Rustic Cosmo
1278 Queen Street West
416-531-4924
brunch for two with all taxes, tip and coffee: $30

I am, admittedly, one of those people who go out for brunch specifically because I hate making eggs benedict at home. It’s not that I can’t, but the endeavour inevitably leaves me cranky, covered in hollandaise and left with piles of pots and pans to wash.

But the dish is a favourite of mine, especially from places like Rustic Cosmo where an order of eggs benny comes with options. For out of this tiny open kitchen, customers are offered eggs benny ($9.95) with 6 different toppings, and are allowed to mix and match. Along with the traditional peameal bacon, spinach or smoked salmon, café owner Nicole Crowe also offers mixed grilled vegetables with brie, portobello mushrooms or grilled asparagus. On our most recent visit, I opted for oozing brie atop grilled peppers, eggplant and broccoli, along with lovely green asparagus, grilled al dente.

Continue reading Sunday Brunch - Rustic Cosmo »

Irish Embassy Pub & Grill
49 Yonge Street
416-815-7562
Brunch for two with all taxes, tip and beer: $56

They call it the breakfast of champions, and there was a point when a glass of stout, such as Guinness, was touted as a healthy start to the day. I don’t know if I could do that every morning, but when settling in for brunch at the Irish Embassy, it seemed wrong not to be sipping a glass of Ireland’s favourite beer.

Normally the domain of Bay Street brokers and executives, on an early Sunday, the sun streams through the high south-facing windows of this former bank and the light bounces off the architectural details of the arched ceiling. Never having been to Ireland, I’m not sure if all the locals there are this impressive, but the Irish Embassy is surely one of the most ethereal places I’ve eaten brunch. That may be because it’s not especially busy. This is an odd state and apparently not the norm, but explains why the sharply-dressed and aproned servers outnumber the customers by about 2-to-1.

Continue reading Sunday Brunch - Irish Embassy »

Oyster Boy
872 Queen Street West
416-534-3432
Brunch for two with all taxes, tip and coffee: $55

Walking along Queen West on a sunny morning heading to Oyster Boy, a car passed us blaring a tune that was predominantly accordion music. We couldn’t really tell if it was a Newfoundland jig or some “welcome to the swamp” zydeco music, but fittingly enough, it set the theme of our brunch visit.

Oyster Boy offers a Maritime Pub Lunch on Saturdays and Sundays with a selection of items that are available all day such as fish and chips ($14.95), fish cakes ($11.95), or chowder of the day ($6.95). They also have lunch-specific specials from noon – 4pm with the likes of little jig’s dinner ($14.95) – aka corned beef and cabbage, and omelettes ($10.50).

Continue reading Sunday Brunch - Oyster Boy »

By the Way Café
400 Bloor Street West
416-967-4295
Brunch for two with all taxes, tip and coffee and juice: $43

Over the past twenty years, I’ve eaten at By the Way innumerable times, but have never made it to this Annex landmark for brunch. We arrived early on Easter Sunday to a sparsely populated room that over the course of the next hour filled up fast.

The brunch menu offers a fairly massive selection of items for such a tiny little open kitchen, and all the typical brunch favourites are represented. Omelettes ($7 - $8) come in a variety of options from veggie to smoked salmon or western. Poached eggs ($6 - $7) are offered up as Benedict, Charlotte (smoked salmon) or Florentine (spinach).

Continue reading Sunday Brunch - By the Way Café »

The Beaver
1192 Queen Street West
416-537-2768
Brunch for two with all taxes, tip and coffee and juice: $34

Beaver Loves You.

The sentiment may be genuine, pre-emptive or merely provocative; (“Dude, I love beaver too!!”) but there’s no denying that the note on the bill at this funky restaurant on the edge of Parkdale will put a smile on every face.

Known more for its clubby atmosphere of an evening (the owners are Toronto’s favourite party promoters, Lynn McNeil and Will Munro), Beaver serves up a pretty mean brunch, especially considering the limited kitchen behind the small bar.

Continue reading Sunday Brunch - The Beaver »

Mitzi’s Sister
1554 Queen Street West
416-532-2570
Brunch for two with all taxes, tip, plus coffee and juice: $40

I have a love/hate relationship with the brunch at Mitzi’s Sister. I love the homey, laid back vibe, the friendly servers, the eclectic tunes, and the constantly changing garnishes on what is likely my favourite brunch menu in the city. If it weren’t for the hate bit, I’d be here every weekend. But the hate thing is something I can’t get over. It’s got nothing to do with the place itself, but everything to do with the clientele. Mitzi’s Sister seems to double as a daycare centre on weekend mornings, where local hipster parents come with their kids and pretty much set them free.

Continue reading Sunday Brunch - Mitzi’s Sister »

Yitz’s Delicatessen and Catering
346 Eglinton Avenue West
416-487-4506
Brunch for two with all taxes, tip and coffee: $30

One of my very first jobs in Toronto was at Eglinton and Avenue Road, and ever since then, I’ve loved going to Yitz’s. Between the Eglinton location and the old Switzer’s on Spadina Avenue, these two restaurants often made me wish I had my very own Jewish Grandmother who would stuff me with blintzes and latkes and matzo.

Continue reading Sunday Brunch - Yitz’s Delicatessen »

Sunset Grill
1 Richmond Street West (and other locations)
416-861-0514
Brunch for two with all taxes, tip and coffee: $23

People like breakfast. They want it hot, fast and familiar. They’re even willing to stand in line for it if that combination can be guaranteed.

Thus is the business plan on which the Sunset Grill is based. And it seems to be working. Starting with one all-day breakfast diner in the Beaches in 1985, this local chain has grown to 15 locations and counting. Most are known for their line-ups, especially on weekends. That’s a lot of bacon and eggs.

Continue reading Sunday Brunch - Sunset Grill »

Niagara Street Café
169 Niagara Street
416-703-4222
Brunch for two with all taxes, tip and coffee: $52

I’ve always heard good things about the Niagara Street Café. It’s original incarnation was run by a mother/daughter team who used free-range and organic ingredients. When it transferred hands in 2004, it continued to gain accolades, particularly at brunch.

Everything about the place seems ideal – nice cozy space that would be filled with sunshine if we weren’t in the middle of a run of grey days, great looking menu with interesting options. But there’s an undercurrent of something that wasn’t quite right, especially in terms of the menu. What looks good on paper doesn’t jibe so well when reality sets in.

Continue reading Sunday Brunch - Niagara Street Café »

The Gladstone Hotel Ballroom Cafe
1214 Queen Street West
416-531-4635
Brunch for two with all taxes, tip and coffee: $35

Okay, so to be straight up honest, it’s not actually Sunday when we visit to do this review. It’s the morning of January 1st, and the oldest continually operating hotel is Toronto is serving up brunch - not to weary travellers as it did so many years ago, but to hungover locals and hipsters looking for something hearty and filling to ease them into the new year.

The high windows of the south-facing ballroom cafe normally have warm sunlight streaming through them, but today it’s a grey view of wet snow. The servers are bright-eyed and smiling, however, and water and coffee arrive at our table quickly.

Continue reading Sunday Brunch - The Gladstone Hotel »

Edward Levesque’s Kitchen
1290 Queen Street East
416-465-3600
brunch for 2 with all taxes, tip, and coffee: $30

Leslieville has no shortage of brunch spots. No matter what cuisine dinner service is, most restaurants in the area offer a decent plate of eggs. Finding a great brunch spot, where quality, price, and atmosphere meet as perfectly as your favourite assemblage of breakfast foods is a bit more challenging. Trying out a new place every weekend is one I’m happy to take on.

Enter Edward Levesque’s Kitchen. Pleasantly surprised that the exterior was in no way indicative of the charming interior - small but spacious, bright like a buttercup, with real linens - we were quickly seated upon entering. Calling earlier, we were told brunch brunch reservations aren’t taken. We snagged the last empty table, thankfully, big enough for four.

While we perused the small printed menus, quality coffee came swift and hot. Impressive was the daily selection coupled with the brunch only options. It was difficult to just pick one because each dish sounded like a lovely way to start a lazy Sunday.

Continue reading Your Neighborhood Kitchen »

Art Square Café
334 Dundas Street West
416-595-5222
brunch for two with all taxes, tip and coffee: $33

I have a thing for tiny little tucked away cafés. They’re the kind of place I’d open if I ever became a restaurateur; someplace cute and cozy with great food and no pretension. The only problem with cute little tucked away cafés is that it’s hard for people to find them. Hidden behind a bright gallery space, Art Square Café likely gets overlooked more than it should.

We arrive for brunch on a Sunday morning to find only about half of the dozen or so tables occupied. Of the customers, all are students frantically studying for the last of their mid-terms. Every occupied table holds at least one open laptop amidst cups of coffee and plates of crepes in various stages of consumption.

Continue reading It’s Hip to Be Square »

Saving Grace
907 Dundas Street West
416-703-7368
Brunch for two with all taxes, tip, coffee and a muffin: $40

The first time I went to Saving Grace, I was sceptical of it’s ability to charm me. It felt overly trendy with its minimalist birch tables and spherical Ikea lights, and too pricey - as a fairly new Toronto brunch-goer, I thought paying ten bucks for a plate of eggs was ridiculous. But I should have known by the line-up to get in and the jam-packed tables inside that there was a good thing going on. Despite the wait, there’s rarely any other brunch spot these days that I feel like hauling ass to on a Saturday afternoon.

Continue reading Eggs With a Healthy Side of Hipster »

Universal Grill
1071 Shaw Street
416-588-5928
Brunch for two with all taxes, tip and coffee: $30

To describe the simplicity and beauty of brunch, I don’t need to look any further than The Simpsons. In my favourite episode, in which a disingenuous Homer buys Marge a bowling ball for her birthday and an enraged Marge decides to keep it and take lessons, her suave, flirtatious French bowling instructor, Jacques, defines brunch thusly: “It’s not quite breakfast, it’s not quite lunch, but it comes with a slice of cantaloupe at the end”.

Continue reading Best Bet for Brunch at Universal Grill »

Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar
9 Church Street
416-362-1957
Brunch for two with cocktails, tax and tip: $65

At the Slow Food Green Link conference back in February at the Hart House, I had the opportunity to hear Tobey Nemeth, long-time sous-chef at Jamie Kennedy Kitchens, speak passionately about her views on the importance of seasonal and local products and it hit me: this is what Canadian cuisine is all about. I wondered if this vision, one that some still consider a passing fad, would translate seamlessly to a meal normally relegated to one of convenience.

On my latest visit to the Wine Bar for brunch, Tobey Nemeth is cheerily chatting up my two dining companions and me at the bar that winds around the small open kitchen. “It’s only our eighth week serving brunch so I’m very protective of the menu. It’s all just really good,” she gushes.

Continue reading Bringing Brunch Back Home »