Welcome to The Brunch Buzz!  A new feature on my blog that will focus on one of my favourite meals.  Mostly because its not just a meal occasion but its actually a complete outing especially in our lovely city.  A typical outing for brunch goes like this, as I discovered on the sunny Monday of this past long weekend.  You get out the door probably around 11ish, get to your location of choice, wait about an hour, spend another hour eating and then either head to a second venue or right back home for nap time/hangover recovery.  See?  Full on outing.

I was having a lazy Sunday trying to figure out what I was going to eat when I got the life saving text “Wanna do brunch?”. Best. Text. Ever.  We decided to head out to Saving Grace on Dundas West which was thankfully open.  Its a cute little spot just west of Bathurst that probably seats about 20 people at one time on two different levels.  No frills, just simple seating, quaint decor and a cozy, welcoming vibe.

I do have to say, the one thing that probably prevents me from going out to brunch more often is that the most sought after places in the city don’t take reservations and you will absolutely come face to face with a line up and a wait at least 30 minutes.  Unfortunately our wait was almost an hour but we toughed it out and were finally seated.  The wait staff was mostly friendly except for the girl that oddly sat us (party of 4) at a table meant for 3 and a party of 3 at the bar that was clearly meant for 4 people.  Odd.

They have a standard menu and featured specials that change every so often.  After reading the menu and the specials its like short term memory loss kicked in and we forgot about the long wait, our tired feet and squishy seating.

Between the four of us we ordered:

Scrambled Eggs with corn, cheddar, bacon in tortillas topped with avocado puree and pumpkin seed pesto
Panfried Eggs with turkey sausage, green beens and spicy tomato chutney
Quesadillas with chevre, roasted red onions, roasted red peppers, avocado and sambal tomato salsa
French toast with caramelized bananas (half portion)

All the dishes come with a mixed green salad and smashed crispy potatoes.  Now if only I could have been prepared for the portion sizes!  The food was SO GOOD, definitely one of my top picks for brunch mostly because the food choices were so unexpected.  We all had a really hard time deciding what to get which is never a bad thing.  I opted for the scrambled eggs because I saw it in through the window at someone else’s table and it looked incredible.  I think this picture does it justice and might I add #nofilter on every picture in this post!

The scrambled eggs were cooked with cheddar cheese, generous pieces of bacon and corn and then wrapped tightly in these really light tortillas.  Perfect little breakfast burrito.  The one thing that was making me hesitate ordering this dish was the pumpkin seed pesto but when combined with the avocado puree it was delish and the perfect combo to the eggs.   I only had a few bites of the salad and the smashed potatoes but ate every bite of those tortillas.

We got the French Toast to share with the table and if you like sweet dishes over savoury ones for breakfast then this one is a solid option.  Crispy yet soft toast topped with caramelized bananas  for the those looking to indulge.

I didn’t have the other two dishes but have to show you the pictures so you can see the portion sizes and the sheer presentation that was matched equally with taste and satisfaction.

Pan Fried Eggs, Photo Credit: Karen D’Souza

Quesadillas, Photo Credit: Seema Doad

This is definitely not one of your run of the mill bacon and eggs places but if you are willing to go outside of the box you will NOT be disappointed.  My love affair with brunch will continue with more visits to Saving Grace in the future.

Discover Saving Grace:
Instagram:  @savinggraceto