Selene Serves Brunch Now And, Unsurprisingly, It’s Very Good

If it feels like we’ve been talking non-stop about Selene recently, we’re sorry—we can’t help it that we found the Greek-chic vibes irresistible on a recent visit, or that it’s an essential addition to your next Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood food crawl. We also can’t help that they just launched a brunch menu that also won our hearts. When you’re in love, you’re in love! What do you want us to do?!

Greek restaurants aren’t a big player in Vancouver’s bustling brunch scene, so the offerings on the new mid-morning menu are a refreshing departure from the North American classics. Sure, there are some egg-centric dishes here, and pancakes too, but they’re served with a delightfully Mediterranean POV: the cilbir features a soft-poached egg in a bed of tangy tzatziki punched up with baharat chili crunch and fresh, soft pita; the cakes are a dense take on flapjacks (called karidopita) and topped with walnuts, honey and yogurt ganache. The dreamy patatokeftedes are crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, and giving traditional hashbrowns a serious run for their money.

Some savoury dishes here would be perfectly at home on Selene’s dinner menu, save for the addition of a jammy-yolked egg: think oyster mushroom souvlaki (served pickles and punchy babaganoush) or the pide (flatbread), crusty and flavourful with a one-two hit of kefalograviera cheese and barrel-aged feta.

The lack of waffles and whipped cream here begs for something more sophisticated than a mimosa, and here, Selene delivers too, with a robust brunch cocktail menu. The Aegean Kipos is a mix of lime-infused tequila, sweet cucumber, basil and mint (refreshing!) while the harissa-spiced clamato-based Kaisaras is the Greek spin on a caesar.

Selene is a finalist in the Best of Hastings-Sunrise category in this year’s Vancouver Magazine Restaurant awards (we’ve still got a few tickets left, by the way—see you there?) but with this new menu, we wouldn’t be surprised if we see them on the list for Best Brunch next year, too.

Selene now offers brunch on weekends, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.