Breakfast Cafe - Java Express

There are times in the morning that I am running late for work and have no time for breakfast at home, or I simply get tired of the boring fruits, yogurt and cereal deal, I would like to grab something quick but nice at a cafe. Unfortunately, I'd been searching for it for years, and I had no luck finding such. So often times I would just swing by a Starbucks, which is literally at every street corner in downtown, pick up a prepacked, microwaved spinach feta cheese & egg white breakfast wrap -- the tortilla wrap is horribly dry and the egg white can be burning your tongue while other ingredients are just lukewarm. Swallowing that thing down requires lots of tongue strength and esophageal muscle contraction. Most coffee shops have breakfast muffins or English muffin sandwich for sale, but they are usually not fresh and ridiculously overpriced.

Cafe de Paris on Nelson and Howe is a nice little corner cafe. It serves good breakfast and lunch, and the Japanese barista is always friendly and smiley. I went in there once and had pretty good sandwich and soup. It is just a bit expensive, I must say. I do not expect to pay a large amount for cafe food, especially for breakfast, I would like to keep it around $5. Bread Garden also provides breakfast wraps and sandwiches, but it is just beyond pricey. When I was still studying in university, I often went to the Bread Garden near my place at Metrotown for its free wireless Internet. If not for its wifi, I doubt they would have as many customers. I mean, who on earth would spend $6 on a tiny piece of brownie? There are cheap and good breakfast cafes near my current place in Kits, and in West End where Animo lives, like Teresa's Cafe on Denman. It serves old fashioned bread, egg and bacon with a decent price, and for $5 you can get the whole deal. However, during our recent visit, we have realized the reason behind its cheap food - it looks like they prepacked all the butter cases by halving each one. Therefore, Animo had to ask for 6 extra butter cases for his two pancakes. They skimp on butter or jam to cut down their budget. Also, a cup of coffee is charged for $2 there, even more expensive then freshly brewed Starbucks coffee. I know there are quite a few brunch joints such as Joe's Grill in West End, Bon Crepe on Robson, The Elbow Room on Davie and Sophie's Cosmic Cafe on West 4th Ave - they are all great places to hang out and have a long brunch.

I stumbled across this breakfast gem, Java Express, by accident. It is located right on Howe and Helmecken in downtown, right cross the street of the Starbucks that I used to go to. I've passed by it everyday on my way to work, and I just assumed it would be like any other coffee shop. It is not. All the breakfast items are freshly made and they all taste damn good.


I have tried their breakfast wrap, croissant and new English muffin egger, and my favourite has to be the wrap. It is quite substantial and tastes beautiful. You can actually taste the creamy sundried tomato mayo and beautiful small chunks of tomato. Such a delight and a homey treat. In fact, the owner reduced food prices by $50 after HST was launched. That is such a nice gesture. It makes me want to support them more as it shows that this cafe owner sincerely cares about customers.