Cafés
A weekday breakfast-and-lunch counter serving the businesses out in Richmond's far-east industrial belt on Westminster Highway. Straightforward espresso, pastries and light meals, closed on weekends, so it is very much a working-day cafe.
Coffee within a few minutes of the yard changes the shape of a working day more than people in offices tend to realize. That is what Blue Duck is for. It is a breakfast and lunch counter built for the businesses of Richmond's far-east industrial belt, doing straightforward espresso, pastries and light meals for people who have an hour and a truck.
Out here Westminster Highway straightens and the blocks turn into farmland, greenhouses, trucking yards and light industrial units, with the dyke and the Fraser off to the north. Thousands of people work in this part of the city. Almost none of them live in it, and that single fact explains the cafe entirely.
The far-east belt is badly served for food. Your options are the lunch you packed at home, a long drive back toward Ironwood or the City Centre, or a counter close enough to walk to. Anywhere that makes a decent flat white in that geography earns loyalty quickly, which is why a place like this runs on repeat custom rather than passing trade.
Getting there means driving. Transit into East Richmond is thin and slow, the distances between addresses are large, and the buildings are numbered on the assumption that you already know where you are going. Check the unit number before you set off, because the complexes out there look identical from the road and the signage is aimed at delivery drivers rather than customers. Find it once and you will find it again without thinking.
In the Hamilton neighbourhood of Richmond.
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