An Armenian bakery and cafe (the only one in Metro Vancouver, we believe) located in an industrial park in east Richmond, its no wonder that no one had heard of it. Except that the Armenian community has certainly heard of Lamajoun. During our visit on Saturday just before noon, everyone else in the place was speaking what I assume was Armenian. A gentleman that I spoke to outside said that he and his family were from Boston, while another customer lived in Oregon. They were Armenian expats and when they came to Vancouver, they all went to Lamajoun.
We started with the dish for which the cafe is presumably named, Lamajoun. We quickly discovered that these folks are very good with bread. Ground beef with a bit of onion, garlic and parsley topped a thin semi-crispy flour shell. Simple, light and tasty and a good way to start a meal.
Also, we started with Armenian Jingle Bread, similar bread but stuffed this time with spinach, parsley, green onion and the fresh taste of dill. Very nice!
We were so impressed with Pide, a wonderful fluffy bread boat filled with cottage and feta cheese, an egg and your choice of meats. We were able to order with both their cured beef and sujuk, a slightly spicy Armenian beef sausage. I'm not sure what the actual correct procedure is but we cut this in half and folded it like a New York Style slice too eat it. I would drive a long way out of my way to have this again! It was rich and comforting. Wonderful!
Finally, we had Khinkali Dumplings, a Georgian dish. These may look a little doughy and around the topknot, they are a bit chewy, but the overall experience is of a quite delicate dumpling. The pork filling is herbaceous and very moist and tasty. We kept trying to eat them like xiao long bao but they not quite soup dumplings.
Quite a teeny place inside, it filled up quickly. Outside, there was a standing table set up for communal eating, certainly a solution when the weather is fine. The folks here are very hospitable and rightly proud of how they are representing their culture. This place is very much worth finding and visiting. Also, their menu offers quite a bit more than what we tried including various chops, wraps and salads and a few vegan items.
For what its worth, we give Lamajoun 4 1/2 out of 5.
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