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.

At 1st glance

When you walk into Eggecetera you notice two things; one, is its comfortable breakfasty look and the second, is it’s lineup. That being said, show up early unless you want to wait because this place is very popular with the locals and the parking lot is often jammed with hungry patrons. I was unsure as to what kind of place this would be and I had already heard mixed reviews on this place where some love it and some don’t so with a group of six people we were enough to try out a variety of dishes to see what they have to offer.

Food

Selection is an understatement, I mean the menu is almost a book. It’s got a bunch of pages and goes on and on. This is good and bad. On the plus side, ample selection is always welcoming so for those picky eaters you are guaranteed to find what you want (and as a rule of thumb places with giant menus are more accommodating to make a custom dish for you). Although, on the down side, sometimes there can be such a thing as too much choice and a place with less items will likely do a better job on those items. This menu has literally got something for everyone with 13 omelette choices priced from $8.00 to $11.00; 10 eggs Benedict options $10.50-$11.25; 7 yogourt options $7.95-$9.75; almost 20 different types of crepes $8.25-$10.95; 10 waffled options $8.00-$11.50; 9 French toast option $9.65-$11.50; and even a kids menu $5.75-$6.50.

Each of the dishes we ordered came with a fruit plate comprised of a watermelon wedge, cantaloupe and pineapple slice all drizzled with a coulis (thick fruit sauce). The complimentary fruit is a nice touch but putting a super sweet coulis on it is really not necessary since the fruit is already sweet and does not need any help. In fact, the watermelon tasted amazing for those parts that were not drowned in coulis. Next came the smoothie ($4.65) which tasted ok but could have been thicker. I had the challah bread French toast ($10.75) which came served with lots of slices of challah bread and a mountain of fresh fruit. The French toast was good and quite filling but they topped it with powder sugar which was not necessary so I scrapped it off. My friend had the apple cheddar crepe ($10.75) which was larger than the plate and it almost hung off the sides. The apple and cheddar was nice and warm although they could have used a more pronounced cheddar to play with the taste of apples.

Lastly we have a mystery plate and by mystery I mean I can’t remember what its called. I usually have tricks for remembering the name i.e. keeping the invoice, writing it down or even texting myself but I wasn’t paying attention and worse of all my friend did not want to tell me what it was so now I have to guess the price and name (thanks a lot). Seeing as how most prices are under $11.50 its safe to say it ranges anywhere from 10.50-$11.50 . It was comprised of triplets – 3 eggs, 3 crepes, sausage, bacon and ham – like a trifecta of food. That plate was filling, I mean it’s stacked with almost one pound of food.

Service

Service was decent, they did refill my coffee and they were very quick in bringing out the food. Although near the last half hour I switched seats with my friend and could not get a refill on my coffee. The waitress would come refill other cups near me but missed mine, and the worse part was she was light on her feet and I could not hear her. Needless to say, I had to suffice with my already ingested fours cups. But other than that service was decent.

Vegetarian

The benefit of a place with an enormous menu is that you get more choice for vegetarian and vegan options to be on the menu. There are plenty of vegetarian options, with an ample selection of omelettes as well as general breakfast items – many of which are not paired with meat. They also have a nice yogourt section which is nice to see on a menu. I did spot some items that may pass as vegan although I was not 100% sure.

Wrap up

This is a classic breakfast place with affordable prices. The lineup can get long and it does look a little run down, nothing a fresh coat of paint can’t fix. Props for having wheelchair accessible entrance and washroom stall. Overall you will be satisfied if you are in the mood for a classic breakfast place with lots of options on the menu, good sized portions and a fair price.

View Déjeuner Eggcetera in a larger map

Price	$$
Overall		3/5
Wheelchair Access		2/3
Parking	Parking Lot	Medium
BUS	141, 33, 372	Get Directions
Metro	Langelier	10 minutes

HOME