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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Grange Vin + Bouffe – A unique twist on Brunch

The 411

Every day there is a new place opening in the city, some make waves among various foodie circles by doing something new and unique. Once in a while, some of these places add a brunch offering to their menu. Some bring their own take on brunch, helping to make it something unique and fun while others just do the bare minimum. I have heard some buzz about Grange for evening service and then recently found out that they do Sunday brunch. I decided to see if they were able to take the success with their dinner service and apply it to brunch.

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Chez Jose – Vegetarian delight on Duluth

The 411

Everyone has a favourite brunch place they like to go to, and as I go on various brunch reviews with different friends I always try to learn from what makes their place so special to them and others. It is in this sharing of information that I get to make my site more complete and help introduce you to some places you may not have known existed. This is the case with Chez Jose, a little place on Duluth with a funky, no-frills décor and amazing plates to try out.

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Mesquite – Down South Cooking in the West End

No Longer Serves Brunch

The 411

On the outskirts of NDG bordering Westmount, you will find Mesquite which it can be best described as Southern BBQ with a jazz motif. I am sure you are asking yourself how does one combine down south BBQ and brunch? While both seem to have quite different flavours yet quite tasty in their own way, the idea of them sharing a plate is quite odd. As a result, with this culinary question in my mind, it felt like a good idea to check it out.

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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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