A New Record!

We did it, we finally did it. Four best of places in one day! The day started out at UFO restaurant, voted best cheap breakfast. We did not wake up early for this, I was allowed to sleep to my heart’s content. As soon as we walked in I could see why we did not have to be there for open and why it was so cheap. It was part convenience store, part cheap crappy diner. No fancy menus, everything was written on a white board above the kitchen behind the counter, a TV was playing CP24. The service was great and fast. The food was cheap, so cheap, and so delicious. I had ordered the french toast and I received a plate of the most-home-made-tasting french toast I have ever had. It was great, it hit the spot and was just what I needed. It tasted exactly like the french toast I used to make back when I was less lazy in the kitchen. We were out of there in under 20 minutes.

Up next was Plentea, voted best tea cafe in the city. So far this day was totally my jam: I love french toast and I love love love, LOVE, tea. A cafe that makes its own tea blends? Sign me up! We ended up paying as much for two tea lattes as we had for breakfast but it was incredible. I had the matcha green tea latte and it was the best I have ever had. I had a sip of Brent’s, which had of all things coconut milk in it, also delicious. I was just sad that they did not sell tea in bags or canisters for home consumption, I still have a bit of room in my tea cabinet (yes, I have an entire cabinet dedicated to tea, I told you, I LOVE tea). As we sat and sipped, we talked about our next destination: Birerria Volo, sister to our beloved (now dead) Bar Volo. During this hope-filled discussion Brent checked how far a walk it was and what time they open. So it was a 35 minute walk and we had an hour and a half before they opened? Crap.

Thankfully best local butcher, Rowe Farms, had a second location on Roncesvalles. We were already west of Dufferin and it was a gorgeous warm fall day. Why not go to that location, rather than the original plan of going on the way home to the one at Spadina and Bloor. Plus, I now had a chance to go back to Glory Hole Donuts. In my rankings they fell far behind Von Doughnuts and I was curious to see if this was still so. The sour cream donut with a vanilla glaze was ok, the glaze was better than the donut. The lime coconut cake-based donut was also just OK. The best of the three was the ricotta lemon donut hole. But none of them held a candle to Von Doughnuts.

We wandered around Rowe Farms, browsing the selection. In the end we settled on chicken sausages- we could have them for dinner that evening.The sausages were way better than the ones we got from Cumbrae’s, it was not even a contest it was so uneven.

Our final stop was Birerria Volo, voted best beer selection. I am not really a fan of beer, but I do have a soft spot for a good sour beer, the bar’s specialty! We happened to go there during an event, Trou Du Diable had done a tap takeover, all 26 taps were from that brewer. Even still I found two that I liked. The barrel aged sour saison with cherries was delicious, but the German gose with raspberries was the clear winner. Can’t go wrong with a gose. As we sipped and talked, I mentioned that we would be passing Her Father’s Kitchen, a new cider bar I had been wanting to check out, on our way home. Rather than stay and have more sour beers, we decided to head there after two beers each. This was mostly because my third beer was supposed to be a Cantillon, but they were all sold out. We had been so close, so close to yet again enjoying Cantillon Rosé De Gambrinu </3

Her Father’s Kitchen was amazing. We had arrived between the brunch and dinner hours, when it was just a bar. They had the option for a tasting flight, three of the nine ciders on tap, 5 ounces each all for a whole $12- it was a great deal. Between the two of us we got to try six drastically different ciders ranging from regular apple ones, to wacky ones with ginger, pinot noir grapes, or hops. I finished it off with a small glass of ice cider to cover the range. They have been added to our rotation if ever we are out past Harbord.

 

Halloween Brunch Tradition

It has somehow become a tradition that Halloween weekend we head out early for brunch. Normally I would hate the idea of waking up at the ungodly hour of 7:30am, but for brunch maybe. A brunch from the people at Rose & Sons. Heck yes, sign me up! I was psyched for brunch at Swan, voted best new brunch 2015 (which is odd given the Swan has been on Queen West forever).

On the way we cut through Trinity Bellwoods Park and I finally saw the white squirrel, not that I cared, but it was a nice touch. I was worried, we were showing up half an hour after open. My worries were for nothing, the place was mostly empty. Somehow I did not take that as a sign. All I could think was: coffee.

I considered going with my default order: pancakes, but for some reason I went with the patty melt. I am still on my cheese kick I suppose. My clues not to get that dish were all around. A dinner menu on the wall listed Polish cheesecake, and one side option for brunch was kabanos. There was some Polish influence here… and Polish people do not make good burgers. By the second bite the bottom slice of bread had disintegrated from the grease and I took to hacking at the sandwich with my knife and fork. It was a messy affair. The best part was the cheese, then the bacon then the bread. The patty itself was bland. I gave up halfway through and just ate fries and the delicious pickle. The winner by far was the kabanos.

After brunch we went to Nadege, voted best cafe bakery. I was still hungry after brunch and in desperate need of more coffee. We split a “donut” which was really just rich cream covered in a caramel coating in the shape of a donut. The pumpkin spice macaron was maybe the best pumpkin thing I had ever tasted. The chocolate croissant made me swear out loud it was so good. Definitely the best chocolate croissant in the city, even if it was lacking in actually chocolate in the middle, it was so buttery and delicious.