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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Bistro Lakloche - A New Face on Parc Street

The 411

A recent addition to the Bernard/Park street neighborhood, LaKloche came up on my radar of places that do brunch. The Bernard street area is one of my first loves when it comes to places to eat brunch. As of lately my taste and preferences have taken me to other spots and I didn’t think that there were any new spots worthwhile checking out in that area. So, with news of a new place recently opening I figured that a trip to Bernard street would be in order.

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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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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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Sabor De Mi Tierra - Bringing you some Latin Flavour

The 411

Brunch comes in all shapes, sizes and tastes and I am always on the lookout for brunch places in new areas that offer menu items that are not only delicious, but different. So, when my friend told me about a South American restaurant that does brunch, I was curious. I had heard that there are only a handful of brunch places that have that South American flavour, so it made this trip all the more interesting.

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Rumi - An out of this world experience

The 411

Brunch comes in all shapes and sizes, or tastes and flavours in this case. Anywhere you go in Montreal you can get a brunch ranging from a classic eggs and bacon place, to a bar that does bistro style brunches or even restaurants that make their brunch with an ethnic inspiration. Rumi is the latter in this category. Rumi is already a popular restaurant on Hutchison that you should go check out for dinner if you ever get a chance as it is one of my personal favorites. To describe the cuisine is not easy, its a mix of North African, Persian and Turkish and its 100% yummy.

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International House of Pancakes - visiting a legend

The 411

On the way back from a trip to Cali a long plane ride and a lack of medical sedatives made for me being in need of sleep and food. When I don’t eat I get painfully cranky so in order to avoid an incident at the border I decided that I need to eat right away and I really wanted breakfast food. So having landed in Burlington we asked around for information on where to get breakfast. I asked at the airport, the parking lot and even in a grocery store with no luck. Most people didn’t know of any place to eat breakfast on a weekday early in the morning and when one person suggested McDonalds I almost cried but I think the emotion was masked by disgust, which I think she saw on my face (sorry I’m cranky when I’m hungry). Then, as if a sign from above, someone suggested Ihop’s and pointed us in the right direction.

Le Vieux St-Laurent - Some pretty good moves for an old man

The 411

I consider myself well versed in most places that serve brunch in Montreal, but when I went to brunch with a friend of mine this past Saturday, I was educated about a couple places I had never seen before. So once my head stopped spinning, we walked through the St Laurent street fest and made it to Le Vieux St Laurent and a wonderful experience followed (and I don’t mean the shopping at the street - I’m talking about the food)

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