OVER EASY, Toronto

208 Bloor Street W

Toronto

(416) 922 2345

So Harry and I have finally gotten our acts together and started reviewing again.  

Today's stop was Over Easy on Bloor Street.  It's across from the Rom, between St. George and Museum stations.  Warm and cozy, you're greeted quickly at Over Easy with first the quiet atmosphere and then by a table and a full pot of coffee - to keep at your table.  Definitely a reason in itself to love this place.

Many of the breakfast choices are inventive and different from what you'll find in most other egg and bacon places.  Eggs baked in cheese sauce, or eggs poached in port with pearl onions.  Interesting choices.

I had the Eggs mushroom and cheese sauce since the waitress pooh-poohed my original choice, and Harry had the standard Big Breakfast.  We both got freshly squeezed OJ that was very, very good.  

My breakfast was too rich and indulgent for my tastes, but a change from what I'd usually go for and a welcomed change at that.  Harry liked his as well, but wasn't fond of the scrambled eggs.  My ultimate pet peeve reared it's peevey head at me in the form of uncooked eggs under all that thick salty sauce.  

The portions were very large and the service was nice and not overbearing at all.

Harry and I may have been slightly generous with this place but we gave it at 7.5/10.  Coffee and a friendly staff can go a long way sometimes.

BEAUTY'S DINER, Montreal

  

93 avenue du Mont-Royal Ouest

Montreal, QC

(514) 849 8883

This small, quaint diner was full of charm from the minute we walked in.  Steel all over the place, identical booths streaming 2 rows down the length of the joint and slats of light from the roman blinds lining the walls.

Paul had a huge, fresh waffle with a side of hashbrowns and I had the paysenne omelet, both very good choices.  Sadly, Harry wasn't with us to sample the fine offerings, but heres' what we thought:

The servers were friendly and a man who we assumed was the owner sits at the bar directing the crowd to tables.  He, as well as the majority of patrons there, has his face halfway into a salmon platter (cream cheese, capers, smoked salmon, and bagels for about $11) but seems happy that his restaurant is full and bustling.

The food was fast and very fresh, and the paper placemats that are laid down at each table are ideal for gnarly morning doodles.  You'll see when you get there.

A wonderful breakfast on a good day in Montreal was only made better by our stop to Beauty's.  Why I didn't pick up one of their printed tees to commemorate the experience, I will never know.

An 8/10

11th St. Diner, South Beach, Florida

Thankfully this old school diner in South Beach exists or else I wouldn't have eaten anything good on my stay there recently for work. I'm sure there are good restaurants down there but I didn't eat at any. I invited Liz to join me but she missed the last flight out from Toronto. So this review is solo.



So, at the corner of 11th and Washington in South Beach, you'll see what looks like one of the old silver bullet camping trailers with a nice covered patio. Great first impression. When I got inside, the decor reminded me of the Stem restaurant at Queen and Spadina here in Toronto.



The service was fairly quick when I sat down. I decided to order one the specialties, which I assumed was the ones highlighted. I got the Sam's Scram Eggs, which was 3 egg whites, scrambled with turkey, onions and carrots. It also came with home fries, which weren't bad, and wheat toast. I also got an orange juice, which being in Florida, I thought would be better, and a coffee, which was straight up juan valdez or something generic. The eggs were really good and I didn't have to douse them in ketchup when things go bad. The order to food receivership time was accelerated when the cook brought out my food. Wow. I thought it was because I ordered one of the specials but he was out a few times for other tables.



Overall, the food was good, the service above average and the cool atmosphere put my visit up into the upper echelon of breakfast tour stops. I give 'em 7.5 out of 10.

Fran's Diner, College & Yonge, Toronto

Before heading into work, my friend Greg and I made our way to Fran's Diner.  This place has a couple locations in Toronto, the Yonge Street location arguably being the most famous, but lacking the style or cleanliness of the location nearby the Eaton Center.

One thing I love about Fran's is that their standard bacon & eggs dish is awesome.  They buy a pre-made hashbrown that's deep fried (a brand that I've actually come to recognize at several Toronto breakfast joints) but still very tasty.  Their eggs are usually spot-on and the bacon is as thick as it is salty.

Harry joined us soon after and ordered french toast, which oddly took 3x as long as ours did and seemed to greatly inconvenience our server.  After stopping just short of needing a megaphone to get her attention for more coffee, we decided to just leave.

Hard rating this time, because it's like we had 2 breakfasts back to back.  Mine and Greg's was great, but averaged out with Harry's experience, Fran's gets a surprising 5/10.

Pizza Napoli Restaurant, Santiago, Chile

Thanks to my friend Andrew who's been driving me around in Santiago, Chile for work, I found a restaurant right around the corner from the Radisson that served a breakfast that resembled something back home in Toronto.
Honestly, I don't know if it's that I miss home a bit or I was hungover, but the runny eggs with ham strips tasted pretty good. I think it was a combo of both. The meal also came with a delicious banana and orange juice(jugo) and a great cafe latte. I don't know if I could've ordered bacon with it because it wasn't on the menu photo I pointed at. Typical gringo tourist.

Overall, a 5/10.

I think the address is 499 Torre Sur. It's just beside the world trade center beside the Radisson on Av. Vitacura.

Village Inn, Toronto

Had breakfast at this place for convenience sakes.
The french toast was dipped in the thickest, most awful half scrambled egg mix, and then just fried like an over-easy egg. My breakfast came served with an ashtray full of butts, which you will see the waiter was far too lazy to pick up for me.









...and about 20 minutes later, I've eaten the most disgusting french toast of my life. Our very first 0/10. Good job Village Rainbow!

BOOM

The last time we went to Boom, the service was mediocre. But we weren't doing this blog then so they lucked out and get a "get out of jail free" card.
It doesn't happen that we sample the same food at breakfast. It helps give a more broad review of the fare offered by said restaurant. But personally, I've had my fill of greasy eggs breakfasts for now. It was time to expand my breakfast horizons, even though french toast is pretty typical breakfast food. Well, it can be mundane, but sometimes french toast, with a little creativity, can be the shit.
A couple of years ago I was introduced to Boom's "Crunchy French Toast". If you haven't been here, it's basically french toast with corn flakes on it. Simple, but you'd never think of it. That was pretty ef'n good. But this time, since we'd both had that, we went for the other flavours.



Liz got the Chocolate and Banana french toast, which was "amazing", she said. Just look at the picture and you know you can't go wrong with it.



I got the simpler strawberry french toast. There's nothing wrong with keeping things simple and to the point, as in this case. Fresh fruit on french toast is always a winner.
The rest of the Boom experience was pleasant. Coffee service was quick and tasty. Not the best coffee I thought, but I did just drink coffee in Amsterdam for 2 weeks prior. No big deal though.
Great food. Service was good... this time. Price is a bit more than average. $30 for two people.
Overall, I give Boom a 7.5 out of 10.

808 College St., Toronto, Ontario