The place was as popular as it was tiny – we weren’t the only ones who ventured out on a rainy New Years morning – but it was well worth the wait. We could tell the place had character the moment we stepped in, with exposed brick walls, broad wooden floor planks, and a faux vintage metallic ceiling.

The suckling eggs benedict (eggs benedict with pulled pork) was the best I ever had. And surprisingly, it wasn’t the eggs or the pork that made me think so, it was the biscuit.

The eggs were done perfectly so the yolk ran and was soaked up by a scrumptious biscuit, the likes of which I’ve never had before. It was surprising to find that a place that boasted meat could make such delicious carbs, and it really showed their meticulous attention to detail.

Who could say no to dessert for breakfast? But seriously, best waffles ever. The caramelized bananas were a nice touch, but the real treat was the dark chocolate in the waffles. The mixture of sweet and bitter made my taste buds beg for more.

All of it went down very well with some quality french press coffee and friendly service. Vegetarians, don’t be fooled by the meat-centric menu, a lot of it can be done without the meat². I can’t wait to return to Toronto and try something else on their menu.

Rating:

1. I am so glad Toronto Yelp finally has enough critical mass to be useful!
2. The waffles were originally supposed to come with bacon.

Lunch at a tiny but busy Japanese joint near Causeway Bay MTR. They are known for their fatty tuna sashimi.

Lunch at an apartment-turned-restaurant near Sham Shui Po, Western-style cuisine, prix-fixe menu that included appetizer and entree. The dessert (every single dessert on their menu) was compliments of the owner, who seemed to know my friend’s aunt.

Brunch at 霞飛點心拉麵 (Xia Fei Shanghainese Restaurant). Each dim sum item was better than the last!

Brunch at a traditional Cantonese dim sum place, 蓮香樓, Lin Heung Tea House. This was actually the most disappointing meal, I don’t know why this place has such great reviews (is considered the best Guangdong dim sum place in Hong Kong). It was extremely chaotic and dirty, the food was also terrible.

Dinner at a cafe/diner in Lan Kwai Fong. The food was average.

Breakfast at The Brunch Club.

1. Curry fish balls, lobster meatballs, sausages, roasted octupus, and deep-fried calamari. With a side of Hong Kong milk tea.
2. Deep-fried seafood platter, soooo good. Pumpkin risotto was also delicious.
3. I got two pictures from it, but the rest of the meal went unrecorded. I can’t remember what else we ordered, other than xiao long bao and shrimp dumplings, but I know there was an order we added at the end that was delicious.

Let’s walk through a typical day of eating for me in Nanjing.

Breakfast starts at 5am² and is usually at a xiao chi dian which is kind of like a dim sum stand with road-side aluminum furniture. Sketchy? Yes, a little. Delicious? Definitely. Luckily, I’m not someone with a sensitive stomach and I have never gotten sick from eating in China.

In the last four days, I’ve had quite a variety of breakfast items: plain steamed buns (man tou), veggie or pork-filling steamed buns (bao zi), glutinous rice buns (shao mai), fried dough sticks (you tiao), soy milk or tofu soup (dou jiang, dou nao), congee (xi fan).

Some xiao chi items can be repeated for lunch, such as steamed buns. Nanjing has the best xiao long bao in the country, many would argue.

Another Nanjing delicacy is yian shui ya (salted duck). Salted duck in Canada cannot compare, mostly because the duck used in Canada is factory-farmed, whereas the duck here are raised naturally, and therefore contains hardly any fat at all.

Although not a Nanjing specialty, I also got to try pumpkin congee, which tasted truly delicious and is certainly something that could be made in Canada, what with our abundance of pumpkin.

Dinner can range from anything, as far as entrees go. I’ve had clay-roasted free-range³ chicken, sweet and sour fish, five mushroom soup, wintermelon and egg stir-fry, five spices beef, spicy freshwater lobster, and so on. Last night, however, I had hot pot. Hot pot in 37-degree weather? I thought it was a joke, but apparently not.

I was taken to the best lamb hot pot in Nanjing. Lamb hot pot is not a Nanjing specialty, so this was as good as you were going to get in this city. I don’t like lamb and I’m not preferential to hotpot either, but last night’s dinner was damn good. Usually, I refuse to touch lamb unless it’s completely covered in spices, to eat lamb that’s only been boiled in water is unthinkable. But last night’s lamb did not have a gamey smell/taste, and tasted great with some spicy oil and sesame paste.

I am trying a lot of new foods that I used to refuse to eat as a child. Even my uncle commented how I was much better about eating new things; until now, I’ve been rather infamous in my family for my picky eating habits.
Perhaps it’s because our palate changes as we grow. But mostly, I think it’s a psychological change. Whereas I used to feel that I was not missing anything by refusing to eat certain foods, I now feel the exact opposite. It seems such a waste to go to a city and not try the local cuisine. Some things take a little getting used to, but in the end, I believe cultural adaptation is definitely worthwhile!

1. When I say ‘everything’, I’m mostly referring to all Chinese food.
2. Everyone gets up really early here because mid-day and early afternoon is too hot to function, so that’s usually nap-time.
3. Although what poultry isn’t free-range here?

Low-back pale-green couches line the edge of the window, wrapping around on either side like fallopian tubes. A large painting of jungle animals hang on one wall. The rest of the space is dominated by a bar, high tables and chairs, and distractingly large post-modern chandeliers. The place is as hip as its West Queen West locale, although the clientele varies from tourists to Queen West hipsters to old couples.

Service was attentive, although the food took a little longer to arrive than you would expect for brunch.

The Drake breakfast was a rather boring choice, I’ll admit, but the menu description made it sound more varied than it was. “Hash browns” turned out to be chunks of potato stir-fried with onions and a slice of red pepper. “Fruit” turned out to be a single slice of grapefruit. The whole wheat toast turned out to be a five-grain, with a variety of seeds and had a subtle bitter aftertaste. These little details made me feel very mislead by the menu description. It didn’t help that the scrambled egg-white was under-scrambled, and the fried bacon was over-fried.

The breakfast burrito was a bigger hit with my companion, although the cilantro salsa (again, in the menu, it just said “salsa”) made me immediately grimace – I hate cilantro.

After we’d paid our bill, we saw this lovely little plate delivered to a neighbouring table. We inquired with our server, and my suspicions were confirmed, blueberry scones. In the menu, this was simply the “scone plate – perfect for sharing.” It made me wonder, for the third time, why the menu was so under-descriptive. Did they think these details wouldn’t matter to the average customer? I may not be exactly average, but it makes a big difference to me whether they are blueberry scones or plain butter scones or cranberry scones (the latter two I would not find appetizing at all).

The blueberry scone plate, it turned out, was fantastic, and considerably improved my opinion of the place. It made me almost forgive forget their lack of skill in menu-writing. The scones were light, flaky on the outside, crumbly on the inside, slightly sweet – the best I’ve ever had. The sides – raspberry jam, heavy whipped cream (home-made), and melted butter – were equally delicious. I usually skip whipped cream because 1) I’m lactose intolerant, and 2) stuff that comes in a pressurized container never seems appetizing to me, but home-made whipped cream is a whole other story.

Of course, how could I leave without checking out their sex-on-the-wall bathrooms? The bathroom walls within the stalls are plastered with vintage pornography, which kind of surprised me given this is still within a hotel. But it is West Queen West, after all.

Rating:

This is the sort of place where you can sit for hours with a friend or a book and no one will kick you out. It is the sort of place where you can have homemade dessert or hearty Eastern European fare. It is the sort of place where re-fill coffees are free and there are always more than six types of cake. It is my kind of place.

The scrambled eggs were over-scrambled, and the eggs benedict were nothing special (packaged ham? Really?). The crepes were awful – a little too thick, and absolutely drowning in strawberry jam. Each bite required half a glass of water.

One thing I can say for sure though, they have great home fries. Seriously, best fries I have ever had. They’re not too oily, crispy on the outside, and very well seasoned.
They also have great orange juice, although their coffee is hit and miss. When I went, they had macadamia nut coffee – definitely a hit!

Futures is also known for having great cheesecakes, although the crepes drenched in strawberry jam were more than enough sweets for us.

Rating:

483 Bloor Street West
Phone: 416.922.5875

A server immediately came to the door to seat us and give us the menus. The place was painted a yellow-cream colour, and decorated with a lot of roosters. The front portion has many booths, which allow for some privacy, although the back portion is open and more cramped with rickety tables and chairs.

My companion settled on the corned beef hash and I ordered the Western omelet. A bread basket came soon after, although half the toasts were badly burnt. I was appalled that they could serve such badly burnt toast. Even at home, I would have thrown them out.

The corned beef hash was the first to arrive. The beef was tender enough, although the mish-mash was thrown together with such carelessness that it tasted like leftovers. The poached eggs were appallingly rubber-like, even though the yoke was not cooked through.

The Western omelet was very satisfying. The omelet was thick and cooked to perfection. There weren’t a lot of veggies and ham, but that meant the omelet held together nicely. The home fries, however, were a disappointment. Unexciting little potato cubes lacking in flavour and crispness.

While my omelet was good, the appalling state of the poached eggs on the corned beef hash and the incredibly burnt toasts were hard to overlook.

Rating:

We arrived at 10:25 to find the place without a line, unlike what many reviews had warned us about. The last member of our party had yet to arrive, so we walked around for another 10 minutes (they will not seat you unless your entire party has arrived). By the the time she arrived at 10:35, the place was full. We waited about 20 minutes before our server came out to get us.

The place was small and narrow, with large paintings in subdued colours on an exposed brick wall that was faded brownish red. It looked less charming than it sounds.
The food arrived about 20 minutes after we ordered. I had a Brussels’ style waffle with scrambled eggs and an apple coleslaw.

The Brussels’ style waffle was light and crispy, just like the menu promised, but it was also completely tasteless. The scrambled eggs were a little overdone, and the apple coleslaw had dill pickles in it, which was just bizarre. The peameal bacon was the only item that didn’t disappoint.

My companions’ eggs benedict fared a little better, although the hollandaise sauce was not that different from what we’ve had elsewhere.

With mediocre food, mediocre service, and a mediocre atmosphere (floorboards that creaked and only one washroom?), I couldn’t figure out why this place had gotten such great reviews.
“Maybe this place is cheaper than most brunch places,” one of my friends suggested. She often brunched at The Drake, and declared that our brunching experience was not complete until we had been to The Drake. But when I got home and checked the menu at The Drake, I found that there eggs benedict was priced at $12, while the eggs benedict at Le Petit Dejeuner was priced at $12.95.
“Maybe it’s a homelier vibe,” my other friend suggested. The place was not nearly as charming as some cafes I’d been to, which also served breakfast mind you. And if I really wanted a homely vibe, I could have made a better breakfast at home and even eaten it in bed if I wanted.

In the end, I really could not figure it out what about this place had charmed the previous reviewers. Maybe their $6 mimosas? But for a good sober breakfast, I’d go elsewhere.

Rating:

I made the omelet with one large egg and 3 egg whites, and used two slices of chicken ham. Very simple, and very delicious!
svgallery=hamandegg

Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day, hands down. If I could, I’d make myself a home-made extra special deluxe super duper breakfast platter every morning.
It also happens to be one of the few meals I am fully comfortable with making.

• Scrambled/fried/hard-boiled/omelet eggs? I can do that.
• Bacon/fake bacon/ham/sausages/breakfast paddies? I can do that.
• Toast? Toast with butter? French toast? I can do that.
• Pancakes/waffles/Chinese pancakes¹? I can do that.²
• Fruit? I can do that.
• Coffee/(soy) milk? I can do that.

Unfortunately, I don’t have time to do all that every morning. But every Sunday morning, without fail, I make myself an enormous breakfast platter. Sunday mornings are the best. It’s my last day of the weekend, so I know I have to get some work done. The first thing I do is brew myself a nice hot cup of hazelnut coffee. I drink my coffee without milk/cream/whitener because 1) I am lactose intolerant, and 2) that is the way coffee is supposed to be drunk, so buying high-quality (hazelnut) coffee roast is a must.
Then I’ll have any combination of the above (things that I can make). I usually don’t have bacon/sausages so I must forgo the meat portion of the programming, but I can make tons of things with eggs, so I still get my protein.

This morning was no exception. Check out the fancy colourful super duper awesome breakfast platter of the day:

This platter features scrambled egg whites, fresh strawberries, toast drizzled with maple syrup, and yogurt sprinkled with some fiber cereal flakes.

It is also exactly 200 calories.

Huzzah!

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 200
Carbs: 31
Fat: 1
Protein: 18

1. Chinese green onion pancakes are deliciously light and fried; made of flour – multi-layered almost like a pastry, but still thin, with salt and green onions
2. By “I can do that,” I mean, I can buy that.