The 411 Over the last little while, Montreal has offered some Vegan and Gluten free menus. It’s a slow trend in general and for brunch, it’s even slower. Often people have difficulty seeing brunch without eggs or bread. There’s lots of dishes without meat but to be vegan and or gluten free is tricky. Also, to be clear – just because something is vegan does not make it gluten free and visa-versa. And there are some people who are both. So, where do you go if you want brunch and it has to be either something vegan or gluten free or both? Well, La Lumiere du Mile end is that place.

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The 411It’s been a while since we have done a vegan brunch review – the main reason being that there aren’t too many vegan brunches available in Montreal. In essence, brunch menus can be vegetarian friendly but to go one step further and make it vegan friendly is more difficult. Vegans need to avoid dairy and eggs, not to mention all meat. You can drop meat from a dish but eggs and dairy become much more difficult to substitute especially for brunch, so if you are a vegan and love brunch then you do not have many options available to you. Making brunch vegan is also tricky because you must be creative. Putting fruit on a plate and some granola on the side is technically vegan but it isn’t creative and over the years I have discovered that you can do many things to brunch to substitute non-vegan items. I have had some amazing dishes using substitutes like almond milk or tofu for bacon. When I heard that crudessence was offering brunch I felt it was a much needed addition to add to our not-so-long vegan brunch list.

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Cafe Falco – Bento Brunch Experience

The 411

Bento Brunch: ever heard of it? Well to say that we have would be a little bit of lie. In reality, I have heard about some places that started offering it but, as soon as they would start they would close down or cease offering it. The word Bento has its roots in Japanese slang for “convenient”. Bento is associated with a single packed meal, kind of like brown-bagging for lunch but in Japanese-style. I know what you’re thinking and it’s true, one would not normally associate brunch with Japanese cuisine but that’s the beauty of brunch; it has the possibility to change and be adapted by multiple cultures. Bento brunch has recently made its appearance in town and seems to have finally stuck.

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Fuchsia Epicerie Fleur – Vegetarian friendly brunch

The 411

It’s been over a year since I have tried a vegetarian or vegan brunch spot. In fact, there are only 2 spots in Montreal that offer a vegetarian or vegan brunch so when I heard that Fuchsia did vegan and vegetarian brunch dishes, I was doubly curious. I had read some things about it online and felt that it was time to see if there was another good vegan brunch option in the city.

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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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Sabor De Mi Tierra – Bringing you some Latin Flavour

The 411

Brunch comes in all shapes, sizes and tastes and I am always on the lookout for brunch places in new areas that offer menu items that are not only delicious, but different. So, when my friend told me about a South American restaurant that does brunch, I was curious. I had heard that there are only a handful of brunch places that have that South American flavour, so it made this trip all the more interesting.

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Chateau Vaudreil – All you can eat brunch by the water

The 411

In life there a few things that really rock my boat; one of them is brunch and the second is weddings and in particular, the food at weddings. Now, when I found out that one of my friends was getting married I was really happy and then when I found out he was doing a wedding brunch at Chateau Vaudreuil, I was ecstatic. I have heard very good things about brunch here, a few of my friends went and were very impressed. I had been here only once before but not for the brunch and remembered that it was an impressive location bordering the water and with really nice views and good service.

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Le Cagibi – A Vegan adventure

The 411

One of the greatest challenges I come across while reviewing places is offering reviews on the vegetarian options, and in particular, the vegan options. Although personally I’m neither a vegetarian or vegan, I can see how difficult it can be to go out and find someplace to eat that offers something vegetarian/vegan on the menu. Things have come a long way in the last 30 plus years when you would have a hard time finding a menu item without meat in it. Many of the places I’ve gone too have some vegetarian menu items and they taste amazing. This is an easy thing to do when you deal with eggs, waffles, pancakes. Now vegan is another issue; it’s hard to find vegan items on a menu and often an item will be almost vegan if it was not for one small thing in it. I usually end up looking for fruit cups on the menu, which although are great and tasty, they aren’t really impressive. So all this to say, when we decided to go to Cagibi I was excited to find and review another place with not only vegetarian options but with vegan options as well (other than a fruit cup). So now that the stage is set lets take a closer look and see what we have on our plate.

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Green Through and Through

The 411

A short distance outside of the touristy area of Stowe you will find the Green Goddess. It’s a small place in a mini complex and you are likely to miss the sign, so drive slowly. Once you find it, however, you will be amazed by the great food with vegan options at low prices.

At 1st glance

Once inside you will notice that they have a different way of doing things. There is a piano on the back wall, colouring paper and crayons for kids, a changing table and full wheelchair access in the washroom and an emphasis on using local produce, healthy food and quality ingredients. There is an overall peaceful air about the place.

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A new twist on an old Classic

The 411

Situated on St Laurent, Aux Vivres is one of the few vegan breakfast/brunch options you will find in the city.

At 1st glance

Until now no other place that has been reviewed has offered a vegan option; some places do offer vegetarian choices but that’s only because they have a fruit cup, whereas Aux Vivres gives you 100% real vegan options. Once you pass by you could almost miss it as it is a very inconspicuous location, but when you walk in it’s nice, bright and welcoming. The terrace in the back is nice and cozy with a canopy above and a small garden in the middle. (more…)