breakfast blogger

Yikes.. I’m on day two of being hungover after my bachelor party on Friday. I did have a great breakfast yesterday (the hangover didn’t kick in ’till a few hours after that) at the Mayflower, one of the best places in Ottawa for breakfast. But today, I walked over to Mikes in Hull in the rain with my soon-to-be wife for some breakfast yummies.

I had a super awesome breakfast with french toast and eggs:

Oh my.. the sweet and salty combination from the maple syrup, potatoes, sausage and egg yolk made for one hell of a party in my hungover mouth. I made a satisfied taste-happy moan at one point that I hope no one else heard.

Despite my trying to hide the fact that it was my birthday, a few of the girls at work managed to take me out for breakast last week! It was very, very sweet of them. We went to the Bistro Renoir in downtown Hull and found a cozy booth inside.

N went all out and had the Grand Renoir.. Two pancakes, two eggs, fruit, toast and sausage! The pancakes are burried in there somewhere:

KJ had the Steak and Eggs:

J had the Eggs Benedict (sorry for the blurry pic!!):

M had a classic with one egg:

And I had the Eggs Florentine:

What a great way to start the day!! Good people, good eats.. who can ask for anything more?

Last Saturday I geared up (that means I grabbed my camera, wallet and keys) and headed out to Westboro in Ottawa hoping to find a new place to have breakfast. My friend Betsy suggested that I try the Village Café, but was sad to see that they were closed as I drove by. So I turned around and headed east on Richmond (or is it Wellington? This road drives me nuts with the way it changes names on the same route) past Island Park and saw some people on a terrace. I did a U-turn and saw this:

Woo! I’ve been to Caffé Mio before and love their awesome coffee and dinner. It looks like they have a bit of a fanclub as well!

I sat outside on the terrace and ordered one of the specials of the day: A frittata with sausage (Italian I think), grilled red pepper and goat cheese.

Yummy! 8 bucks, coffee and juice extra.

SOMEONE PLEASE tell me there are other spots in Westboro open for breakfast! I’ve already checked out the Newport and loved it. I bet The Works could have fun doing a breakfast thing there if they wanted to. There MUST be other spots open for breakfast around here, but I just don’t know about them. Someone send me some hints to some Westboro breakfast places please!

In other Breakfast Blogger news: What’s up with blockbuster movies this year and their tie-ins with breakfast cereals? See for yourself here. Link via boingboing.

Gen and I have been looking for spots to escape from the heat these days. People in the Ottawa/Gatineau area might know about Bait Island right in the middle of the Ottawa river between Ontario and Quebec from crossing the Champlain Bridge. What they might not know is that there is a new little casse-croute style shack that has opened up for business there three weeks ago:

I was thrilled to see this sign on this particular “get away from the heat” escapade. We returned the next afternoon to try one.. yes, I said afternoon. I know this is a breakfast blog, but they offer bacon, and that happens to be a staple in the breakfast lexicon. They’re also open at 9 AM on the weekends so this counts as a BB entry :P

The people running this joint were super friendly! The nice lady there said she likes her Bacon Bunner with a tiny bit of mustard so I dressed mine the same way ;) They’re served on their own with a bit of BBQ sauce inside..

Yummy!! I might suggest that they offer the choice to toast the bun.. if you happen to check ‘em out, ask them if you can!

The folks at Eggspectation liken a visit to their establishment as “le cirque des oeufs” and I have to agree. With locations in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vaughan Hills, Maine, Maryland and New Delhi (!), they have quite the selection of breakfast goodies on their menu. I have to admit that I’ve only tried ONE item on their menu since discovering them 10 or so years ago while attending Concordia University in Montreal.. but it’s a masterpiece: The Yolk Around the Clock. In Montreal we call this a Bagelette and there are several variations of it. The Eggspectation version is (from their menu) “A bagel cut in half, toasted then put on the grill, two sunny eggs in the hole of the bagel, covered with bacon and melted cheese, served with grilled potatoes and chef’s fruit garnish.”

I had mine with Swiss cheese:

(yes, there are bagel halves with eggs and bacon under all of that..) SUPER YUMMY! I could go for another one right now. $9.99 coffee extra.

A side note: I’ve mentioned in my profile that I wouldn’t post entries about places that I didn’t like, but I’m going to have to make an exception here as a warning to the readers of BB. I tried the weekend brunch buffet at Hooley’s on Elgin yesterday and was quite disappointed. Expensive with just the basics to offer in their buffet and I had other issues that I don’t want to mention here. And coffee is extra. Don’t bother. For the same price you can have a MUCH better brunch buffet experience at Le Bop (Café Aubry) in Hull. Cheers!

***EDIT*** Thanks for the linkage from stumbleupon!!! ;)

The forecasters predicted a hotter than usual summer this year but if you ask me, it’s been just perfect around here. It was damn gorgeous in the market this morning, ideal for a breakfast blogger adventure! My girlfriend and I wandered around a bit and settled on a nice looking place called Medithéo. Coffee came in a Bodum which was a nice touch:

I had the super yummy Eggs Medithéo:

My girlfriend had the smoked salmon omelet and loved it:

I’m a bit embarrassed to ask, but does someone know what that fruit is at the bottom left of the picture? Our waitress didn’t know what it was either. It’s similar to pomegranate, but smaller. Help!

It was a bit pricey, 40 bucks with tip, but well worth it.

In other BB news, my girlfriend and I have set a date for our wedding. I’m gunna try to lose a few pounds for it, so don’t be surprised if you see some light breakfasts.. I only have two months!

It’s occurred to me that I really haven’t done enough to cover the many breakfast joints in the Byward Market in Ottawa. So on this warm Sunday morning, I grabbed the Dan Brown book I’m reading now, Angels and Demons, a bunch of change for parking, my camera and headed out there on a new breakfast adventure. I found somewhere to park easily enough in one of the automated lots and didn’t have to walk too far to find a promising spot. Zak’s is a classic diner:

You gotta love the coffee mug they gave me:

They’ve got an impressive selection of breakfast goodness on the menu and I decided to try something new. I had the New York Scramble.. 3 eggs scrambled with bacon, smoked meat, onions, green peppers on toasted bagle halves with home fries and baked beans:

That set me back 10 bucks without the side of meat. I can’t remember if coffee was extra.

Some friends asked me to take them our for a special breakfast and the Mayflower on Cooper and Elgin was one of the first places to come to mind. I’ve covered this awesome breakfast spot before here with my breakfast buddy ‘Fanya. My friends had the Eggs Mayflower.. Scrambled eggs on toasted bagel halves with cream cheese, topped with Hollandaise sauce and accompanied by home fries and choice of meat:

I had the Eggs Benedict with bacon:

And sure enough, I saw another server bang his noggin on the chandlier in the front bay.. that’s two for two! That thing is a hazard! Cheers to the staff at the Mayflower!

Following a tip from my wonderful boss, I headed out on a cold rainy Saturday morning after buying a newspaper in search of my next breakfast adventure. The Saint-Éloi is a cozy chalet that is hidden off the shore of Lac Leamay in Hull. I had two eggs sunny side up.. or “mirroir” as they say in french, for the yolky goodness, with bacon, home fries, beans and creton:

That’s the creton in that dish on the top left. I spread it on my toast. Creton is a very Québécois thing.. it’s a pork pâté that is damn yummy.

The view from where I was sitting was remarkable:

After a few attempts to get Google Maps to get the proper location, the best I could find was this. The spot in question is in fact just a bit beyond that point and to the right towards the lake. If you know where the Reno Depot is in Hull, just look for this sign as you approach it:

If you look to right of that sign as you pass it, you will see Le Saint Éloi nestled in there..

Here’s a good place if you’re looking for a hearty Sunday brunch in downtown Hull. The wide range of food available for the buffet here is impressive and while it looks like I took full advantage, I missed quite a bit. There’s something for everyone here, whether they want traditional breakfast fare or something more lunch-like. I obviously didn’t eat much for the rest of the day:


The buffet was around $13.