A round-up of recent brunchiness.....

OK, so a bit of a round up of recent places we've been as I've been very tardy on the blogging front and I'm sure I've lost readers, but as Joy says on The View, "so what, who cares?"

We have returned to the Back Lane Cafe a couple times, mainly to check out what their new star chef has done to the menu (Michael Hay is their new Head Chef). He doesn't disappoint! The first time we sampled his brunch menu they had a starter of toast and pate and a quails egg that was just sublime! We'd go back more if there were not other places to try out and old faves to return to - balance, balance!

So we found a new place to brunch that we like a lot, it's called Izakaya and it's in the old Daddy's Crab Shack on Elgin Street. Parking can sometimes be a challenge but it's worth it! This place is a Asian fusion place but we all love the brunch menu and the spicy options for a Sunday lunchtime treat!

Curried shrimp benny from Izakaya

Ginger creme brulee also Izakaya

We've Dim Summed quite a bit and although we have been to Chu Shing and experienced the 'hive' we have also actually lined up (yes we waited for this place, it's that good) for a small dim sum place called Hung Sum. It's not pretty but the food is a couple notches above the bigger places I think/We think.



With a few regular returns to the Fontenelle on Montreal Road.......Oh and the Hintonburg PH has jumped up a few notches in our estimations too - the food here used to be so-so and the service was ho-hum - I think we went back on Father's Day and we've been back a couple times since and both the food and the service are very good. They also have some great art on the walls from the likes of local artists; Martelock, Adornato and Andrea Stokes to name but three, so you have something cool to look at and discuss whilst eating delicious food!

Brunch at The Daily Grind....

What happens when 12 people descend on a cafe for brunch on a Sunday when they are used to maybe tables of 2 or 4 at the most, and also staggered - well, actually they do ok!

We've intended to try the Daily Grind for a while now and this week was the week. The menu is small and limited but has a range of dishes that seemed to cater for everyone's taste.

Cafe au Lait

A couple of tables were put together and even an extra leaf in the dining room table we sat at. We ordered our food, ordered our coffee. The coffee here is great - not cheap and not included in the dishes price, but it's really good!

The food arrived more or less at the same time except for 2 dishes, but - to be honest, they did ok. The food wasn't the best looking food - but woah, the taste of it was just amazing!

I had the 'special' which was a breakfast sconewhich. It came with some potato chips and a slice of orange so I have to admit my expectations were low - then I took a bite and it just blew me away.

The Daily Grind is a place that has mix and match cutlery, plates and cups and the tables and chairs are also all un-matched and it makes the place homely and makes you feel very relaxed.

I like this place and we'll definitely be going back soon.

Have a good week, everyone.

Drude.

Berryman's Pub

Ok, so it's been a while since we all went out to brunch and what a brunch to come back to - full of drama , good food, bad food, good service and tasty pulled pork bennys - OR not?

Berrymans is on Bank just south of Gladstone and it's a small sports bar that offers a limited brunch menu - one which we sampled today.

Coffee was good - big mugs and tasty.

Breakfast menu was a small one - and most items included their pulled pork, even the benny had pulled pork!

When the food came the main problem was that the 'hash' was grey in colour (a sure sign that the potato wasn't freshly grated and probably made well in advance) and mine was even raw in the middle which suggested that the potato was pre-grated and kept in small batches in a fridge!! Who does that? Berrymans!

Complaint was taken and the waitress offered replacement fries or sweet potato fries which came and were GREAT!

The hash is quite visible in the pics - it looks like a pile of undercooked onion - anyway I have to say that, for me, this was the only low point of the brunch as the pulled pork benny was superb - even the hollandaise was tasty (and it had split too!).

Some thought the pulled pork was either too spicy, too dry or just not good - I disagree as it was spicy it was a bit dry but that is what made is tasty!

One mistake (the bloody awful hash) isn't enough to not recommend this place. It's actually ok - but that hash made me shudder a bit!

The plates were not pretty. A garnish of a slice of tomato just doesn't pretty up a plate.

Service was excellent and when we lodged our complaint she was quick to resolve the issue.

My main concern is: who at Berrymans let that plate past the pass with that grey mound of crap that they called hash?

Anyway - try this place - the pulled pork IS spicy but worth a punt. Just watch out for the grey potato hash.

Until next week or the next....
Drude

Springtime brunch at the Empire Grill....

Great weather this weekend March 18th and it's 24c by the car's thermometre. Brunch was at the Empire Grill, one of the only places in the Bytown Market not to have their patio open - all the others decided to pay the fine the City imposes on them for having their patio open before April 1st. We still had the nice big table just by the patio doors - which we had open, most of the time.

The Empire Grill is usually good food and the only thing that can spoil a brunch here is the occasional bout of bad and inattentive service - not today though - our server was great and attended to us very well indeed.

The only meal that we decided was crappy was the special crab omelette - it was special as it hardly had any crab in it! Most everyone else had a great plate of food.

I had the "Atlantic" which has changed a bit since last year - the salmon is salmon not smoked salmon and it has asparagus - I could have sworn it was spinach last year and the hollandaise is a basil hollandaise. Yummy! The home fries at the Empire Grill are good too - so often they undercook these or they come from a bag. These are fresh from a potato and are well fried.

We had 11 at the table today - I think that's a record!

Most enjoyable - good company - nice exotic car spotting through the patio doors - lots of Italian stallions cruising around trying to look nonchalant!

Can't wait for the patio at EG - it's one of the best in the market on a hot sunny Sunday morning.

Here are the pics - off out to the deck so can't be arsed to intersperse them this week!

Have a good week.

The disappointing crab omelette...

My gorgeous salmon and asparagus benny 

Sausage and egg.

Steak and eggs.

Calamari 

Soup!

The Hash.

Mill St. Brewpub, Ottawa - diamond in the rough!

The Mill used to be a roast beef restaurant on the river by the Portage Bridge - it didn't get very good reviews anywhere you looked and so people didn't go - or very few because it got bought by the Mill St. Brewery, a micro-brewery and restaurant outfit who have a place in Toronto. Appropriately now called The Mill St. Brewpub, Ottawa.

A total refit, installation of some mash bins and brew kettles and a modern menu and you have a great overhaul of a tired old place which now becomes a vibrant place to have brunch, lunch or dinner.

We've meant to try this place out since it opened a few weeks ago but only 3 of us were in attendance this morning due to a variety of absenteeism reasons.

It's not often you can tempt me with a beer for breakfast but I was unable to pass up a taste of the Porter Ale - actually it wasn't very 'Ale-like' but more pilsner to my taste - but well done and makes me want to go back when I'm being driven and have a few samples of the 12 or so beers they have available.

The menu is small (good) for brunch - just seven items. Included are two 'bennys' - one traditional and one with spinach and portobello mushroom that was called the Julliene. One order of huevos-rancheros and 2 of the benny with a twist and our order was complete.

 The place was surprisingly busy for a place tucked away almost under the Portage bridge - but when the food came it was also plain why it was busy - the food was very good.

the home-fries tasted a bit as if they came from a 'bag' but they were ok - the benny, though - probably one of the best bennys I have ever had. The spinach and mushroom combo with a soft yolk, hollandaise and a bit of muffin was just sublime.

I tried the huevos-rancheros and that was good too although I'm not a huge fan of the dish at any time.

I am looking forward to our next visit, maybe with more of our club, maybe with a nice table by the window to watch the river go by.

The prices were actually not high. If you take out the two alcohol drinks, which we wouldn't normally partake in, it was a very reasonable couple of $10 plates of food.

Try the place - you'll more than likely love it. You can also buy a 6 pack or so from their beer store on the way out - they can sell it as they make it on the premises.

Until next Sunday, have a great week.

Drude.

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