Al Mac's in Niagara

At the corner of Stanley and Ferry in Niagara Falls is a compelling sign. 6.99 for a breakfast buffet and 13.99 or so for a dinner buffet. It was walking distance from our hotel so we went for breakfast. It seemed like a good idea at the time but it was not!

The place was fairly crowded so that seemed good and we went in and were seated right away. The waitress asked what we wanted to drink and so we asked if the beverages were included. They're not so we asked for water. We were shocked though when the waitress said it is their policy not to provide water. If we wanted water, we could buy bottles. We were shocked.

We decided to stick around to sample the buffet anyway without any drinks. The food was fairly standard: pancakes, waffles, french toast, bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, potatoe fries, etc. The food was alright for the price. More select than you get with Ikea's $1 breakfast but you're paying significantly more. It's tough to enjoy breakfast when you're thirsty. It's one thing for my glass to run dry during a meal but a whole other thing for there to be no water whatsoever.

We each took two plates of food and got the bill. It's apparently a good thing we didn't order a beverage. Juice is apparently $4 for a tiny portion. Anyway, once we paid we hopped across the street to 7/11 where we bought two juices which we enjoyed on our walk home. We never looked back - well except to scowl at the place when we passed it on the drive out.

I feel bad for people that paid for the drinks. The breakfast buffet at other places looks significantly better for The morale here is to save your money and go for a vegas or at least some place other than Al Mac's

Cora's

While previously against Cora's due to poor quantity to price ratio, we have lately become addicted now that one has opened up near the IKEA in Etobicoke (ie exceedingly convenient for us).

Our major error in the past was mis-ordering. Stay clear of the overpriced pancakes, waffles and crepes and instead opt for 1990's harvest or rosemary's sunday.

For about $10 - Ian likes his big "brioche" aka cinnamon bun. One half with fresh fruit, the other half with an egg and bacon. Pour some syrup over the whole thing and it's a pretty tasty meal.

I on the other hand prefer the 2 blueberry pancakes, 2 eggs, bacon with fresh fruit and toast. Also somewhere in the vicinity of $10.

Chez Cora

Ian and I have partaken in the T., but this was the first time going authentic to the home of Cora.

Ian wanted to stick with the familiar and got what I got last time, the cinnamon brioche roll with an egg, bacon and fruit salad on top. With a bit of syrup, the tastiness level was high.

My breakfast came with a scrambled egg, about 6 strips of bacon, two blueberry pancakes and some fruit. Overall very delightful.

Perhaps not a good deal for 2 meals + an OJ for $27.46 including tax and tip.

Cora's

Ian and I made it there early enough (10:15) to just barely escape the line that usually forms on the weekend at the Blue Jay Way location in T.

I went with the "1990's special" It was a super duper combo type breakfast. A cinnamon brioche at the bottom (basically a cinnamon bun but not as sticky) topped with fruit salad on one side and an egg and bacon on the other. All were decently ok. Price was about $9.50.

Ian ordered their feature item - strawberry panini. It was supposed to be a whole wheat panini filled with cream cheese and nuts with strawberries on the side. (Ian ditched the nuts). It turned out to be more crepe-like instead of panini. So not really as advertised. Ian made up for his disappointment by eating half of my meal.

Fresh/Juice for Life on Crawford

Ian and I were walking around Queen Street today and stopped in at Fresh on Crawford. I have been pretty desperate to go for about 6 years, but laziness and Ian's indifferent/meat lover attitude have won out...until today.

This joint seems to be one last stronghold of the Hippies/granola eating/vegan types - a close rival to it's neighbor Fressen.

Ian had the "breathless" smoothie which included banana, strawberry and mango tastiness all blended up for $5.

I went with the soup, salad and cornbread combo for $9. The soup special was Moroccan chickpea. The flavor was ok, but was unfortunately way too thick and hearty to eat any more than about 1/3 of it at a sitting. Hopefully Ian can bail me out of my leftover problems tonight at dinner. "Save the whale (Ian's expression)" style, they put the leftovers in a sketchy paper type container with an ill-fitting lid covered with a flimsy rubber band. Perhaps not the most practical, for all but the most steady handed type person. I'm not too sure what the problem is, at work we have the same soup containers, and they have very solid fitting lids.

Salad was the highlight of the combo - a whole whack of assorted fresh greens, shredded carrot and beets. I ordered it with the house dressing - which I found to be delightful, but they did not put anywhere near enough on there in order to fully enjoy the salad.

Cornbread was dry and non-descript. Pretty much impossible to eat without a healthy layer of butter and a swig of water after each bite.

Ian's main was the basic rice bowl ($5) with an add-on ($2) tofu "steak". The tofu was delightfully flavored, and the rice bowl was also quite good. They had some pretty yummy dressing on the brown rice and the carrots and parsley added to the whole thing.

I liked the serve yourself water that came in wine bottle type thingy's, at least until I somehow poured it all over the table and my sweater. Then, I wished that they would serve me water. They also had a lemon slice floating around in there, but unfortunately, the lemon looked as though it had seen better days a few weeks ago.

They would be wise to invest in a better kitchen exhaust system. Sweet potato fry fume permeated the entire restaurant and in fact, 1 hour later as I type, I can smell it on my clothes.

Total including tax and tip was $26.

Fressen

I went with some friends last week for brunch at Fressen. All was well with the organic loose leaf blackberry/blueberry tea in the fun tea-maker thingy except for the price at $3.50!!!

There were 5 of us in total and I convinced them all to order the ultra-tasty corn fritters (usual post Run for the Cure staple). It went a little wrong when they came out kinda burnt and a bit more pasty than usual :(

Potatoes, salsa, guac, fruit, bread etc that came with the fritters was good. Price was right at $9 for a rather hearty plate of food!

Waitresses were rather overworked but the food came out extremely quickly! So at least they have improved in the speed department on one front!

Run for the Cure

Ian ditched me at the end for a time of 24:45, I came in at 25:45! Pretty decent considering neither of us is in great shape.

As per tradition, we went to Fressen and had some corn fritters and other assorted yummy stuff. A "very tasty" rating and one thumb up in value ($9 each).

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Sneaky Dees for Brunch

I went on Sat for some brunch to my favorite cheap mexicain place. I had the guacamole...something and it was a tortialla bowl filled with beans, topped with guac some veggies, sour cream and some lettuce stuff around the outside. Pretty good for my $7.45 and I definately could not finish it. Others has some huevos ranchero egg type dishes. All seemed to be pretty tasty.

A "tasty" rating and 2 thumbs up in the value department.

Dooney's

I went for lunch today to Dooney's in the Annex. Ian and I probably walked past this place a hundred times when we lived in the area, but we never have gone in.

Today I had Huevos Dooney's with black beans, scrambled eggs, tomatoe salsa and toated bread. Not a bad deal for $8. The rest of the crowd had egg type dishes that looked good. The club sandwich seemed to a popular item too with chicken, guac, spicy mayo, bacon and tomatoe.

I also ordered some apple cinammon tea which was pretty good, but I was a bit shocked when I saw on the bill it was $2.75! What a rip!

Anyway, final verdict is decent food and not such a great value.

Grapefruit Moon

I went for brunch with friends to Grapefruit Moon (Bathurst north of Bloor). The place was a bit small and we had to sit at the counter, but overall the place was quite cute and it was fun to watch the people assemble breakfasts.

There was a good selection of eggs, pancakes, breakfast burritos, quesidillas, egg sandwhiches. I had a quesidalla with avocado, black beans and roasted red peppers. Jacquie's avocado, tomatoe and cheese sandwhich looked really good and I would get that next time. All meals served with homefries.

My main beef with this place is price. $10 for a quesadilla and a smallish mound of home fries? Yes, it was tasty, but a one thumb up and one down in the value department (or neutral for the mathematically challenged).

Fressen

Went with the brunch crowd to Fressen (Vegan, Queen West). Three people had my usual brunch item, sweet potatoe with corn fritters (come with about 8 side dishes and fruit). I tried a more lunch type item, a black bean avocado wrap with brown rice, dahl, salsa, guacamole, fruit. Quite tasty overall, the rest of the crew seemed to like their waffles, stews etc. The tea is kind of a fun item to get. Same with the fresh fruit juices.

Final verdict is Very Tasty with a 1 thumb up for price (most dishes $8-9 for ALOT of food).

Cora's

Ian and I met up with my friends Robyn and Stephen for some brunch at Cora's downtown. Ian and I live a mere 2 minutes from the place but have never been due to the usually very long line-up outside. We arrived at 11 today and got in right away much to our surprise. Ian and I were thinking that Cora's was a independent TO thing, but Robyn and Stephen, who are from Montreal, said they know it is the "Chez Cora" chain on restaurants.

The menu was pretty extensive, lots of waffles, pancakes, crepes etc and the selection was rather overwhelming. Ian got some chocolate, banana waffle type item and I had an apple caramel crepe. They were both pretty good, but rather expensive at $9 each with no sides whatsover. The verdit, good but pricey and we will probably stay home and make some equally tasty home-made waffles instead!

Foggy Dew

I went for some brunch today with some friends. It's on King west of bathurst. The place was a cute pub withs some decent food. I had french toast with some weird banana type topping for $6.95. Seemed a bit overpriced since I could have made the equivalent for about $1 at home. Anyway, if you are into brunch go to Fressen (in the area, on Queen) or try making something at home. If you are into pubs or drinking, try the Foggy Dew.