Since C works from the afternoon until night time, we decided to go grab brunch for our catch-up session. There aren’t too many breakfast places in Richmond, so she suggested De Dutch. My friends always talk about De Dutch, but I’ve actually never been. I had no idea where it even was! It’s literally tucked in a very tiny complex on the road across Superstore, and I’ve driven past the area plenty of times. Never have I noticed it though! It’s in a complex next to Good Eats Dim Sum to be exact. Parking is limited, but there weren’t too many diners during our time.

Inside, the place is very family style. Simple and clean.

I like how they have a clock of Amsterdam and Vancouver. A cute addition to their decor.

Spinach Bene – Edam and fresh spinach served on Dutch rusks with basted eggs, Hollandaise sauce, hash browns and garnished with fruit

When we saw our Spinach Eggs Benedict, we were sort of confused. It was definitely not what we were expecting. I guess this is the Dutch style. Instead of an English muffin, they use a Dutch rusk, which are essentially bread which has been baked twice. I actually really enjoyed the rusk since it’s crispy and reminded me of toasted croutons. Much better than an English muffin because I find that they can be quite tough sometimes. The egg is also basted so that one side is sunny side up, and the other side is basted so it is basically white on both sides with a runny yolk inside. Quite different from your typical poached eggs, but the yolk was still runny which was good. Their Hollandaise sauce was alright, but wasn’t the best I’ve had. I also wish they had cooked the spinach, since the dish felt like a cold dish in the end, with raw spinach inside. Sort of like a salad. Something was a little odd. Hashbrowns were basically potatoes cut into very tiny cubes. These were just okay. They weren’t served very hot. As for the fruits, they lacked colour and freshness. Not the best.

Smoked Salmon, Red Onion & Brie Dutch Tosties – with a side of Caesar salad

I saw that they had something called Dutch Tosties on their lunch menu, so suggested we give it a try. We chose the one filled with Smoked Salmon, Red Onion & Brie. These were amazing! The bread on the outside is toasted just perfectly so it was crispy, and the mixture of salmon, red onion, and brie were spot on. The brie really made the sandwich as it provided the feeling of eating a grilled cheese sandwich. The red onions added more flavour. This was one of our favourite dishes. We also chose the side of Caesar salad, but it was quite disappointing. It was overdressed, and the lettuce looked like it had sat in the sauce for way too long. They also cut up bits of cheese, instead of grating it on, or even using a powder. It was definitely not too appetizing. Should’ve chosen a side of Kettle chips instead.

Strawberry Cheesecake Pannekoeken – sweetened cream cheese, strawberry topping and whipped cream

Lastly, we decided to try their famous Pannekoeken. Since we already had our mains, we chose to get a sweet Strawberry Cheesecake Pannekoeken. This is a Dutch creation, with a circumference of 37″ and a diameter of 12″. It basically fills your whole plate. It’s sort of pancake but made as thin as a crepe. Maybe a little thicker, but definitely much thinner than a usual pancake. Inside, you can choose to put a variety of fillings, and De Dutch offers both sweet and savoury fillings.

When wrapped up and cut in half, it looks like this. We spread our sweetened cream cheese, strawberry toppings (which are just canned strawberries with syrup), and the whipped cream all over, and then carefully rolled it up. Honestly, we weren’t too amazed by this. It was just a weird combination. You could taste the saltiness of the pancake, but then you have the sweetened cream cheese going on. It just wasn’t a pleasant taste. We both didn’t end up finishing it and agreed that a savoury pannekoeken would’ve probably tasted better.

Food was okay, with hits and misses. You can’t really expect typical American breakfasts here, since they have a Dutch twist to it. Prices are also the typical breakfast joint prices, being at least $10 an entree. Service was also a hit and miss. One server was quite rude and seemed like she didn’t want to be working, while the other was extremely friendly. I guess De Dutch is still a good alternative to IHop, if you’re in the Richmond area looking for breakfast.