Saturday Dinette on a Sunday and a Dried Date Tasting

An extended breakfast or brunch with one (or a number) of close friends is one of life's little pleasures.  It's definitely important once people settle down and have children.  One of my friends commented that after people start to have children, the likelihood that you'll see your closest friends may be once every 2 months.  I kinda didn't think that was true, but when I really start to think about it, it is not too far off sadly.  Of course there are times where it's once a month, but that means only 6-12 times a year! Anyway, makes getting together with close friends even more of a treasured moment.

This past Sunday, we got together for breakfast at Saturday Dinette and I was really impressed.  Got there just after they opened at 9 am and was greeted warmly.  Space is small and tables near the front are for parties of two, but there were slightly larger tables at the back.  Decor was comfortable and some might say a little retro, but I think it's like walking into a friend's kitchen who likes to cook and has a casual and cool style.  They describe themselves as a modern diner which is a very good description.

Menu is not too large, but there are enough choices and it has a very good mix of options, several jumped out at me.

I finally decided on the "Shrooms on Toast" and my friend ordered the "Herbed Poached Eggs".  They do have items that are more "meaty" and several add-on options, but we were happy with our choices.

I ordered an Apple on the Green tea and here they use Pluck Teas.  As I mentioned in a previous post, this is a local tea company and I've been seeing this brand in a lot of places I have recently gone to. Loved the little tea cup!!  I don't have tea cups like these but I'm tempted to start collecting a mismatch of these English style tea cups.  The french press idea is nice, but the only thing about that is that the tea leaves end up sitting in water still.  So in the end, I tasted green tea but not much apple.

Now onto the food.  First off, I must say presentation was great!

Herbed Poached Eggs

'Shrooms on Toast

The egg was perfectly done, whites were cooked well and egg yolk oozed out once you poked at it.  The mushrooms were aplenty and I liked the addition of ricotta cheese which was hidden under the egg.

Here's look at the inside, bar counter...

Besides having great food, the owner/chef Suzanne Barr has also established a social program called the Dinettes to train and employ young women from the YWCA which you can read about here. Definitely recommend this place not only for the food quality and service, but this initiative that gives back to the community!

After our breakfast, we still had time and lots to chat about so went for a coffee a few doors down.  It seemed like it was a new-ish coffee place to the area, called Hailed Coffee.  Decor was minimalistic and staff were friendly.

My Americano was pretty good, medium-thick mouthfeel and flavour was okay.  I can't really comment since I don't drink much coffee these days and was having decaf.  But they do offer the basics at decent prices and an interesting add-on called their "hailed syrup" which is cardamom flavoured.  But, my mind was on something else, the dried dates display.

They had a range of different types of dates (7 in total) and we decided to try them all.  It's too bad that after ordering I realized that by ordering them all, we weren't certain which one was which and had to go by picture as I took some closer pics with my phone and referred to them while we ate.

The dates paired really well with coffee! I think they would be a great alternative to a baked treat.  We liked (I think) the SAFAWI date because it was a chewier and denser date, kinda like a caramel.  The Saggie was the lightest coloured one and tasted okay but probably my least favourite since the texture of half the date was a bit like crystalized honey.

Besides coffee and dates, they offer a number of croissants, cookies, and biscottis...and Pluck Teas.  Would recommend trying this place out as it seems like it would be welcome in the neighborhood.

The inside...

A wonderful morning!!


Saturday Dinette

807 Gerrard Street E
Toronto, ON M4M 1Y6

http://www.saturdaydinette.com/

T: 416-465-5959

Hailed Coffee

801 Gerrard St. E

Toronto, ON M4M 1Y5

http://www.hailed.ca/#our-story

T: 647-352-4040

Cafe Fiorentina - Low Key Brunch on the Danforth

Brunch is one of those meals that you can spend hours chatting and whiling away the time with your close friends or significant other (which I love); unfortunately quite a luxury these days.  However, the thing I dislike about brunch is the long wait if you don't get up early enough to snag a table.  So, I set out to find a place that offered great food, takes reservations, and also is convenient to get to.

Cafe Fiorentina popped up.  Now, convenience is subject to where you live, but for me it was a lot more convenient to get here than to Queen West where a lot of the popular brunch places are located.  It's close to the DVP if driving and right near Broadview Station if taking public transportation (but recently they posted that they are moving more east, closer to Chester Station).  Reservations are only taken for their first seating at 10am.

Another thing worth noting is that they aim to create and cook food that uses local produce, humanly raised animals, sustainable seafood and heritage eggs.  I'm not too concerned with these things when choosing a place to eat, but I do think it's important to think about these things and while they aim to maintain these values, their menu is simple with unique touches and quite reasonably priced.

One of my friends ordered the french toast (decadent, the toast tastes like creamy custard)...

Another, the quiche (which was very light and fluffy!)...

And the duck eggs benedict which was served with tuna instead of the usual peameal bacon.

I had the Croque Madame which was very delicious; bread was nice, thick and crispy with ham and Gruyere cheese and sunny-side up eggs.

We all chose salad as our side but they also offer potatoes.

At the back there is a table of baked goods but they were selling fast throughout the morning so I would advise going early!

They have a small display of pastries which I considered but then I saw...

...these beignets and couldn't resist.  Essentially they are like donuts, but I was just drawn to them for some reason.  Also picked up a croissant which was well made too, buttery and flaky and a very good size!

At home, I enjoyed the light fluffy dough filled with a rhubarb strawberry filling.

Loved this place for the food and the comfortable feel of the place and staff.  I also hear that they do a wonderful prix-fix dinner.  Hoping to check out their new location in the fall and hope they maintain the cozy feel!
很愛這個餐廳/咖啡店 的餐和舒服的感覺.  聽說他們也有很棒的 prix-fix 晚餐.  希望秋天可以到訪他們的新店, 也他們能保持舒適的feel!

Cafe Fiorentina

new location to be open in the Fall of 2016

463 Danforth Ave.

Toronto, ON

http://cafefiorentina.com/

Why the occasional duplicate sentence written in Chinese?  

One of my goals starting in 2016 is to improve my Chinese language skills so this is one way I'm going about it.  
Please comment if you noticed I've totally messed up!  Thanks!

Edible Garland Chrysanthemum Greens - A new favourite

I have fallen for these edible chrysanthemum greens called (小葉)茼蒿 'Chun Ho' (or 'Tung Ho'/Tong Ho or many other names) and love adding it to various meals.  The chrysanthemum greens are grown in East Asia and is quite nutritious, high in vitamin A and K and a source of numerous minerals.  I was reminded of this leafy green when we ate at Mama Bear and had the oyster omelette.  It's taste is on the herbaceous/herbal side with a little bit of mintiness to it.  Unfortunately I've only seen it at Chinese supermarkets as it hasn't made it's way to the mainstream market. This is not a vegetable that I grew up eating, but I decided to make a concerted effort to broaden the variety of vegetables my family and I eat after reading about Ikaria and all the greens that the locals forage for salads in this book.  Hopefully it'll be a vegetable my family continues to eat regularly.

I've added it to soups which make it sweet and flavourful and a barley and sweet potato mix.  But I'm sharing with you a favourite breakfast of mine.  So simple and really perks up the meal!
加在湯裡會給湯一點甜味, 同大賣和地瓜拌在一起也很好.  可是, 我今天告訴你們我很希歡的早餐.  很容易也鮮爽的感覺!


Avocado Toast with Chrysanthemum Greens
(Serves 2)

1 Avocado
Juice from 1/6 to 1/4 of a Lemon
2 generous pinches of salt
Bread of your choice 
Sprinkling of Shichimi Seasoning (Japanese 7 spice seasoning)
1 stalk chopped Chrysanthemum greens

Mash the avocado (I like to leave some chunks)
Squeeze in the lemon juice and sprinkle in the salt.
Mix.
Spread mixture on bread (I like to toast mine)
Sprinkle on shichimi seasoning (to your liking) and chopped chrysanthemum greens.  

Enjoy!

Why the occasional duplicate sentence written in Chinese?  

One of my goals starting in 2016 is to improve my Chinese language skills so this is one way I'm going about it.  
Please comment if you noticed I've totally messed up!  Thanks!

Breakfast @ Whole Foods - Yonge and Sheppard

French toast (Sorry for the poor quality pic!)

Whole Foods
4771 Yonge St. (Hullmark Centre)
Toronto, ON M2N 5M5
Cafe/Diner hours: 8 am - 9 pm (1 hour earlier than the store)

Whole Foods is known for quality, carrying specialty products, and sourcing local and/or organic products so I was expecting their breakfast items at their cafe/diner to be rather good.  However, it fell a bit below expectations. 

We had the 2 eggs any style breakfast and French toast with a side of smoked bacon. (Pictures were taken on my phone and lately the quality hasn't been great; I haven't been able to get the lighting right.)

I can't really comment on the taste of the 2 eggs breakfast but my partner said it wasn't that great, very basic and his scrambled eggs was made into an omelet.  This is unfortunately after experiencing a great breakfast at Emma's Country Kitchen not too long ago.

Anyway, my French toast came with a side of fruit which was nice and they tasted fresh.  There were two thick slices of bread, lightly coated with egg batter.  Very little egg taste though, I guess the best word to describe it would be lacklustre.  The bread was supposed to be challah bread but it seemed more like thick white bread than challah bread.  Maple syrup was provided but it was very thin in consistency.

Service was nice but it took a while for our meals to be prepared.

Sad to say that breakfast was a bit of a let down.  We've gotten gelato at this location and the Hazelnut gelato was really good so I suspect some things are just better made than others.  (But I think the gelato is a set recipe that should be standard across all locations.)

I'd probably give their salads a try, especially since it's the summer but for now, Whole Foods won't be on my breakfast to-go list.

Emma's Country Kitchen - House Made Everything!

Breakwich with a side of fries

Emma's Country Kitchen

1108 St. Clair Ave West.

Toronto, ON L7E 1M6

416-652-3662

http://www.emmascountrykitchen.com/
 

We went for a late breakfast at Emma's Country Kitchen...on a weekday. (I had the day off...yay me...sometimes it's good to be off on a random day!)  I've wanted to try this place for a while now but Emma's Country Kitchen is in the west end near St. Clair and Dufferin where we usually find restaurants in this area a bit out of the way to get to.  But, we're glad to have finally made our way there as it was well worth it! 

On weekdays, their menu is pared down quite a bit, only offering a few breakfast items compared to their weekend brunch menu (e.g. homemade donuts, eggs benny, and a host of other items).  We still found something to order though and had a great breakfast.

Since we were there late, we had the mushroom soup to start, and it was pretty good; lots of mushrooms.  But, it wasn't a smooth soup if you're expecting that.  We liked the flavour nonetheless. My partner had the classic breakfast and I had the 'breakwich' which included cheese, an over easy egg, and sausage on buttermilk biscuit.  It was really good!  Larger than your breakfast sandwiches at Tim's and McD's and the biscuit was flakey and buttery, yums!  I also got a side of sea salted fries which turned out to be just okay for me. They are cut in-house but were skinny fries which I'm not too fond of since it's hard to maintain the crispiness on the outside while still having enough soft potato on the inside.  This is my personal preference though.

The classic breakfast (2 eggs, house cured bacon or sausage, griddled red potatoes, and toast) was done really well; the scrambled eggs consistency was great and the bacon was thickly sliced and nicely smoked.  The toast, honey whole wheat I believe was really good too.  You could taste the honey; afterwards I regretted not buying a loaf to take home!

 

Classic Breakfast (sorry for the poor picture quality!)

Everything was house-made: the bread was baked, the bacon was cured and smoked, the fries were cut.  I really liked this aspect and the food definitely shows the quality and skill they put into their items. Service was also friendly and attentive.

A great breakfast place, (but not ideal for big groups), I definitely would like to be back for their weekend brunch.  Too bad it's a little out of the way for us, otherwise I think we would've gone back in a few days!  

 

 



Breakfast at Sunshine Spot - Quick and Tasty

Weekend mornings are for big breakfasts, ones that make you wonder how in the world you finished that when on a weekday a bowl of cereal is all you eat.  But eat we do and it was tasty at the Sunshine Spot. 

Sunshine Spot

796 Sheppard Ave East

North York, ON, M2K 1C3

416-512-9741

http://sunshinespot.ca/  (menu available)

In North York near Yonge and Sheppard, it's surprisingly not bustling with breakfast or brunch options given the huge number of condos in the area.  So, we head a little east near Bessarion subway station to a little breakfast place called Sunshine Spot.  Tucked away in a little plaza, it's next to Taro's Fish and offers a decent breakfast menu of an all day breakfast, omelettes, eggs benny, waffles and pancakes, and sandwiches.

First Impression:  Nice neighbourhood breakfast spot with an open kitchen
Several Impressions later:  Always good for a big and tasty breakfast!

We've been here a few times but here is what we ate most recently...

Food

The food is prepared in an open kitchen so you can see your meal being made which is nice and really gives that home cooked feeling.

Eggs benedict

The eggs benedict was pretty standard but definitely tasted good; beautifully runny eggs on peameal bacon and an english muffin.  And the peameal bacon was cut thick!  (Yums!)  I almost couldn't finish it all!  Potatoes were good and plentiful.  Hollandaise sauce was okay but a bit light on flavour though.  Price is on par with other establishments.

All day breakfast: 3 eggs + bacon + home fries + toast (sausage was part of a side order)

The all-day breakfast is $8 and is quite large, look at the amount of bacon!!  You can opt for sausage or ham instead of bacon but I don't remember how many pieces are served.  Eggs are also made the way you like them.

They also offer a kid's menu, items come with juice or milk.

Service

Nice and fairly quick most of the time.  You can definitely take your time to enjoy your meal.


Overall, this is definitely a great place to start your day!

Figs Breakfast & Lunch - Basic Breakfast Place

344 Queen Street E. Unit 4
Toronto, ON M5A 1S8

(416) 913-7205
www.figsbreakfastlunch.com

First impression: Local, home-cooking type breakfast place
Second impression: Ok taste wise, but why so little potatoes?!

Last weekend I had to pick up something downtown in the east end so we decided to have brunch in a part of town we do not frequent often. Thanks to Yelp, we found Figs Breakfast & Lunch.

It definitely had that local vibe to it and luckily there were still a few tables available. Menu selection was pretty good and they offered a special Meat Lover's plate for $9.99.

Main
House Omelette - $9
Swiss cheese, peameal bacon, and mushrooms (mmmm, mushrooms!)

Comes with toast, potato hash and a bit of roasted potato. The omelette tasted great but I was surprised at how little potato was served. I'm quite accustomed to breakfast places serving a decent amount or huge amount of potatoes but this was new for me. However, if you're concerned in any way about carbohydrate intake, then this would be the perfect amount! For me, I was full so I really shouldn't complain...I guess I was just surprised and my preference would be more potatoes and only 1 slice of toast.

No decaf coffee available, ended up having earl grey tea. Basic Twinnings tea but I do like the little stainless steel tea pot you get at places like this.

Unfortunately no pics of the meat lover's plate. It consisted of different kinds of breakfast meats (sausage, ham, peameal bacon, bacon), choice of eggs, toast, baked beans and the same potato sides. One thing to be aware of though, you only get 1 piece of each meat which also is surprising but once you're done eating, the amount is okay for the price.

Would I come back? I would...if I was in the area. But, since I'm rarely in the area, I don't think I'll be back any time soon. There are a few breakfast places near my place that I think are the same or better.  Breakfast places like Figs should be that place that a local resident would say "hey, let's walk over to Figs, I have a craving for their (fill in the blank)".