tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61051154119816796102026-06-09T02:39:53.174-04:00The adventures of 8 Ottawa residents in search of the perfect Ottawa Breakfast is now available as a blog. This group of a core of 6 and 2 'maybe's search Ottawa each Sunday for the perfect place for food, service, choice and free coffee and have been meeting up for almost 2 years and it's about time it was made into some sort of 'record' so that others may benefit from our adventures in eggs and toast and coffee.drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-50098497404704691212012-12-02T16:26:00.000-05:002012-12-02T16:26:42.616-05:00

Firstly, there are no pictures of the food today - we all had the buffet so pics wouldn't really represent any levels of presentation, you can't praise or fault a place for me dolloping stuff on my own plate! I've wanted to go to Spin Kitchen for a while now, mainly since Don Chow of Foodieprints reviewed the place it seemed like a no brainer to try it for brunch one Sunday. Now, for

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-63314788567539843042012-11-15T10:28:00.001-05:002012-11-15T10:28:54.575-05:00

Look, this blog is tiny - it probably has a hand-full of readers, mostly friends and a a few locals who are interested in food of the brunch/egg variety! I really don't expect to be invited to every new restaurant opening or special event - it's not like I weald some local power over Ottawa to somehow get them to go to places to eat. So, when I do get invited to an opening AND I'm not working

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-59789280623224873742012-11-15T09:52:00.000-05:002012-11-15T09:52:39.393-05:00

OK, so a bit of a round up of recent places we've been as I've been very tardy on the blogging front and I'm sure I've lost readers, but as Joy says on The View, "so what, who cares?" We have returned to the Back Lane Cafe a couple times, mainly to check out what their new star chef has done to the menu (Michael Hay is their new Head Chef). He doesn't disappoint! The first time we sampled

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-83326928670826515282012-04-29T21:17:00.000-04:002012-04-29T21:17:24.146-04:00

What happens when 12 people descend on a cafe for brunch on a Sunday when they are used to maybe tables of 2 or 4 at the most, and also staggered - well, actually they do ok! We've intended to try the Daily Grind for a while now and this week was the week. The menu is small and limited but has a range of dishes that seemed to cater for everyone's taste. Cafe au Lait A couple of tables

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-80881556167322705662012-04-22T19:32:00.001-04:002012-04-22T19:32:50.309-04:00

Ok, so it's been a while since we all went out to brunch and what a brunch to come back to - full of drama , good food, bad food, good service and tasty pulled pork bennys - OR not? Berrymans is on Bank just south of Gladstone and it's a small sports bar that offers a limited brunch menu - one which we sampled today. Coffee was good - big mugs and tasty. Breakfast menu was a small one - and

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-59314461379992348642012-03-18T19:52:00.002-04:002012-03-18T19:52:30.703-04:00

Great weather this weekend March 18th and it's 24c by the car's thermometre. Brunch was at the Empire Grill, one of the only places in the Bytown Market not to have their patio open - all the others decided to pay the fine the City imposes on them for having their patio open before April 1st. We still had the nice big table just by the patio doors - which we had open, most of the time. The

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-473846610576435022012-03-04T15:48:00.000-05:002012-03-04T15:48:56.169-05:00

The Mill used to be a roast beef restaurant on the river by the Portage Bridge - it didn't get very good reviews anywhere you looked and so people didn't go - or very few because it got bought by the Mill St. Brewery, a micro-brewery and restaurant outfit who have a place in Toronto. Appropriately now called The Mill St. Brewpub, Ottawa. A total refit, installation of some mash bins and

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-12723918287614856262012-02-26T15:21:00.001-05:002012-02-26T20:22:15.347-05:00

We had to go to a family birthday lunch/brunch today so Mrs Drude and I were apart from the rest of the OBC and were off to Moxie's (Ogilvie Road). I didn't think to take pics as it can sometimes be annoying for others having to have a camera or phone shoved in their food before they eat it so it's an old fashioned  blog-post this week - I'll just have to describe the food as best I can.

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-83754539039825763732012-02-19T14:57:00.000-05:002012-02-19T14:57:36.534-05:00

The nice thing about familiar and comfortable is that you relax and feel at ease. When we brunch at a fine dining place we talk about the food more, we comment on the service and we are oft ready with an opinion or a critique of some such part of the food or service or decor or whatever. This morning we hardly spoke of the food (it was good, as usual) we didn't think to comment on the service

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-46432236152729557432012-01-29T14:32:00.000-05:002012-01-29T14:46:43.157-05:00

Marketing, in whatever form it takes, is very important for any business and especially so for a restaurant -  you need to send the messages regarding Who you are, What you provide, When you will supply 'it' and Where you are so people can find you. When it was suggested that we try The Prescott for brunch this week it wasn't immediately obvious from their web site that they did brunch

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-83293856285599000372012-01-22T16:36:00.000-05:002012-01-22T16:36:28.456-05:00

When a group embarks on an exploration of brunch it's so easy to get caught up in the $15 plates and $2.50 coffee that ends up with tax and tip costing almost $50 for two people. There is nothing wrong with the $15 brunch plate - as long as it 'delivers' - and there are some fine places in our city to try these brunches, a number we've been to and reviews can be found here on this blog. Fraser

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-12911088185675956312012-01-20T13:49:00.000-05:002012-01-20T15:20:01.323-05:00

It occurred to me recently that I do a weekly review of places we (Ottawa Breakfast Club) brunch and maybe it's about time to do the odd 'tip' post based on and collated from these reviews - a service within a service, if you will. Maybe you are searching for a place to go this weekend and rather than reading every blog post I could help out a little by providing a mini round-up of places

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-63421514871501330492012-01-15T14:33:00.000-05:002012-01-15T14:33:24.502-05:00

In my weekly job as recorder of the brunch, blogger critic, whatever this is called, it may surprise you that I do not enjoy reporting bad places or writing any negative comments whatsoever; I still do it, as reporting the exact experience is all part of the service - I just feel bad when I have to do it. This week I will be entirely loving this blog post and not feeling bad in any way shape

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-15435661407360446142012-01-08T16:43:00.000-05:002012-01-08T16:43:43.496-05:00

Our first new year's outing as the Ottawa Breakfast Club finds us at the big table at the back of the recently opened (November 2011) Hintonburg Public House at 1020 Wellington St. West. Some illness kept a couple away but we were a happy six this fine mild winter's Sunday.  Some of us have been here for dinner pre-christmas so we had some idea of what the place was/is about when it

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-71000052499811647272011-12-18T22:19:00.001-05:002011-12-18T22:19:52.644-05:00

Just the two of us this week for Sunday brunch and as we took the dog to Petsmart for a Christmas groom we decided to try Nate's Deli which is the new site of the famous Nate's that used to be opposite the Bytown Cinema on Rideau Street. Nate's was an institution that was demolished to make way for something new that wouldn't ever be as good as the old place but apparently the owner thought

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-53434190847169477012011-12-11T14:41:00.001-05:002011-12-11T15:39:49.948-05:00

I always thought that Cozys should have an apostrophe, as per the restaurant of Cozy, thus: Cozy's - I'll get to the bottom of this at some stage but it now appears they have added the '! Anyway, we went for an 'economy' breakfast this week and there were going to be a lot of us so we decided the big table at Cozy's would do just fine. As it turned out a couple of the 'Club' were at a concert in

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-54664366470226538682011-12-03T13:11:00.001-05:002011-12-03T13:13:30.321-05:00

Due to the Craft Walk involving the Daily Grind, Shanghai Restaurant and Raw Sugar we are not brunching this week - add to that that we are off to Montreal overnight to see a 'gig' - go to the Craft Walk though - it'll be fun and we might see you all there around 2ish. Until next week, be safe, Drude

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-44950935023281910782011-11-27T15:00:00.001-05:002011-11-27T16:08:04.253-05:00

It seems we are addicted to this place and find ourselves in our usual seats at the Back Lane Cafe which has some nice new interior faux windows and shutters on the wall. Apparently the place became a tad noisy when busy and these new additions deaden the sound a bit. I didn't think it was a problem but in any case - they look good. Menu additions and changes that we noticed were a Tomato

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-80756014966361152122011-11-25T16:45:00.001-05:002011-11-25T17:03:49.079-05:00

In my review of Art-Is-In bakeries brunch a few weeks ago I made reference to an improvement that they could make with regard to increasing their floor space and seating area. Well, I popped in for a coffee and a croissant this morning and they've taken down a wall and added 2 more tables and about 10 chairs. I have no idea if this is in any way connected to our OBC blog nor do I know if the

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-55409661606198900862011-11-20T14:59:00.001-05:002011-11-20T16:28:03.787-05:00

When pubs do food you don't expect too much from them, except when it comes to the basics of a brunch menu. Did Atomic Rooster get the basics right? Well, yes and no! It's a mixed experience here, this week, but let's qualify this a bit. It's a pub, so don't expect table cloths, homemade ketchup and silver cutlery. Atomic Rooster is a medium sized pub on Bank Street between

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-7823512307209918702011-11-13T15:14:00.001-05:002011-11-13T16:14:25.378-05:00

Sunday is a day of rest but also of change. Today we started brunch at Noon rather than our usual 11am, mainly as No.1 son needed dropping off at the 'orientation' for his new job in a new restaurant in town (more to be revealed soon). We actually also decided to move all future brunches to Noon as it was deemed far more civilised. We also welcomed a new member to the group, voted in and

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-91578112923808321802011-11-06T15:32:00.000-05:002011-11-06T15:58:28.234-05:00

Seldom do we all agree to visit a new place again so quickly, but the Back Lane Cafe had so many great sounding (and tasting) items on their brunch menu last week that another visit was in order so that we may quench ourselves of the 'fare'. I don't know if I just hadn't found them or they set it up in the last week but they have a Twitter account now, so you can follow them (@backlanecafe)

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-5309840999646299052011-10-30T16:01:00.001-04:002011-11-01T09:05:24.715-04:00

A cafe so new that the web site isn't up yet, there is no Facebook page but they do have a twitter feed to follow (@backlanecafe). The Back Lane Cafe is in Hintonburg where the Ethiopian Cafe was next to Giant Tiger. We've had it in our periphery vision recently so it was time to try it out as the Ottawa Breakfast Club. We walked into a revamped cafe with interesting art on the walls hung

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-39947687023578057352011-10-26T09:49:00.000-04:002011-10-26T09:49:48.017-04:00

I got my thinking cap on this morning and remembered that we did, indeed, go to somewhere new (to the OBC) recently but I didn't post anything. This post hopefully rectifies that omission. Art-Is-In bakery and cafe is in a strange location, not for a bakery, but for a cafe/bistro type affair. City Centre is a well known light industrial complex that, among other businesses, houses printers,

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6105115411981679610.post-75295936166647849262011-10-24T14:05:00.000-04:002011-10-24T14:10:44.026-04:00

It's been a while, but until recently there really hasn't been any new places to write about (unless you count the paint and carpet job at Cozys, which is just 'that' and a dip in food quality and taste). Well that's controversial in and of itself, having a 'go' at our mainstay of a Sunday breakfast in the first paragraph! When you 'revamp' a place as 'under new management' and assume

drudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09332868468391265601noreply@blogger.com0