The 411 Just recently I was presented with a scheduling challenge. Find a spot on the South Shore or close to the Jacques Cartier bridge so one of our friends could make it to his appointment after brunch and do so rather quickly. I did not feel like going down to the South Shore, so I had to find something somewhat close to the bridge. Now, I had to dig deep into my brunch map and look at an area I almost never frequent. What I found was Touski Café and Coop. I have no clue how Touski Café Coop came on my list but we were curious, hungry and on a timeline so it was decided.

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Cabotins – A truly funky spot out east

The 411

A while ago I received and email from a reader asking me if I ever checked out Cabotins. Usually, I pride myself on having a pretty good list of most places that serve brunch in the city but this one wasn’t on it and what was more impressive was that it was in the East end where I live. I did not find much online but the person who wrote the email seemed really impressed by it, so naturally, I jumped at the next chance to go.

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2009 A year in Brunch

Well, Ladies and Gents, it has been a busy and tasty year with many new places that have been reviewed. In fact, we almost did 50 reviews: some were great and some were awful (which I consider those to be my public service announcements/paying for transgressions in a past life). So, in keeping with last years “Best Of 2008” posting, I feel it is fair to see what 2009 brought us. I kept most of the same categories from last year but felt that adding some new ones would be interesting. As always, if you feel that I have missed a place that you really like feel free to contact me by clicking on the contact tab up top.
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Restaurant Madre – Latin fusion at it’s finest

The 411

Fusion cuisine and brunch are two things that, when combined, can elevate a dish to new levels or crash and burn. Most people are quite comfortable with their eggs and bacon and making fancy brunch dishes inspired by different cooking styles does not always get the warmest reception. I’ve written before about “nouveau” brunch and in fact, I was inspired to check out some of these places by a Sarah Musgrave article that covered a couple places in the city; Madre was one of them. Now, my greatest concern with nouveau brunch is that meals tend to deviate from classic breakfast items and end up being more of a lunch dish. Don’t get me wrong! I don’t mind breaking the mold and trying something different; I may have my old school roots but I do like being surprised and seeing someone take a novel approach to brunch. With that said, Madre proved an interesting challenge: a nouveau brunch style place that combines various South American cooking styles (Nuevo Latin). This is not an easy challenge by any means, although I have had Latin themed brunches before and the options on the menu are limited. If we consider that we are looking at fusing different styles from South America we could end up with something more lunch than brunch. In the end, I called up my oldest brunch buddy who happens to be a foodie and we went on our fancy brunch adventure.

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Le Baron Royal – Buckle your seat belts its gonna be a bumpy ride

The 411

Le Baron Royal has been a place that I have gone to a couple times for all-you-can-eat brunch and also for the special Mother’s Day brunches. It is one of a handful of all-you-can-eat brunch places in the East end and to that point, Montreal proper. I am always hesitant of all-you-can-eat places since I fear the quality always takes a back seat, but needless to say people are interested and hungry. Le Baron Royal is a reception hall in St. Leonard that does Sunday brunches for a fixed price of $37 a head. This gets you an all-you-can-eat buffet coffee, tea and soft drinks. You can also book a private room if you are a big enough group although reservations are strongly suggested since it can fill up quite easily and quickly. So, better book in advance for that group of 40, but if you are two you can likely walk up with no reservation and can get a seat with little or no wait. If you are a group of 10 you can pay an extra $3 a head and get a bottle of wine. I have come here for birthdays, anniversaries and Mother’s Day, and the food options are always the same so reviewing this is rather easy. The last time I went and took pictures was for Mother’s Day and we were in the main dinning hall. Normally, Sundays would be in the main dinning room to the right which has a rather large capacity.

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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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Le Coin G – The right spot 😉

The 411

When I first told my friend we were going to Le coin G her mind went right into the gutter and was taken aback. Now not to be confused with that other magical spot named after Dr. Ernest Gräfenberg (see you just learned something there), Le coin G is a little resto in the Villeray district that mainly people who live in the area know about. Although I don’t live there I have heard some good stuff about it and was really curious to check it out. So after some good laughs and some interesting web research on this rather unfortunate (yet interesting) name we headed out one sunny day to Guizot street (that’s whats its really named after)

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M sur Masson: A feast for your taste buds

The 411

The only thing I love more than discovering new places that I have never heard of before is finding one in my neighbourhood and that was M sur Masson. Situated in Rosemont, M sur Masson has been known as a really great place to have a good French Bistro meal. It is in a very interesting area in the east end where you will see big changes going on in the neighborhood – old neglected areas make way for newer younger restaurants stores and homes. The area is young, vibrant and changing before your eyes and I expect that even more places will open up and offer new and innovative food creations.

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More bang for your buck

The 411

One of the best kept secrets in the East End: Dans La Bouche, a name you have likely never heard of before. It’s a nice place on Mont Royal in the East End. Dans La Bouche is a tapas bar during the day and night which offers a pretty good brunch 7 days a week. Oddly enough, it’s well known in certain circles among east-enders and people in Laval but ask any downtowner or west-ender and they will rarely know about it.

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A Little East Side Love

The 411

Being someone who lives in the east end I am excited when I hear about a place that serves a good brunch located in the area, and Le Valois is no exception. Le Valois is a fancy Brasserie/Bistro on Ontario street (near Pie IX) – it seems to be part of a trend where places usually associated with more the bar/bistro scene begin offering weekend brunch menus.

At 1st glance

Le Valois is not an easy place to find, especially since there is no sign on the building and the address is missing the last digit. The only way you really know you are there is that there is this odd open space (kind of like a courtyard) with benches and surrounded by a bakery and various small shops (where they buy their food from). Now enough with the outside lets move on in and see what’s on our plate..

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