Nelson the Seagull

PROS
+ Picnic board is a must
+ Fresh ingredients
+ Spacious
+ Good for brunch/lunch

CONS
- Sketchy areas close by
- Not many food options

RATING
Food 3.5/5.0
Ambience 3.5/5.0
Service 4.0/5.0
Price $

While my friend and I were waiting for our foodies come for dinner at Malt and Marrow, we were looking for a cafe in downtown to munch on some snacks. My friend wanted to have a Nelson the Seagull's Picnic Board so we walked down there. The place was spacious with the bright sunshine coming through the windows. Even though they didn't have an extensive menu, it seemed like every food item they had was was worth trying out.

Because we were going to have dinner in 2 hours, we only had a PICNIC BOARD ($15) which was like a DIY sandwich platter. A selection of sandwich ingredients on the wooden board included some bread slices, hummus, chutney (a mixture of spices, apples and dried fruits), pesto, swiss cheese, walnuts, corned beef, cucumbers, tomatoes, artichoke, avocado and strawberry. I liked how I could make several different sandwiches by using a variety of ingredients they provided. I simply put some veggies and spreads on a slice of breads and enjoyed them a lot. My favourite combination would be avocado, swiss cheese, corn beef, pesto and hummus.
This place can be perfect for enjoying your breakfast/brunch/lunch or maybe for someone who needs to work on their stuff on computer as I saw many people doing it. Come out on a sunny day and enjoy the sunshine while eating good food!

House made breads. House made jams. Creative and delicious toasts. Beautiful, airy shop with plentiful seating options.

I had the peach toast with ricotta and husband went for the PBJ toast made with local peanut butter and house made jelly. Incredible. Great coffee drink options as well. Biggest issue was deciding what to order as everything looked/ sounded amazing . Huge recommendation! We are sitting here trying to figure out how to manage a second trip to this place on our vacation- it's that good.

Drinks 5
Food 4
Setting 5
Service 5
Wait time 4 (food came pretty quick once we ordered, but waited in line ~30 minutes. You order, get a number, they bring food to table and call out drink orders for you to grab, comes before food)

Super cute spot. But windows, high ceilings, mismatched furniture, good mugs, yes!

The rooibos honey latte was so good!! Very subtly sweet and you can really taste the rooibos.

The food was pretty in presentation, but the soup had practically no flavor and the tomato spread was cold. Bread was good but got hard pretty quickly.

I would for sure come back here to grab a coffee and pastry with friends! Just maybe not the food unless I was really hungry. Good spot to socialize and just hang out :)

The inside of this cafe is unique and cozy, with various seemingly thrifted dining tables and chairs in a spacious layout. My friends and I came here for a quick bite/breakfast. I got the soup and sourdough, and the soup was carrot ginger! I love a good ginger-y soup. The bread was great and went along well with the soup.

What a cool find. Great coffee shop. Right near the end of Gastown in an older historic building. Perfect, and I mean perfect coffee drinks, but the bread...the homemade bakery bread is to die to for. If your allergic to a relaxing chill coffee, this place isn't for you
We will be back here when we're in town

#hcfphotocontest2024 @nelsontheseagull @hotchocolatefest Funfetti hot chocolate served with a sliced of birthday cake. Despite being a huge fan of birthday cake flavored dessert, this one fell a bit short for me. Everything tasted very sweet without any contrast to balanced the sweetness. That said, Nelson's sourdough is one of the best in Vancouver, so do come by and try their bakery items.

Stopped in for a quick cup of coffee and ended up staying for the ambiance and baked goods. This is a hidden gem! Fabulous regional coffee & even better pastries/bread!! Add this to your list, and we will be back.

Wow! One time and I'm addicted. Funny story - I wish I liked avocados and Avocado Toast in general looks delicious. But I don't. Welcome to my life Peaches on Toast! It's smeared with fresh ricotta studded with crushed walnuts under roasted peaches drizzled with honey, garnished with mint, all set on slices of toasted fig & walnut sourdough bread. It was damn good! I also got to order a loaf of their sourdough which saves me a trip to get fresh bread. The coffee with oat milk was good too.

FANTASTIC lattes, pastries, and avocado toast! We tried a few things, but I'd bet that everything is yummy here.

If you're looking for an amazing croissant, this is the place to go in Vancouver. We had avocado toast with poached egg. This is the 3rd place so far we've had avocado toast in Vancouver. The bread was tougher than the others, difficult to cut into pieces. The poached egg was cooked perfectly. The cinnamon morning bun was probably the star of the show, a perfect morning dessert.
The cappuccino , espresso and latte were good. My cappuccino was a little bland but everyone else like theirs. Overall a good place, I'd come back for the croissant for sure!

The best sourdough bread I've ever had by far. My partner picked it up so I can't speak to the service or ambiance.