SuWu ▪ Montréal

3581 St Laurent Street
Montréal, Québec
514.564.5074
website

SuWu newly launched a brunch menu and invited us to try a couple of dishes. Located on Saint-Laurent, which is not known for brunch, it was quiet when we got there at 11 AM (brunch is served between 11 AM and 3 PM on Saturday and Sunday), but not quiet inside. The music was not really my taste at that time of day. The restaurant is beautifully decorated with a just rustic enough cabin look.

SuWu interiors.

The café allongé (~$3) was served with a shot glass of milk, to which MrDee asked if that was by design or if they had not received creamers yet! I thought it was an original detail. This speaks to Saint-Laurent being better known for drinking than brunching. If you're looking for something spiked, on offer are endless mimosas for $35 and brunch bowls ($30 for 4 people).

Elle went the healthy route and ordered the smoothie of the day, which had cucumber, kiwi and coconut. It was refreshing and a unique combination (~$4-5). You can also order it with alcohol, which makes it a bit less healthy!

Smoothie.

MrDee ordered the SuWu BLT ($9), made up of peameal, tomato, lettuce and a fried egg. He seemed to enjoy his BLT; his only comment being that the amount of mayo was a bit excessive. The portion seemed on the small side for the price. The accompanying hashbrown was a solid block of grated potato that was fried to a crisp. Elle thought it was very good but slightly underseasoned.

SuWu BLT.

Elle ordered the egg in a basket ($13), which consisted of a savoury bread pudding with mushrooms, bacon, and an egg in the middle. Unfortunately, as there were so many ingredients, the egg nestled inside was not cooked at all. Elle likes her yolk runny but the egg whites were fully clear coloured. Our waitress was very nice in taking back the dish and making sure the egg came back cooked.

Egg in a basket ($13).

I went all out and ordered the Fried Chicken French Toast ($12). This provides great bang for your buck: three slices of French and three pieces of boneless fried chicken, topped with blueberry sauce. The blueberry sauce was different and there wasn't enough for the French toast, so I asked for some syrup. The fried chicken was definitely a home run! The chicken was moist, very well seasoned with an interesting mix of spices (Elle thought Chinese four spice while it reminded me of Indian spices) and crispy. Very happy with my choice!

Fried Chicken French Toast.

It's hard for us to pass on donuts when they're available so we ordered the mini-donuts ($5) which came with a strawberry jam. The donuts were warm and soft on the inside, a perfect vehicle to scoop some jam. Mini-donuts are definitely worth ordering on the side!

Donuts.

SuWu offers a unique brunch menu in a hip setting. There were a few vegetarian options including a baked egg on avocado and breakfast nachos. They might have to work over a few kinks from their new menu but overall we enjoyed the food. It seems they take reservations which is always a plus when going out during the busy brunch time. The dinner menu also seems fun and affordable. Will have to check it out!

Prohibition ▪ Montréal

5674 Monkland Avenue
Montréal, Québec
514.481.8466
website

It seems all of my favourite Montréal food blogs have already posted about Prohibition. For good reason: it's a terrific brunch spot! We headed there for Elle's birthday before Christmas. It is located on busy Monkland Avenue in a semi-basement that was not too dark.

Prohibition has a small menu with unique items. The men of our group ordered the maple fried challah French toast with fried chicken ($13). Two large pieces of deep fried challah bread accompanied a piece of crispy chicken. It's a very impressive plate and Mr. Dee (Elle's hubby) seemed to really enjoy it. I wish that the bread wasn't deep fried because I would definitely have ordered it; it just seems a bit too heavy for me.

French toast and fried chicken.

Instead, I ordered the lemon ricotta pancakes served with blueberry compote and sugar bacon ($13). I'm not usually a pancake person, but ricotta pancakes appealed to me and I'm wild about anything with blueberries. The four pancakes made for an impressive stack and the ricotta ensured they were light and fluffy. I was worried the thick cut bacon would not be crispy but I had nothing to worry about. I was very happy with my choice, combining sweet and savoury. I would probably order this again, even though I'd be tempted to try other dishes. 

 Ricotta pancakes, blueberry compote and thick cut bacon.

Elle and our friend MJ ordered the breakfast sandwich ($12), which consisted of an egg over easy and peameal bacon served in an English muffin. Elle seemed to enjoy her sandwich, after squirting me with her runny yolk, and the very generous portion of fries, that I was happy to help her finish. Those were good fries.

Breakfast sandwich.

I might be biased since it's in my neighbourhood and just a few minutes' walk from my place, but I think Prohibition is a great brunch spot for a number of reasons. The food was excellent and the plates plentiful. I liked the original breakfast items. Not ordered were also huevos rancheros and shakshouka. The service was very attentive: so much so, that I had to tell the waitress to leave my tissues on the table, while she keenly picked them up to throw them away. Finally, the big plus is that Prohibition takes reservations! No waiting in line, wondering when you'll get to enjoy brunch!

MAC 24/7 ▪ Waikiki

2500 Kuhio Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii
808.921.5564
website

At the luau, Cee and I were seated with a couple on their honeymoon who had gone to Mac 24/7 for breakfast that morning. Although we weren't interested in their infamous pancake challenge, we still decided to check it out for lunch after taking a look at their menu online. The restaurant has a diner feel when you enter, but the dining room has quite a modern decor.

MAC 24/7.

I had read a blog post that the pineapple dreamsicle shake ($5) was delicious and unique. I rarely order large filling drinks because I worry about not having any room left for real food. However, the pineapple shake was worth it and truly amazing. Dreamy indeed! It was thick, rich, creamy and full of pineapple flavour! (I'm thinking this is worth trying to replicate as a low calorie version!)

Pineapple Dreamsicle Shake.

While Cee knew she wanted to continue her love affair with fried chicken by ordering the fried chicken and waffles ($18), I hum and hawed. On the one hand, it's rare to encounter fried chicken and waffles (in Canada anyway). On the other hand, I was worried that the portion would be large after witnessing the huge pancakes being eaten. I asked the waiter, and decided to go for the fried chicken and waffles.

Waffles.

The minute the plate hit the table I regretted my choice instantaneously. The portion was huge and I wasn't feeling up to eating that much (and I hate waste but we were going home soon). I did my best and ate 1 waffle and maybe 2 pieces of chicken. I honestly don't remember if it was good because I felt so overwhelmed. I was also disappointed by the corn syrup, being the spoiled Canadian girl that I am.

Fried Chicken.

Overall, Mac 24/7 was good but I couldn't help feeling disappointed. I felt slightly misled because I had inquired about the size of the dish. Also, E got the wrong dish and the mistake barely registered with our server. I would recommend going there for the pineapple shake. If you do go for the pancake challenge, I think you need a good group of 4-6 people to eat all of it!

Wild Blueberry Pancakes

One of the best thing about camping is making breakfast outdoors.  The first morning we were camping in Cape Cod, we kept it simple.  Coffee in a French press while I fried eggs and bacon.  Thick cut maple smoked bacon from the butcher counter at Whole Foods.  It was the best.

But on our bike ride we picked some wild blueberries and I knew that they would go in my favourite pancake recipe.  I received this recipe on a recipe swap and it is just the best recipe for no fail light and fluffy pancakes.

(Em's) Great Uncle Nestor's Pancakes (Serves 4-6)

* 2 cups milk
* 2 cups flour
* 2 eggs
* 1 Tbsp  sugar
* 2 Tbsp baking powder

Whisk eggs and milk.
Mix dry ingredients.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
Do not overmix (should be slightly lumpy).
Add fruit as desired.

Cooking up pancakes.

NOTE: For camping I had measured the dry ingredients into a container. At the site, I just had to whisk the egg and milk (preferably in a pourable container) and add the premixed pre-measured dry ingredients.