breakfast blogger

Here’s a breakfast on par with many of the great ones my Australian counterpart enjoys on his breakfast blog. Exploding Girl suggested we try this spot on Preston in Little Italy to celebrate the fact that she just bought a house. I’m going to miss having her nearby for my local breakfast adventures but she already has a breakfast spot in mind for when I visit her at her new place.

It was a slow, lazy and rainy Sunday and we chatted about the future.

I ordered the Fiorentina.. perfect poached eggs with fresh spinach, smoked salmon and cheese sauce on ciabatta, served with a delicious salad:

She had the Benedict.. served with prosciutto on toasted ciabatta bread with a mixed salad:

Both our meals were $11.95, omelettes go for $12.95. Super yummy.

Last Sunday morning I was without a car but my friends Holly and Simon picked me up and took me to Aylmer (a little outside the Ottawa/Hull area, on the Quebec side) for some breakfast goodness. We had to wait in line for a little while but soon found a place to sit for a morning feast.

I had “Le trou d’un coup,” 2 poached eggs in sesame bagel halves topped with mushrooms and ham and cheddar cheese, gratiné:

Simon got creative with his.. a regular breakfast with some good ‘ol beans:

Holly had Le Norvégien, a smoked salmon omelette with cheddar cheese covered with onions and capers..

We all spent just under 10 bucks each.

I tend to start my day with a coffee from Tim Horton’s.. and a new one just opened up just a few seconds from where I work. WOO!

This picture was taken the afternoon before they officially opened. Bring on the coffee goodness! I can already feel the caffeine coursing through my veins and setting my soul on fire!

WOO, what a breakfast! Despite a nasty cold snap, my buddy Nathanya joined me for a fantastic morning feast on Saturday over by the corner of Cooper and Elgin. I tried the Eggs Mayflower and was floored by how good it was.. Scrambled eggs on toasted bagel halves with cream cheese, topped with Hollandaise sauce and accompanied by home fries and sausage. OH MY.. I’m drooling thinking about it now. mmmmMMMmmmMM super yummy:

Nat had the Eggs Florentine and totally loved it:

Here’s ‘thanya’s moneyshot:

And here’s mine:

Cheers to our friendly server Adam who dinged his head on the overhead light.. you rock bro! Our meals were just under 10 bucks a piece. The regular goes for just under 5.

A little out of the ordinary perhaps when you think of breakfast but here’s something my folks introduced to me many moons ago: Dim Sum weekend brunch.

It started when I was a kid growing up in Montreal. My folks would take me to China Town to the Kam Fung for Dim Sum. It’s where I learnt how to use chopsticks. Since moving to Ottawa my folks continued our Dim Sum thing at the Great Wall on Somerset. We were pretty sad when it closed. We tried the other places near-by and were happy to see some of the same waitresses from the Great Wall there, but still missed our old favourite spot. Don’t get me wrong, there are other good Dim Sum places in the area, but we just happened to be partial to The Great Wall.

The NEW Great Wall opened up in the same spot a few months ago and we finally got to check it out last weekend. Here’s a sample of what we had:

Wu Gok and Sticky Rice in banana leaves

Sesame Balls

Shrimp Shu Mai and Ginger Squid

and some super yummy Har Gow

It might not be obvious at first glance but Breakfast Blogger has just gone through some big changes. First of all, we’ve upgraded to WordPress 2.0.1. Second, we’re now using a modified version of the standard WordPress Kubrick theme. It still looks similar to the excellent one we were using called Red Train by Vladamir Simovic, but it now has some some functionality that was missing. Woo. Say hello to the KubriTrain theme.

An enormous thank-you to Steve Rokeby for his work makin’ this look super purty and Brain Sterling for hosting.

I owe you guys a breakfast or two ;)

So, what do these changes mean to you? Well, not much for now. You will notice that I have more than one link category now and I have begun to populate my “Friends of BB” list.

What do these changes mean for Me, Spanky and Azureus? Lots for me at least ;) Things on the back end are much friendlier. I’m just getting around to checking things out and so far it’s pretty awesome.

Plans for the future of BB? How about a Google Maps API that will show all the places we’ve eaten? I think that would be way cool.

So stay tuned and bring your appetite.. we’ve got more Breakfast Blogger adventures on the menu.

My breakfast at a mall last week

I took off for Ottawa in my car this morning without any idea of where I’d end up. I started on the west side near the last place I had breakfast in Little Italy and made my way east on Somerset passing through China Town. I ended up on Elgin once again, where there are plenty of places for someone like myself to find breakfast. There are surely places between Little Italy and Elgin to get some morning eats, so once the weather is a bit warmer I plan on taking a closer look on foot.

I found parking right across the street from Swagman Jack’s, the bottom part of the Fox & Feather pub. I had the brekfast special.

Ten bucks with tip and I was happy. They’ve got a range of three egg omelettes to offer going for 8.50 and Benedict’s going for 9.50..

Home of the Elvis Presley Sighting Society, The Newport is a visual feast to say the least. I like the pizza here but had other ideas in mind when I visited back in August on one warm summer morning.

There was Elvis stuff..

Everywhere around me..

And in front of me my breakfast with beans.. Yum.

While we’re on the subject of Elvis stuff, here’s the recipe for for the one and only grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Here’s a nice spot on Preston that I had been driving by for a while and decided to check out. It was pretty quiet inside and Exploding Girl and I got a nice table in a nook next to the window. She had the regular while I had the eggs benedict. Yummy.

I made sure I had toast in case I had to do some mopping up ;)

A great way to start my Saturday..

Ottawa got hit by a pretty big snowstorm this morning but it didn’t stop me from heading out to Dunn’s Famous Deli on Elgin Street. It was a spectacular storm and I took a few pictures that can be seen here. I had a few close calls on the way there but as you may have well figured out by now, I was dedicated and on a mission to get breakfast despite the weather and whatever else fate might throw at me. Once safely inside Dunn’s, I had the Big Breakfast with homefries, salami and a poppy seed bagel. Their bagels come from Kettleman’s Bakery here in Ottawa and they are very, very good. And even though the menu says the Big Breakfast comes with two eggs, I was delighted to find three on my plate.

Now you see it

Now you don’t ;)