Marulilu Cafe

A friend and of mine introduced me to this place. Its nestled right at the busy intersection of Broadway and Cambie. The interior was inviting and homely and the décor was chic. I ordered the omru with rice and pork cutlet. The dish came out perfect, with great attention to detail (the omelette to fit over the rice perfectly). The curry was a good blend of spicy, sweet and savoury. I’d definitely recommend ordering this and checking this place out!

ive been here for breakfast twice now, my mistake. although the atmosphere is cute and comfy this has been a not good experience. my food came first while my friend waited for ten minutes for his. i ordered the eggs benedict the plate looked messy with so many slices of tomato everywhere and the world tiniest eggs on top. im not sure how they managed this but my yolks were completely hard while the whites were undercooked and clear and gooey. ive poached eggs a million times and i am unsure how they managed to fuck up that bad or why they thought serving that was ok. last time i was here they were undercooked as well. im not sure why i am giving them two stars maybe because i pity how clueless they are about cooking.

I love this place, so humble, the staff so lovely and helpful. The food is good and slightly unusual, which makes me think «authentic.»

What a cute joint in the heart of Vancouver! I’m disappointed that I didn’t venture in here earlier.
You have to go up to the counter and order, but you get seated first and are given a menu. Lots of options and everything sounds tasty, with more than fair pricing. We ordered the Japanese tofu breakfast and half breakfast option C (with half a waffle).
Japanese breakfast was filling and not terribly heavy. Omelette, tofu cube, miso soup and rice! Salmon was rich in flavour and not dry.
The mini breakfast was the perfect combo of savoury and sweet – great for those indecisive of which taste buds they want to please during brunch! The hashbrown is THE BEST. Perfectly seasoned and fried to a golden brown colour. I would come back and order twenty of those. Waffle is fluffy and hot, and comes with maple syrup, whipped cream and mild chocolate whipped cream.
Next time I will go try their Japanese lunch options. Their omu rice looks amazing!
All the ladies there are extremely nice and accommodating. Child friendly as well. A staff member brought a children’s plate and cutlery for a little girl who had just got seated.

This place is a hidden gem for breakfast and brunch! All 3 visits have been amazing and you really can’t go wrong with the menu here. Try to go when they open or non peak times since this place is small or you may end up waiting. Also you order and pay first. If you are hungry I highly recommend the omurice beef curry (beef is so tender) w/​pork cutlets. Make sure to order extra rice for the heavenly curry! I also recommend the traditional japanese breakfasts, seems to be very popular but if you are just visiting ask for a side of beef curry not on the menu for 5 more dollars! Water is self serve but no need to bus your table at the end.

The sidewalk sign outside seemed to have indicated that this was more a Japanese All Day breakfast place. Although they do serve breakfast, we opted to go with their rice bowls instead.
We ordered the Candied Salmon rice bowl and the Oyako rice bowl, miso soup and salad.
The Oyako Rice bowl consists of chicken and egg baked with rice. Chicken was tender and the egg was well cooked and not the runny kind which is typical for a oyako bowl anywhere. Tasted good and didn’t feel heavy after.
I ordered a hash brown to go with the rice bowl and mixed it in. It was marvellous.
The Candied Salmon Rice bowl had a much richer and bold flavour. The rice was marinated and soaked in all of the salmon flavours. It didn’t have too much actual salmon, just a few small chunks scattered in but rice had so much flavour, it really didn’t matter too much.
Nice friendly service, fresh ingredients and a very affordable meal.
A nice variety of dishes on the menu that I would love to come back to try next time! Nice gem on Broadway!

This is my favorite brunch place. Located at Cambie and Broadway, this place is pretty accessible from most places. And contrary to some other brunch locations, I have never had to spend too long standing in a boring line with a growling stomach just to get a table.
The food has always been good. During multiple visits, I have tried their Eggs Benny (one that comes with hash brown), Okomoniyaki, Kinoko Don (mushrooms cooked with eggs, onions and sweet sauce, served with rice) and the breakfast plates (eggs made to your choice, hash browns, choice of meat and waffle, all for $ 11!), Irish lamb stew with bread and I have been pleased every time. The Irish lamb stew (See Photo:
) was pretty amazing actually, something I did not expect, given the huge portion came for just $ 7.
One other thing that I find intriguing is the huge variety of food they have on offer. Even after 2 – 3 visits, you want to coming back to try something new!
Yes, the interiors are not what one might call classy, and yes, the place is mostly self served (you go up to the counter to order, and bring your own water glasses to the table), but, this place takes 5 stars based solely on the quality and diversity of food on offer.

I went here on two occasions, the first time I got the white chocolate matcha latte it was pretty good but I was seriously full to finish it. I had the rice burger with salad and miso soup.
It was kind of small portion but still satisfying.
I also had the Takoyakis and I was sooo full… I couldn’t finish them, they were really good though.
Second occasion I went I had the katsu donburi and I loved it. Although I think they should come with miso soup or salad with the meal then it would be perfect!
Staff was very nice and friendly as well!

Great little hole in the wall restaurant. You’re seated like a normal restaurant, but order at a counter. I had the Omu Hayashi Rice. The beef/​mushroom sauce was excellent, almost familiar. Mix it with the rice and eat it with the egg. I usually like tomatoes but this one tasted sweet. Didn’t eat the salad.

It is very nice to find another Japanese yo-​shoku yasan.
Thought the food was just ok, but I am looking forward to trying other dishes.
Street parking only. Parking was pretty easy to find just off Broadway although we might have been just lucky that day.

This is such a cute Japanese café in the heart of the city. it can be found close to the city hall area of Vancouver and you may miss it if you were not looking out for it, but it is just on Broadway and east of Cambie street.
Tip: when you have decided, go up to the counter to pay. After I paid and I was waiting for my friend to order and pay, they were selling day old muffins for $ 1. So for those hungry students out there taking the 99 to UBC…
I couldn’t decide what to get, but in the end ordered a breakfast platter. Oh my goodness, was I ever full! First off, the hasbrowns are a standout. Yum oh my my, my. So golden, crunchy, and potatoey. They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The eggs (i got them scrambled) were a bit of an odd-​looking texture, but meh I went with it though. The toast (DRY). The yogurt options are your choice of vanilla or plain. I chose vanilla, it was the consistency of store-​bought ‘source’ yogurt, I tend to like my yogurt greek so I was content with it. The amount of granola could feed two people. Just copious amounts, like half a cup (the measurement of a cup) worth of granola. You can also choose a salad instead if you do not want yogurt.
I would go back here to try those burgers that have rice buns (they are literally buns for burgers but they are made with rice).

White chocolate matcha lattee is one of their best drinks. It got a hint of matcha bitterness but a little bit sweeter due to the chocolate.
The omelette was very filling and cheesy inside and the okonomiyaki is a must try. I love their sauce although it’s very salty and oily after you finish.
The service was ok and the waiters are polite and nice. However, the environment is a little dirty.

This place was fine! It was interesting and the atmosphere is a little casual for my liking in a brunch place, but was fine for the business conversation I was having. I think I needed more time than I had to understand and adjust to the concept of the Japanese brunch menu. Maybe if I tried something more authentic, I would have been more impressed. The eggs Benny was okay but nothing too special and the hash brown definitely wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. My friend’s salmon pasta smelled good but I didn’t try it. They have a cool selection of smoothies too. Definitely a cool place if you’re looking for a stop in the neighborhood but not a must as a tourist.

This is an adorable little café with a VERY reasonably priced breakfast menu! There’s not much room for seating, but thankfully when I went at 11am on a weekday it wasn’t that crowded. They let you pick where you want to sit and then hand you the menus to look at. Once you’ve decided what you want, you go up to the front to order and then they bring the food to your table once it’s ready. I can’t remember exactly what I ordered, but it came with 2 eggs (I got mine sunny-​side), hash browns, toast/​jam, and yogurt/​granola. It was a very hearty meal! Portions were great, and the food tasted about as good as breakfast food get.
The yogurt came out first. I got vanilla-​flavored yogurt, and they give you just the right amount of granola to go with it. The yogurt wasn’t overly sweet and I really enjoyed it! The rest of the food came out on its own separate plate. The hash browns were DELICIOUS. Perfect amount of crisp, in my opinion, and probably my favorite part of the meal. The eggs were good as well, cooked perfectly sunny-​side up! And the toast was… well…just toast, haha. They give you a good assortment of butter and jams to go with it. I was too full to finish the toast after everything else. But that goes to show how generous the portions are here!
Prices aren’t bad at all. They’re much cheaper than what you would find at a typical breakfast place. Service is great, and so is the food. I’ll definitely be back if I’m ever in the area again.

What a great find! We Unilocaled Marulilu Café for our last breakfast in Vancouver and Marulilu caught our eyes since we’re both big fans of Japanese food :)
FOOD:
— omurice with a side of hashbrown ($ 1 extra) — presentation is so cute here! The egg was perfectly cooked, set but still so fluffy and just almost still liquidy. Yummy flavor to the fried rice, and great sesame dressing on the salad! Hashbrown is AWESOME. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside :)
— oyakodon — my bf lovessss oyakodon! The rice on this one was lighter in color than what we’re used to, but had great flavor! Healthy does of mirin in the seasoning :)
— matcha latte — the Unilocal reviews raved about this and they were right! So good and not super sweet, and a lovely green color.
SERVICE:
They’re so friendly here! You seat yourself, then order at the counter. Food comes out quickly and they have self serve water and newspapers for you to read. They also take US dollars. They also offer a variety of Japanese meals and breakfast sets, yay!
VENUE:
Small but cozy. They have free wifi and the password is on a little card by the order counter. They even have little notes on each table asking you not to stay too long when its busy. Bathroom is unisex and clean. Street parking was free before 9AM, which worked perfectly for us.

Was finally able to make it here today for breakfast. Heard a lot about this place, but unfortunately it always closes so early.
Since I was actually awake early enough to eat breakfast. So naturally I would order the Japanese breakfast. It consisted of grilled salmon, Japanese plain omelet, rice, miso soup, and your choice of natto or tofu. I chose the tofu.
However, just like the omelet, unfortunately I found the entire meal rather plain. The best part was actually the miso soup. The fish was pretty tasty, but I was expecting a much bigger piece.
I also had iced green tea, which was super refreshing on a hot record breaking day like today.
Sadly to say, it was definitely overhyped and I was left disappointed. But I’ll definitely be back to try out other things on their menu. So for today’s experience alone, I would have to rate it 3 stars.

Very authentic Japanese café. Small, cute, with actual Japanese staff that say things like «Thank you so much for coming» while they seat you. So nice!
You get seated with menus but then you order at the register and they bring the food out to you. Menu is extensive and definitely takes a minute to look through. I ordered the seafood Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) and its freaking huge! I wasn’t able to finish it and I have a huge appetite. I also got a coffee that took forever to come out. I thought they had forgotten about it at first. My bf got the garlic curry rice that tasted really garlicy! He didn’t eat the «salad» on the side but I happily did. Omnom!
They were busy the entire time we were there. Menu is super cute with random photos of cute Japanese things like Rillakuma. Kind of tight seating and we even shared our four top with another couple with a dining mat between us like a little divider.

This is currently my favourite breakfast place in Vancouver, despite the wealth of fantastic higher-​brow brunches in town. It’s a cozy little spot just a block from Cambie and Broadway. Basically you pre-​pay cafeteria-​style. A typical breakfast (about $ 8) would have 4 sausage links, 2 eggs any style, 2 hash browns, 2 slices of brown toast (dry with butter/​jam provided). The espresso is good. In line with other Japanese-​owned restaurants in town, the service is excellent and cheerful. I have yet to try their waffle.
Don’t forget to tip at the end, as they do give full table service!

Cute tiny little café.
We were craving rice for breakfast so we stopped here before heading back to Seattle. I got the curry with the fried pork cutlet, pretty standard. Of course in LA it would be much cheaper but it’s cool.
My friend got the Japanese breakfast and it was kind of an interesting dish.
Anyway lovely little nook for Canada, but I’m kind of glad to be back in Los Angeles where Japanese food is super cheap and plentiful.

I was looking for a different breakfast option after already hitting up Bob’s Subs (breakfast sandwich) and Sun Sui Wah Seafood (dim sum) the first couple of days of my trip. This cute Japanese café is located across the street from the Broadway-​City Hall Canada line stop. It’s a cozy space with equally warm service. I was directed to reserve a seat before ordering/​paying at the counter (I know there’s some confusion about this, but there’s a sign that says the same thing).
Anyhow, I knew from perusing pictures that I wanted the JAPANESE STYLE BREAKFAST. It comes with a piece of grilled salmon, a plain egg omelette, miso soup, cold tofu (you can choose nattō instead) and rice. I added a hash brown. An altogether filling meal that was also delicious. The hash brown was exactly the kind of crispy I like. The brewed coffee comes in two sizes (it’s extra for refills) and I was delighted to see the adorable mugs they use.
Definitely coming back!