified organic caffeine free "Simply Mint Moroccan Herbal Teasan" tea was $2.

• Deacon's Pulled Pork Sandwich ($10.50; Slow cooked Smokey BBQ Pork Butt with our secret rub served on a Bun)
• The sandwich is, I think, on-par with what you can get at Re-Up, but with a lot less coleslaw in it. Considering you get a side with this, it's okay value unless you are looking for something fancier or more interesting tastes to your burger. A pulled pork sandwich highlights the pulled pork and the typical formula is pulled pork plus coleslaw; it's not really like they can throw in just anything to jazz it up.
• Strangely, it looks like it is lacking in sauce and on the dry side, but it doesn't feel that way when you eat it.
• The pork is pulled quite finely, and at times looks nearly as fine as meat floss. This seems to definitely help with the tenderness. In many other places, you sometimes get roughly pulled pork with the odd chunk as big as your thumb.
• The best part of my order had to be the hash browns. The order comes with your choice of salad, fries, or (maybe just on that day) hash browns. These were shredded potatoes with some mix of spices in it that make it savoury-tasty. No additional condiment needed. Sadly, these things go cold really quickly, so eat fast.
• Hungryman Biscuits 'n Sausage Big Hearty Breakfast ($13.50; Two House made flaky Biscuits with Country Gravy & three Sausage patties)
• The biscuits are about hockey puck sized and have distinct layers, like you might see with puff pastry. The sausage patties are about the same diameter but maybe a third of the height.
• The plate also comes with three eggs your way, plus either country fries or hash browns.
• My friend is about an average-sized gal (not sure why she's angling to lose any weight...) but she couldn't even finish the biscuits and sausage and had to take the rest home. Anyway, her feedback was that she probably should have asked for more gravy.
• I got to try a bit of sausage and biscuit. Decent, but nothing to write home about. And egg is egg.
• Whatever you want to say about the price, this is definitely a "hearty breakfast". The eggs and hash browns took up two-thirds of her plate, but I in weight I think the sausage and biscuits were close to half.

Overall, I think Deacon's Corner offers okay value on solid, filling, diner fare and there's not a lot of competition in that particular area. If you have to travel, though, for more interesting food/burgers at a comparable price, there's no shortage of places to go. Downtown locations would include Loving Hut Express and the American Cheesesteak Company.


Bonus points for Deacon's Corner include friendly service and relatively easy weekend brunch parking (albeit pricey metered parking) right out front. Even at 10 am when we walked in that Saturday, there were several empty parking spaces either out front or across the street.