The 411 The East End has traditionally been an issue for me. Brunch places tend to be only your standard eggs and bacon spot; nothing fancy or healthy just the usual spots with menus that don’t inspire. But now, there is a bright light in the East and that beacon comes from Masson street. Here, you will find new brunch spots popping up that aren’t your everyday standard fare. (more…)

Every time that spring comes around we are reminded of two things: 1) change the winter tires, and 2) Mother’s Day is around the corner. So this year we would like to offer you some options for that very special person in your life, your mom.

So Mother’s Day is tricky because, although it is the busiest day for brunch, it can be an exercise in compromise and patience. This is something I have had to deal with as well as I try to find the perfect spot for Mother’s Day. Just like there are different kinds of people, there are different kinds of brunches. You have the small personal brunch of 2 people or more, which is simple enough to not need to find a place that can accommodate a dozen people. You have those whose Mother’s Day outings are like mobilizing a small army, filled with various extended families and that require double digit reservations. You also have differing culinary preferences, with those who want something simple and quiet, or maybe even a shiny polished service, while others want an all-you-can-eat extravaganza.
(more…)

LE 411 – Au cours des dernières années, j’ai essayé 175 brunchs et j’ai probablement mangé à plus de 200 endroits différents. Je dirais même que le taux de sauce hollandaise dans mon sang inquièterait n’importe quel docteur. Le jour où mon rythme de nouvelles expériences gourmandes dépassera le nombre de restaurants décents arrivera inévitablement. Donc, pour vous offrir quelque chose de nouveau et amusant, je vais tester quelques brunchs pop up. Les brunchs pop up sont des brunchs qui ne sont pas offerts régulièrement, seulement à des occasions spéciales. J’espère vous offrir quelque chose d’innovant et d’intéressant qui vous donnera le goût d’explorer de nouvelles options. Ma première expérience de ce genre a été pendant le festival des lumières en 2011. J’ai réalisé qu’il y avait plusieurs endroits dont je serais curieux d’essayer le brunch si ils en offraient. Quand on m’a parlé des événements Caroussel j’ai fait une petite recherche et j’ai vu qu’ils en organisaient un passage à Lustucru, où j’ai déjà soupé. J’étais curieux de savoir quel genre de déjeuner apparaîtrait sur leur menu.

(more…)

Ristorante Otto – Fancy Brunch on McGill Street

The 411

Old Montreal has its fair share of fancier brunch places; McGill street alone is home to a good concentration of them and one that I have been curious about for some time is Otto. Situated inside the W hotel this restaurant serves up a weekday early morning breakfast starting at 7 am and going until 11:30 am, as well as a longer weekend schedule of 7 am to 2pm. I have been to Otto for dinner and enjoyed it. Otto is a fancy restaurant; the décor is exquisite; the outside terrace is vey nice and covered by umbrellas. With this rather positive dinner experience I wondered how it would convert to brunch.

(more…)

Griffintown Cafe – A little bit of country in the city

The 411

Over the last couple of years, Notre Dame street has brought us some interesting brunch spots, with its booming population, and sprawling developments. Griffintown café (not to be confused with Café Griffintown) is a place I was introduced to a little over a year ago. A group of us had dinner there and liked it. Over the last little while I had heard that they added weekend brunch to their offering. Considering I liked their dinner service, and I am a fan of the area, it did not take much to make me check out this spot and see how they handle brunch.

(more…)

Dupond and Dupont – At TMR Brunch experience

The 411

The town of Mount Royal is not an usually associated with brunch In fact, it’s seen as a suburb with limited shops and a mall nearby; one would assume that if you lived in TMR and wanted a decent breakfast/brunch you would have do go to the Plateau to get some food. Although just recently two of my friends told me they had lunch at this amazing place called Dupond & Dupont and they saw that there was a weekend brunch menu. So armed with the fact that lunch was a success in addition to the fact that I always wanted to find a brunch place in TMR, we planned to take a trip and check it out.

(more…)

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.

(more…)

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)

(more…)

Chocola – More than just cupcakes

*UPDATE – NO LONGER SERVES BRUNCH*

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.

(more…)

Café les Entretiens – and all that jazz

The 411

Laurier street is an amazing street, with small shops, local bakeries, and great little restaurants. I often find myself going here and a few weeks ago was no exception when I was having brunch at Byblos with some friends. After which I went around walking on Laurier and saw some interesting brunch places that looked quite tasty. One spot in particular caught my eye and ear; and that was Café les Entretiens it had an amazing interior with tall ceilings and had a piano inside and jazz music pouring out.

(more…)