It's not really brunch, but it was at Noon, so........

We had to go to a family birthday lunch/brunch today so Mrs Drude and I were apart from the rest of the OBC and were off to Moxie's (Ogilvie Road). I didn't think to take pics as it can sometimes be annoying for others having to have a camera or phone shoved in their food before they eat it so it's an old fashioned  blog-post this week - I'll just have to describe the food as best I can.

I'd not been to a Moxie's before and I have to say that I was just expecting a slightly upmarket version of the Works, but - no! It was actually quite nice. Good service. The 'made on the premises' beer was lovely - I had a glass of their Amber which was slightly 'red'. The menu is big, though, and I always shudder a little at big menus. Nevertheless, we ordered and food came.

I started with the sweet potato fries with 2 dips. The dips were not described so it was a bit of a gamble but as luck would have it it was a thai green curry mayo and a thousand island type mayo - delicious! There was a lot (should be for $8 - we weren't paying) so I shared with Mrs Drude - she liked too.

I'm trying to eat more healthily these days and maybe even lose a bit of weight so I chose from their extensive salad menu. The roasted beet and arugula salad with goats cheese struck me as being both healthy and delicious - I added a small portion of salmon - which was slightly overcooked for my liking but it was tasty - and hey-presto - I had a salad that was about as nice as you could have gotten. The beets were a little under-roasted and I don't quite understand why one would roast a beet then cut off all the bits on the outside that have been roasted! That aside it was a 9/10 salad and I felt good about ordering it. 

I tell a lie - there were pics.

These places do make a lot on a salad, though - throw a load of greens and pepper it with a spoonful of ingredients and that's $13 please! Mine had the $5.99 salmon extra so my salad was nearly $20 - over that if you count the tax!

They do a brunch menu and there are a few things on it that I would def order if we were to return for a proper OBC brunch, like the shrimp and crab cake benedict!

Mrs Drude had a salad that had arugula (we like to call it rocket, but when in Rome) chopped dates, sunflower seeds, avocado, edamame and a small portion of chicken. She didn't enjoy it and I have 2/3 of it for my dinner later (pre-Oscar meatballs).

Also - her Caesar was too spicy but she managed to choke it down!

Most of the others seemed to enjoy their food too - although some ordered soup and a club sandwich. Hard to mess up.

All in all I like Moxie's - for a chain (I think it's franchised) I think their food is very good. I will definitely be lobbying for the OBC to try out the brunch menu.

Until next week,

The Drude.

Our favourite diner.....

The nice thing about familiar and comfortable is that you relax and feel at ease. When we brunch at a fine dining place we talk about the food more, we comment on the service and we are oft ready with an opinion or a critique of some such part of the food or service or decor or whatever.

This morning we hardly spoke of the food (it was good, as usual) we didn't think to comment on the service (it was ok as well, coffee was replenished) and we certainly didn't think to critique the decor - thank the Lord!

The waitress took our 6 orders and committed them to memory (including changes to our regular orders AND changes half way through the process due to burger envy) as usual - getting hardly a thing wrong upon presentation of the plates - less than 10 minutes after the order was submitted!

Can you guess where we were yet? - of course, we went to the Fontenelle diner on Montreal Road. Cozy, familiar, relaxed - no pretention. I've said all this before of course but it's worth repeating - I think I prefer the brunches when I don't have to criticize or report on things that didn't work and should be fixed. At the 'Font' nothing needs fixing. It's like having breakfast in your own home.

The place is seldom packed to the rafters - but at the same time I have never seen it empty - isn't that what it's all about? Steady business you can rely on?

....and of course everyone loves the bill when it's time to pay - half of what it would be if we were eating eggs cooked in a FD place - same chicken, same egg, same oil - well similar, anyway but way less $$$$

I'm sorry to those expecting a new place every week - maybe we'll try harder next week and go somewhere new - this week it just 'felt' like a 'Font' week.

If you haven't been before the one tip is: order your breakfast with their french fries rather than the home-fries.

Next week - did someone say "doughnuts"? (do-nuts) there goes the diet!

Until next week my little brunchettes,

The Drude