This charming Bloorcourt restaurant recently launched a midday take on its flavourful Lebanese eats. Cheese lovers will be pleased with Little Sito’s signature offerings: poached eggs on halloumi, and fried eggs topped with shanklish, a soft cheese popular in Lebanon. For omnivores, lamb sausages (made by Sanagan’s Meat Locker in Kensington) can be added as a side to any order.
Momofuku’s swanky, modern, glass-enclosed dining space offers a brunch that’s not to be missed. Chef de cuisine Paula Navarrete keeps things family-style and familiar, but she has added her own flair with dishes such as steak and eggs: sliced strip loin with scallion pancakes, kimchi and fried eggs. If you want to step it up a notch, go for the massive bagel feasting platter, which is piled high with scrambled eggs, smoked fish mousse, breakfast sausage and toasted bagels.
Normally we’d recommend you head uptown for proper Iranian food, but College Street’s Takht-e Tavoos – from the owners of Pomegranate – presents Iranian breakfast and brunch in its truest form. Guests feast on bowls of haleem (porridge) and dizi sangi (lamb stew), while adventurous eaters come here for the signature kalleh pacheh: a soup made from sheep’s head, tongue and hooves.
Lisa Marie
638 Queen St. W.
While Lisa Marie’s dinner menu emphasizes hip, small plates, brunch at this Elvis-themed restaurant is about huge portions of dishes that are as imaginative as they are indulgent. Chef Matt Basile’s Fidel Gastro food truck is known for its over-the-top sandwiches, so it’s no surprise that Lisa Marie’s brunch menu includes decadent stacked creations like the Double Pancake Pork Burgers — that’s two pork burger patties sandwiched between pancake buns. Most plates come with the option to add the food truck’s famous pad thai fries as a side and we highly recommend that you do.
Kyla Zanardi
Chef Ben Denham, who made a name for himself at Electric Mud BBQ and Grand Electric, moved to the east end to open this artisanal diner a few months ago. If you haven’t been yet, go now. Denham offers classic diner fare (such as English breakfast) and items that channel the American south. The menu is seasonal, and the pastries are the best part. After you’ve had a plate of southern grits, order the house-made doughnuts – they sell out fast.
Maha’s brought a much-needed breath of fresh air to Toronto when it opened a few years ago. It looks and feels like a restaurant straight out of the ’burbs, but it happens to be in the city’s Leslieville/Little India corridor. A family-run operation – mom and daughter in the kitchen, son managing the dining room – cranks out some of the most authentic Egyptian fare this city has seen. Don’t miss the falafel with soft-boiled eggs and the shakshuka (sautéed tomatoes with eggs).
