St Viateur Bagel Cafe - A Montreal legend since 1957

The 411

After a grueling 18k morning run followed by 90 minutes of trying to survive 52 degrees of a hot yoga session, we made our way to NDG for some much needed refueling. I had not eaten a single thing since the night before and was physically exhausted which usually make for a bad combo. There are only a few places in NDG left that I have not reviewed and St Viateur Bagels & Cafe is one of them. You may know St Viateur as the same people who make Montreal’s best bagels, but did you know they opened up a two cafes? One on 127 Mont. Royal East and this one at 5629 Monkland Avenue.

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Chez Nick - Over 90 years and counting

The 411

Few places in the city have a history to go along with their food but having been around since 1920, Chez Nick has both. This 90 year old institution is the child of a Greek immigrant, Nick Alevisatos, who founded Chez Nicks and over the many years his family has run this institution. Chez Nick is in a spot you would not normally associate with brunch. It is located in Westmount, a mainly residential part of Montreal. I have heard of Chez Nick from various friends and decided that one day after my morning run myself and two friends would check it out and see what this place is all about.

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Ben and Florentine - New addition to the West Island

The 411

A recent addition to the West Island, Ben and Florentine is a restaurant with three locations and a half dozen on the way. The West Island is an interesting spot for Brunch because you have a large population and a relatively small amount of breakfast places in relation to that population. So, when Ben and Florentine opened up it added some variety and choice for lots of hungry West Islanders.

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B&M - NDG Brunch here we come

The 411

B&M is well known in NDG as a good place to get some morning food. It has a reputation of having good price and taste, and to be honest NDG does have some decent breakfast/brunch places but it could always use a few more. In my mission to check out all brunch places in each part of the city, B&M seemed like a logical choice. Take caution because there are two B&M locations: one at 5800 Sherbrooke original one at take out/delivery (with seating) and the restaurant 6200 Somerled. We initially went to the Sherbrooke location then 2 weeks later went to the Somerled location. Interestingly, the experience at both places was night and day so this will be an odd review for me. With that said, bear with me as I go over the good and not so good. Needless to say one location is better than the other but which one is it? Only one way to find out: keep reading.

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Universel - A Universe of Brunch on St Denis

The 411

For the longest time I have heard about Universel, a breakfast place on St Denis that seems to have quite a loyal following, similar to some of the popular Mount Royal or Bernard street places. I felt it was only fair to give it a try and see what keeps people coming back to it. I originally found out about this place on some food forums that I follow; it seems to be popular in certain circles but still off of other peoples radars so checking this place out and sharing it with others may be a tasty idea. You may have likely walked or driven by this place tons of times, it’s near the Square St Louis park as well as steps away from the Sherbrooke metro.

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Cafe Maurizio - West Island delight

The 411

The West Island. What can I say other than it’s far? It’s where my Saturday yoga class takes place and I have friends who live there. Living in the east end, I always like to complain about the West Island. I find it fun to bug West Islanders about how far they live, but I after all the jokes are said I do recognize that there are some good spots to eat there and I do try to check out a couple breakfast places whenever I’m on the west side. On this week I went to get together with my friend and she was in charge of suggesting a place in the west island I had not been to. Her choice was a place that I had never even heard of called Maurizio Café.

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Dejeuner Eggcetera - St Leonards’ Neighbourhood spot

The 411

For years I have passed by this local place called Dejeuner Eggcetera. For one reason or another I never ended up going in. It’s situated at a busy intersection in St Leonard and many locals have been to it at least once and some people dub it as their favourite place. I have to admit that I do have a bias when it comes to where I eat. I would rather go downtown for brunch or in an area I am unfamiliar with than to a place that is close by. Maybe it’s because I see it all the time and I know the area so well or maybe I prefer something with more adventure to it, but for whatever reason I never went there until now. Having gotten an email from a friend of mine the day before asking who was in for early morning breakfast in St Leonard I was like poker player with a good hand… all in. So early Saturday I drove around 5 minutes, cut off of some slow pokes, swore at the car in front of me and poof I entered St Leonard (as you can tell I hate driving in St Leo). So once again the breakfast bandits were reunited to wreak havoc on some poor unsuspecting breakfast place, our appetites were ready to go and we were all sort of awake.

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Benedicts - An NDG Brunch Champion

The 411

In following with an attempt to give more geographically balanced brunch reviews across Montreal, I returned to NDG with a mission, to review one of the most talked about places in the western end of the Island and seeing if this NDG sensation can compare to some of the better breakfast and brunch places Montreal has to offer. Benedict’s has some good feedback both online and from people who live in the area and a while ago when I was passing through NDG I was in this area and was curious by what I saw. A visit was definitely in order..

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Dejeuner Au P’Tit Dore - Exploring Eastern Laval

The 411

As of recently, most of my reviews have been on the island of Montreal focusing primarily on the downtown area which is where most brunch places are situated, but I do like to go off the Island sometimes and check out the 450 to see what our Laval neighbours have cooking up there. It doesn’t happen often but when it does I try to mix up the areas I go to so as to not focus too much on one area but try to get the different parts so people can see what is close by to them.. Today we headed to Duvernay, in the eastern part of Laval, to check out Au P’tit Doré.

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Miami Deli - 24 hour breakfast here we come.

The 411

Since the closing of Picasso’s there has been a gap in the 24 hour breakfast department. Some places will offer an all-day breakfast option but few do a true 24/7 breakfast - you know the kind that is willing to serve up eggs at 3 A.M after you’ve had a long night of drinking because nothing helps sober you up like late night eggs and sausage. These places are usually inexpensive, quick, and convenient which is usually associated with being “OK” in the food department although at 3 AM you are usually not really that picky. So, when I heard that Miami Deli is one of those places that can fill that late night breakfast necessity, I felt that it needed to be checked out and see how it stacked up. This time, I was fortunate enough to go with a large group of people since we also used the location to have a meeting for a fundraiser my friend was organizing, it’s a fundraiser run to New York for Canadian Athletes in the 2010 Olympics, the event is called Running for Athletes (check it out it’s a good cause).

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