Tag Archives: Brunch / Traditional Breakfast

Eat Cafe and Catering

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1321-dundas west
416 . 537 . 3000

 

The burgeoning Dundas West strip excites me for a number of reasons. Most notably because I live there, and the emergence of new restaurants, bars, and art galleries is a great sign for the area and for places to frequent. Eat Cafe, a block or two west of Dovercourt is one such place that opened in mid-summer (2003).

Having already garnered positive reviews from a few publications, I was hoping to find a new restaurant to rival Saving Grace for the preeminent brunch establishment in the immediate locale. Unfortunately, this will not be the one to do it.

From what I discerned about Eat Cafe, I was looking forward to elaborate and creatively conceived dishes that have become synonymous with the trendy, brunch industry. Though the varied menu suggests this would be the case, the end result does not. The first surprise was the simple and minimalist decor that greets you when entering the tiny room with few tables. Not that this was dissapointing, I don’t need to be wowed by elaborate restaurant designs to enjoy the food. The bigger dissapointment came when we received our meals. Having thoroughly enjoyed the appetizers consisting of a spicy, spinach hummous which wasn’t very spicy but quite tasty and thinly, sliced and seasoned bread with some delicous pate; we were anxious to eat our main dishes which sounded much better than they tasted. For some reason, I hadn’t eaten in 24 hours and was eager to dig into a lucious meal to satisfy my aching belly. I was able to sample four of the five dishes we ordered including my own. I think my order was the best of the bunch, a banana and apple stuffed french toast with candied walnuts. However, like the merguez sausage that one of the members of our party complained wasn’t hot; I found it had been cooling a little too long to thoroughly enjoy. I am not one to send food back to the kitchen, but I think in retrospect I would have enjoyed it more if I did. Eat Cafe also has a diverse lunch menu which two people at our table sampled. I tried one of the paninis they ordered and found it bland tasting despite the genoa salami and roasted red peppers among other toppings that graced this sandwich. This bland taste seemed to be a common theme from the comments heard around the table.

It does not look like Eat Cafe will become the regular brunch venture I was hoping; however, they are starting to serve dinner in the fall and while the food was not totally up to snuff there is room for improvement on a diverse menu that begs to be enjoyed.

Brass Taps Pizza Pub

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 495 Danforth Av (416) 466-3403
157 Roncesvalles Avenue – (416) 536-6678
221 Carlton Street – (416) 966-9440
934 College St. (416) 533-4333

Some places specialize in specific type of food. Brass Taps is a toned down, casual version to Il Fornello. If you decide to dine at Brass Taps, don’t go for the burgers, wraps, or pub fare, since it’s just mediocre. Go for the gourmet pizza and the excellent Sunday brunch.

Centrally located in Greektown at Danforth and Logan and on the cusp of Little Italy at College and Ossington, this pub is known for its gourmet pizza (many different varieties and you can even build your own pizza and choose your own crust!) . Some Brass Taps Pizza Pubs play cheesy 80’s music and some hard rock and roll. Decor looks like your typical pub- bar stools, woodwork, and a large bar with an extensive selection of wine, beer, and hard liquor.

Also contains comfortable seating with large tables and booths as well.

They serve brunch Sundays from 11:30am-2:30pm and the menu is fairly extensive. I usually order granola with fruit and yogourt but since the menu has recently changed (perhaps due to new management?), I decided to have the Garden party egg white omelete.

The service is prompt and portions are big. I went with three friends and they had a mix of different items, French toast club sandwich with banana, peanut butter, and nutella, my other friend had a bagel with provolone cheese and red pepper, and another friend had a pizza frittata, which is an open faced omelete on top of pizza dough with pizza sauce and veggies.

All of our dishes arrived fresh and were under $10.00. Average price for brunch items was $5.95-$7.95. I received the wrong egg-white omelete, (I got a mushroom and cheese egg-white omelete). I told her kindly but timidly that I got the wrong item, so she re-ordered the omelete for me for free. Woo-Hoo.

The egg-white omelete was big and fluffy and had a lot of sauteed vegetables, and it came with roasted potatoes in a rosemary, garlic, and herb saute, and it came with four slices of toast. I did not eat the toast or potatoes but I was very satisfied with the egg-white omelete.

Soft drinks are expensive so be warned but portions are big, the 80’s music was absent that day but the overall ambiance was friendly and accomodating. I was thoroughly impressed. The server’s name was Shelley and she was super nice. Looks are deceiving because I would have never thought that this place served brunch- it simply looks like a pub. Many locations in Toronto. Extensive selection of vegetarian meals and excellent vegetarian pizza dishes. Please note that even though Brass Taps all share almost identical menus and the same name, they are not affiliated with each other. In sum, this beats the overpriced trendy il Fornello by a long shot. Some locations like the Little Italy location (on College street) offers free concerts (my friend Christy and I saw Shaye perform there), and other events. Very friendly service. Accepts all cards.

Pulp Kitchen

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Pulp Kitchen
898 Queen Street E
416 . 461 . 4612

 

Discovering that Bonjour Brioche was closed for a week, we mosied further east along Queen St. for brunch. After a heated debate and coin toss we settled on Pulp Kitchen, a vegetarian restaurant and juice bar.

The restaurant is medium sized, with an open space that separates the tables from the kitchen. The menu is all vegetarian, including an “eggless” omelette and a large selection of interesting juices. I chose the “Beans and Bangers” which I was informed was comprised of sausage and beans. I’m not sure what the sausage was made from but it definitely was not meat.
As I ate my meal, which was generally quite good for hot dogs and beans, I came to realize that something was missing. The menu had definitely claimed that the food came topped with a “corn chutney”; however, much to my dismay I discovered that it simply was not there. This was one of the main reasons I ordered this particular dish as I did not want plain weiners and beans for $7.95. When I pointed out my discovery to the less than pleasant waitress, I was informed that they had run out. There was no apology and she only said that there would be an “adjustment” on the bill which amounted to a whole dollar. Suffice it to say, I was less than pleased with the service we received and the meal I did not order.
There is nothing that irks me more in a restuarant then unpleasant staff and getting an order right.

Hair of the Dog

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Hair of the Dog

 

Hair of the Dog was on my list of restaurants to visit for quite a while. I wasn’t completely sure if it was a lounge, or a bar/restaurant with sub standard food. In any case, I finally visited this establishment at the southern end of the Village on Church St. near Carlton and thoroughly enjoyed my experience.

Initially taking a seat on the main level of the restaurant, I found the room to be excessively loud for the romantic tone the dim light suggested. It was so loud in fact, that we asked our accomodating (not to mention attractive) waiter if we could be moved to a patio table. This was a wise decision as it was much more subdued under the covered patio and I could actually enjoy my conversation without cupping my hands around my ears.

The menu was extensive and had several interesting sounding dishes for what I would consider a typical, non-nationality specific restaurant. I settled on the special, which was a lemongrass curry chicken on a bed of basmati rice and baby bok choy ($13.95). I am a big fan of curry and prefer eating my entire meal covered in the sauce. Unfortunately, this was a bit lacking even if everything else, including the curry, was well prepared and tasty. There was a decent list of martinis, one of which called the Midnight Dream that I enjoyed.

For a restaurant that doesn’t specialize in exotic food, Hair of the Dog makes efforts both in service and in atypical food to keep the customer happy.

Mars

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2363 Yonge
Toronto (416) 322-7111

Located right in the heart of Yonge and Eglinton (Eligible) this small diner serves traditional diner food (hamburgers, fries, chicken, sandwiches, milkshakes) with friendly staff and a nice host with a great smile. There are many brunch specials and they seem to have a diverse selection of food for our different tastes. Thank God they cater to vegetarians and non vegetarians. Nice comfortable soft seating, and the coffee was hot and fresh. I had a baked apple plate with granola, fruit, yogourt, and a low fat muffin. They serve egg white omeletes which are really good for the health conscious and they also serve greasy, traditional dishes. The ambiance is family friendly, casual, and laid back. Prices are between $8.00 to $10.00 for brunch and lunch and $10.00-$15.00 for dinner.

Niagara St. Café

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Niagara St. Café
416-703-4222
167 Niagara

 

This cozy little café is located south of an interesting looking Buddhist Temple just below King St. The outdoor patio was full so we had a seat inside where we waited, and waited, for our food.

Yes, it took quite a while for our meal to arrive but when it did most of the annoyance of the wait was quickly diminished. It was obvious that a lot of effort and love was put into this food. I had the “Eggs Natalie” which consisted of fluffy eggs with spinach served on a delicious warm biscuit with a side of small, crispy potatoes. I think I’m missing an ingredient but it was very well made even if it lacked an eclectic array of tastes. My partner in brunch had one of the specials of French toast covered in sweet, dripping raspberries and similar fruits. There was also a sweet, eggy looking sauce, which I do not know the name of but was also quite delicious. She was duly impressed.

I will probably not have anywhere to visit immediately afterwards the next time I visit Niagara St. Café. I would also choose something different from the wide selection of natural and organic foods on the plentiful menu.

Verveine (closed 2006/2007)

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1097 Queen St. E.
416 . 405 . 9906

With the exception of Xacutti, the restaurants I have frequented that specialize in dinner but also serve up brunch invariably cannot compare to the restaurants that specialize in brunch. Brunch is a highly specialized meal that should not be the typical scrambled eggs, homefries and bacon. That is what we call breakfast. And breakfast is boring. It is what you eat when you are at best in a rush or at worst completely hungover and looking for a greasy delight. Even adding a side of smoked salmon does not constitute a brunch-worthy meal. The smoked salmon actually needs to be apart of the eggs for that.

With that rousing introduction, I bring you Verveine. This is a restaurant that specializes in dinner and voila, serves up a plain, mediocore “brunch”. The interior of the restaurant is nice enough, which brings us to the back patio. It is always nice when a restaurant has a patio and Verveine’s is simple enough.

Just as simple as the patio is my breakfast. Scrambled eggs on a bed of spinach and on the side of the plate some plain slices of smoked salmon. Exciting eh? I could have walked a few blocks west on Queen to have a much better smoked salmon fritatta at Hello Toast. Oh, did I mention that I also ordered a side of “Herby Homefries”? They at least sound interesting, but no, they are just pretty standard homefries. They are not Xacutti’s tandoori homefries.

To be fair, my brunch partner had lemon-ricotta stuffed french toast. This looked pretty tasty but judging from the lack of oohs and ahs it doesn’t sound like it tasted all that special. Again, what can beat the cheesy french toast of Xacutti?

I may come back to Verveine for dinner but for brunch I think I will stick to the restaurants that know where it’s at when it comes to creativity with eggs.

Palmerston, The

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800 Dundas West, at Palmerston
416-703-9164

Having moved down to “Little Portugal”, I find myself in the middle of a terrific amount of new brunch spots to sample from. One of those places that I probably would never make it to if not for living downtown is the Palmerston. A small (extremely small) kitchen just north of Dundas on Palmerston (duh). Going in with six, loud, hetereosexual males we find that we take up all the small two person tables at this establishment. A smiling, relaxed lady is behind the counter taking orders off the chalkboard menu, the only one that exists in the restaurant. There is no wait staff and you pour your own coffee into styrofoam cups. Simple, yet efficient and different. I start off with a mango scone which is piping hot and tenderly soft inside. The bits of mango serve as a nice complement to typically delicous scone. The rest of the menu is sparse but my choice of scrambled eggs with coriander and melted brie on a baguette is delicious.

http://www.nowtoronto.com/minisites/restaurant/food2.html

Easy Restaurant and Catering

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1645 Queen Street West
phone number: 416-537-4893

After catching two movies at the Toronto International Film festival I made my way west (far west!) on Queen to Roncesvalles where Easy is located. It was 3 p.m. and I wasn’t sure brunch was still being served, but fortunately we were in luck.

A medium sized room that characterizes most trendy brunch places in Toronto was still relatively full at this time of the day. The menu was varied, ranging from your traditional eggs, bacon, and toast to the more lavish Spanish named meals. Of course, I couldn’t let something called Huevos Divorciados pass my by (especially having only eaten multigrain toast with low fat peanut butter and sugarless jam that day). This delectable meal came with two sunny-side up eggs served on a corn tortilla, with spicy salsa, guacamole, refried beans, black beans, home fries, and a salad. If that wasn’t enough I ordered a “Power Peanut” smoothie which consisted of cholocate, banana, and peanut butter. Suffice it to say, I was stuffed at the end of this one.

http://www.toronto-underground.com/food_drink/local/brunch.html

http://www.martiniboys.com/pages/reviews/easy.htm

Only Cafe, The

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972 Danforth Ave.
phone number: 416-463-7843

Only Cafe is a cozy, neighbourhood bar/cafe just east of Pape on the Danforth. With a completely relaxed, non-trendy yet retro atmosphere, it is a perfect place to get away from the typical chichipoopoo brunch spots of Queen and College west.

On initial impressions, the crowd is mixed with older and younger people from the neighbourhood congregating for some delicious and cheap food. The walls are covered in different paintings most noticeably from Van Gogh and there are all sorts of chuchkas placed around the bar including a Bart Simpson doll and a Louis Armstrong figurine head.

The menu is varied enough if not completely atypical from your regular down home breakfast joint. There is your all-stuffed omellete as well as breakfast burritos and a variety of different waffle dishes. I decided to test out what seemed like the main dish on the menu; the Belgian Waffles smothered in fruit. Although the waffles were a little mushy the amount of fruit, including strawberries, kiwi, grapes, orange, pears, and apples more than satisfied me. And when my entire meal (including a sausage and coffee) came to $10 after tax and tip I was more than happy.

If you are looking for a non-trendy and non-pretentious place with simple, good food and very reasonable prices and are willing to travel a little outside downtown, this is the place to go.

http://207.136.67.23/an/taste/cafe-bar.htm