Wienstein & Gavinos - A Crescent street legend tries out Brunch

The 411

I find often that many places flirt with the idea of adding brunch to the menu. As you know, I am a huge fan of this since I like the fact that the more places that are offering brunch the more choice we get. It is better for everyone with a morning hankering. Now, my friend let me know that Wienstein & Gavino’s had begun offering a brunch of sorts - well - it’s actually a Frittata menu. Normally I am not a huge omelette fan but, I did want to check this and see how Wienstein and Gavino’s would pull of brunch.

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Ye Old Orchard - More than just a morning pint

The 411

Once upon a time on drunken St Patrick’s Day a bunch of my friends and I got up bright and early and had an Irish breakfast, at Ye Olde Orchard Pub. I had never eaten Irish breakfast before and was very curious about it. We all ordered different dishes but none of us were brave enough for the green eggs and ham. Since then I have a feeling that I failed at something and I needed to step back onstage and show that I could eat it no matter how weird and Dr Seuss-esque it sounds like. So on one of my previous forays into NDG, I saw that the Ye Old Orchard pub served breakfast on the weekends, and since I was meeting up with one of my friends from NDG and we both wanted something new for brunch , the choice seemed obvious.

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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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La Moulerie - Back To Bernard Street

The 411

A while ago I made a claim that I had been to all of the brunch places on Bernard, but it turns out that I was wrong. I discovered that not only did other places decide to serve brunch since my statement but I had also actually missed some. One of which was La Moulerie, a popular place for dinner that everyone with whom I have spoken with who has eaten dinner there was very satisfied. Plus, the bonus that they do sea food and the thought of combining it with brunch made my mouth water. So making sure to not to let a chance like this pass me by, a decision to check out La Moulerie was made and the question would be, will it’s reputation for a good meal apply to brunch?

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Cafe Des Eclusiers - An open air Experience

The 411

Known primarily as a spot for it’s “5 a 7″ drinks in the Old Port, Café Les Eclusiers also offers a weekend Brunch, although not as fast paced and with music blaring alongside the sounds of drinks being poured and people relaxing after a long day of work. The weekend brunch takes advantage of the area along with it’s own unique setup and look. So, when looking for a nice spot to go eat brunch in the Old Port, Café Les Eclusiers seemed like an interesting choice especially since I was curious as to how a place can make the transition from busy after work drinks place to a more laid back weekend brunch. With that question in mind and two friends by my side, off we went to check out Café Les Eclusiers and see if it had come up with a winning formula to successfully do both.

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Laika - More than just a bar

The 411

Over time I get emails telling me of people’s favourite places and I make it a point to eventually check them out. Laika was one of those places. I had heard some good stuff from a few people and what I had read online was rather positive as well but for the life of me I could not figure out where this places was, and I have been up and down almost every inch of St Laurent for years without having seen it. It wasn’t until I was reviewing another place in the area that I actually looked across the street and had an “Ah Ha” moment. Now that I knew what it looked like I was even more curious to check it out.

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Chocola - More than just cupcakes

The 411

With my friend having recently moved to NDG I realized that I had neglected the west end of the city in regards to the various places I have reviewed, so we decided to take a nice sunny Saturday and walk around Monkland village in NDG. The advantage of getting out of you car and exploring is that you can find those little gems you would not find driving around and focusing mainly on finding a parking spot. So with our minds set on a brunch adventure, we walked around looking for something well priced, tasty, different and preferably with a terrace. Then that’s where we found it - kind of like the last cookie in the cookie box when you are really hungry - Cho Cola called out to us.

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Em Cafe where art and food meet

The 411

Situated on Parc Street just south of Bernard, Em Cafe is a place you would likely miss. Yet, when you step in you will see how it is more than an unassuming place and that it manages to serve up a laid back atmosphere where one can sit down and have the hours melt away.

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Mosaik - Your friendly neighborhood spot

The 411

Way up at the tip of the Mile end you will find a local gem called Mosaik. It’s a hit with the locals and seems to have quite a following. The crowd is somewhat mixed with families bringing their kids and a few younger people from the area stopping in for bite and coffee to ease into their day.

At 1st glance

Once you push past the really stubborn front door (which lets in the cold so don’t sit near it) you immediately notice some nice stained glass artwork suspended and a bunch of drawings made by kids suspended under a funky ceiling light. The stained glass is accented by the fact that Mosaik is at a corner of the street and the large windows let in tons of light. The ambiance is very comfortable and laid back; it really has that neighborhood charm. Once you are settled in you feel as if you are in not in any rush and can decompress with no lineup and no pressure to get out and pay your bill.