Brunch on Queen East

[Teep]

One time we had a nice brunch at Baldini on Queen East. Today I forgot the name and the location and went too far east and ended up at Edward Levesque - what a mistake. My "smoked salmon & Stilton omelette" was an overcooked egg patty folded over the ingredients, which was fishy tasting salmon on the right side and cheese on the left. My partner's "eggs full monty" consisted of rubbery eggs, hard piece of overcooked bacon, boring banger, beans fresh out of a can, and 3 (maybe 4) pieces of home fries. His plate says "Montana's". How classy is that!

A long time ago we tried Okay Okay and it was the worst brunch we've ever had, even the service was dismal. How is the new OK2?

Any other good brunch places along that strip?

[pescatarian]

Interesting. I went to Edward Levesque for brunch today and I had the most delicious poached egg dish over polenta with tomato sauce and gorganzola. It was heavenly.

p.s. Also love Lady Marmalade and also find that despite the long line ups, I usually don't wait that long. Also, I still enjoy Frankly Eatery.

[millygirl]

Frankly Eatery closed many many months ago. Glas Wine Bar is now in it's place.

[pescatarian]

Oh nooo. I loved their parantha...

[kwass]

After reading your post, I HAVE to try Edward Levesque's for Brunch. I checked out the menu and does it ever look YUM-MY!

[pescatarian]

I had a good experience. I hope you do too!

[julesrules]

I've also had good brunches there, and found the service good-to-great (they did a mash up of two desserts for us when my first choice had run out but they still had some of the desired salted caramel sauce left). I don't get there often, just a few times over the years. They get very mixed reviews don't they? Give it a try ;)
The Gorgonzola thing sounds awesome - did something similar when I had leftover gorg. Polenta and it was the best breakfast ever.

[helenhelen]

i recently tried to go to lady marmalade but the ridiculously long lineup outside turned me off.. so we went next door to lil baci instead. the brunch was very tasty! we both had a variation of eggs benedict (i'm veg so i had the florentine). the hollandaise sauce was truffled.. yum. the potatoes are cooked with duck fat so vegetarians, beware. make sure you tell the waiter in advance so you don't get that on your plate (i forgot). free coffee refills, pretty tasty coffee. we were seated right away.

[deeelle64]

I know it's not Queen East, but when everywhere was too busy on Queen, I headed North on Broadview up to the Danforth. Factory Girl was awesome for brunch, just east of Broadview on the Danforth. Everyone I was with was impressed with the service, theirs meals, and the portion size. Great Caesar's too!

[plainjane_to]

Another option if you are willing to go a bit north is Hammersmiths (Gerrard & Logan). I have really enjoyed their duck plate in the past.

[BIGeater100]

I like Marmalade, Table 17 and Bonjour Brioche also but tried Lil Baci a couple of few weeks ago and had the baked eggs. They were great. Have been back a couple of times now and have not been disappointed.

[etune]

I echo what others have said: LM, Table 17 and Bonjour Brioche are all great choices, but wanted to echo that Lil' Baci has a great brunch. We've had the baked eggs and the meatball sandwich, both were very delicious! There are rarely line-ups, which is great! A couple other ideas would be the Commissary and Rakia Bar. Commissary does lots of eggs bene and french toast made with croissants. Rakia Bar has a Eastern European inspired brunch...

[bringonthelbs]

I absolutely love the cuban sandwich at Table 17 brunch. One of my favourites.

[JennaBean]

The new Riverside Public House is not bad nor is Table 17. Between the lines and the SUV sized strollers I never set foot into Lady Marmalade or Bonjour Brioche on the weekends.

[millygirl]

I'm not familar with Riverside Public House? It just opened right? By who again? What do you recommend JennaBean?

[JennaBean]

It is in the only Blue Moon space. Nav Sangha (the guy who owns part of the Great Hall, Wrong Bar, former The Social which is now the Dog and Bear pub) is of the owner but the chef is a fellow Dustin Gallagher.

I've tried the toad in the hole and the big breakfast. Both were tasty and good but for some reason there is something I can't put my finger on that seems just slightly off. They are trying hard in that they make everything inhouse (aside from the bread) and the ploughman's on the evening menu is great. They have fried chicken too but I have yet to try it.

There is also the new Irish pub that opened in the old Real Jerk space. I haven't be in there yet but I did see on the sign that they are now doing brunch as well.

[SusanB]

I like Table 17 for brunch - delicious. I used to go to Bonjour when they first opened but rarely go now. Been to Marmalade twice, I think. The lineups at Lady Marmalade and Bonjour Brioche just too crazy.

[JonasOftoronto]

Bonjour Brioche is a page (or five) ripped out of classic French Bistro. Food's GOOD, place is bustling busy, service is very brisk but never rude.
This is a small excellent place working extremely hard to provide very consistent value. I don't know if the Toronto gene can always recognize that, because it's rare.

[millygirl]

Errr, brisk is fine, and actually exactly what I prefer for brunch. Rude is something all together different and the people at Bonjour Brioche are rude. Have you ever called them to place a caterering order? I have, a few times in fact. The last time was the final straw. They are RUDE!

[JonasOftoronto]

I guess the culture shock doesn't affect me, which is also why I love travel - I don't expect anyone from another part of the world to be different for MY sake.
What you interpret as rude (ie. 'brisk') seems to me classically European, and I prefer this to the less socially-advanced alternative (waiters who socialize too much while they forget and mix up orders.)

[millygirl]

Huh, what does culture have to do with it? We're not talking France here, were talking about a resto on Queen Street, Toronto.

You mean to say, it's either rude/brisk/classically Euro OR waiters who socialize too much while they forget - and that's it? Nothing in between? Wow, okay.

[terrycar]

We were at the Tulip today & it's as reliable as ever.

[JonasOftoronto]

You know I've heard Tulip's great, went there only once and it was off-putting. Words that come to mind are "greasy, inedible texture, odd smelling". Not my kinda greasy spoon I guess?

[MissBingBing]

Didn't the Tulip change ownership a while back? And $25 for an 8-ounce steak and frozen fries is no bargain.

[Bob Catt]

It seems like only awhile ago that a small striploin steak was around $9.00 at the Tulip. How big was the steak that cost $25?

[MissBingBing]

Checking the menu, it was $22.50. It also says, it comes with salad and fries but they would only give me fries or salad, maybe because it was takeout. Total bill $25 with tax (no tip).

[terrycar]

We had good eggs benny & hash browns(9.50). Nothing greasy(in a bad way ) about it.
There is a bit of a funky odour coming from the basement bathroom area but no worse than what I've smelled in a half dozen other places in town.

[JonasOftoronto]

LOL i found the queasy steak-eggs plate odd-smelling, I can make better. That should be the point, yes going OUT for brunch should be better?

Maybe I'll go try what you had, fair enough.

[CocoaChanel]

+1 for Bonjour brioche

[MissBingBing]

-3 for the lineups.

[CocoaChanel]

LOL . Too true :)

[millygirl]

Bonjour Brioche is good but cant stand the attitude.
Lady M is crazy busy, hate the lineups.

Hammersmith's is great and doesn't have either of the above. Love it.

[kwass]

I agree with you about the attitude @ Bonjour Brioche. They're not particularly friendly.

[peppermint pate]

Lady Marmalade.

[Herne]

What are the line-ups like for Sat and Sunday brunch??

[helenhelen]

pretty bad.. long waits, but if you go very early (like when they open) or very late (like when they are about to close), you will have less of a wait. my friend and i went around 2pm once and there was no wait.

best brunch though!

[jlunar]

Love their Baja rice bowl... but the lines... the lines...!

[peppermint pate]

Agree with everyone that the lines can be discouraging. I find they generally move on the faster side, as service tends to be pretty quick and people don't generally linger as much as at other brunch-y spots but yeah, it's a busy spot. The timing is hard to get right - I've been there at 9:30 and there's a half-hour wait and I've walked in at 11:00 on other days. I mostly go there for weekday breakfasts now (always great to have brunchy weekday options).

[soytoy]

Yeah... I think LM has great food, but getting the timing right is tricky, and waiting outside in the cold sucks.

[justsayn]

+1 LM

[disgusti]

bonjour brioche

[kwass]

2nd Bonjour Brioche

[th3hungrycat]

Definitely Bonjour Brioche!