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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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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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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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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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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La Fabrique - Where meal ideas are made daily

The 411

A while ago a friend of mine told me about this place called La Fabrique where the interior is almost as interesting as the food. With its constantly changing menu and interesting and funky approach to cooking combining different flavours and styles, I felt that this would be an interesting place to check out their brunch as well as the main courses. Now, brunch is only offered once a week on Sundays and this makes it difficult for me since I don’t always have time for brunch on Sunday but somehow it happened this week and I had an opening. Unfortunately, it came a day after an article in the gazette had appeared about the place (I knew I shouldn’t have waited all that time). Not to be deterred by not being one of the first ones to write about I was still committed to going and off I went in search of a culinary adventure.

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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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