SubscribeBREAKFAST APRIL 28, 2007
I figure most people my age have a breakfast place; the place they usually go when they roll out of bed on a Saturday or Sunday morning, with or without friends, for something a little better to eat than they get throughout the week. I’ve been in a transitional phase for a while–without a breakfast place of my own. Oh, I’ve been through a few of them since I came to Montreal. Living in the McGill Ghetto for so long, I still have a strong attachment to Place Milton, my first Montreal breakfast place. Despite serving a better (but unexceptional) breakfast, Place Milton was supplanted by McGill Pizza at some point, primarily because I lived across the street. Which leads us to an interesting point about the breakfast place. Even for a food snob, a breakfast place is less about the food and more about convenience. Still, you would ideally like to get a healthy dose of both.
Sure, there are a few places that can serve a good breakfast. At various times I have been impressed by Le Petit Pistou, Olive & Gourmnando, Green Café and even Café Melies. My favorite place to eat breakfast in Montreal is actually by the golf course in Rosemere and goes by the improbable name of Le Petit Cochon Santé. But none of these places is convenient enough to be the breakfast place.
At first glance Spice Safar, beside the Jean-Talon market, does not look like a breakfast place. The inside looks like a nightclub with TVs on the wall streaming bizarre shorts, it has a corner to sell CDs, clothes and other merchandise, the covered terrace looks like a Turkish pillow fight and the ambient techno plays 24-7.
The brunch menu (Spice Safar doesn’t open until 9 a.m.) features a selection of sweet and savoury dishes featuring exotic ingredients. I am a bit of a ham and eggs man at breakfast time and have been concentrating on the savoury bits. This morning I had a maple glazed ham, Japanese pear, cheese and almond omelette. Like all of Spice Safar’s savoury brunch offerings, it came with roasted baby tomatoes, a tangle of aragula with avocado and mango, a zuchini and onion rösti and whole wheat brioche toast. The omelette wasn’t a home run as the blend of pungent cheese overpowered the other flavours but it was still pretty good and I have had enough meals here to know they usually do much better. The JJ had the Spice Safar version of eggs benedict which are perfectly poached and served with smoked salmon on brioche with little bowls of fresh cut herbs and a blend of crushed spice on the side.
On the way out I bagged a chocolate hazelnut danish and a mini 3-chocolate loaf for the road. All the bread and pastries are made on site with organic ingredients. My only regret about Spice Safar is that it is bound to become popular. When I can’t get a table anymore I may have to look for a new breakfast place.
Spice Safar (Jean-Talon Market)
77 Shamrock Ave.
Cost with tip: $40
Rating: Have to give at least three stars as I go every weekend.
Congratulations for this blog. Indeed I never would have thought Spice Safar was a breakfast place.
But a real breakfast place must be open by 7am at the latest, no?
A technical question – if I include my e-mail will it show up on my posting? I’m perfectly comfy with sending it to you, but I don’t want it appearing publicly.
Bon appétit!
I guess it depends how late you get up! Agreed that the problem with Spice Safar is that it opens too late! But I was there on the weekend and there were a lot more people than in the past, so maybe it is catching on. Plus, there is not much else that I have liked in the neighbourhood to be frank.
In response to the technical question I am learning bit by bit myself and had not considered the e-mail question. I will have to look into this, but I edit all comments before they are posted and will not include any personal information unless someone requests that it be included.
Thelonious
I guess I’m REALLY not a breakfast person – couldn’t conceive of spending $40 on such fuel that I must force myself to eat for health reasons. (I get up VERY early – habit and European clients – so breakfast is fruit, coffee, bread from the market, or even certain kinds of leftovers).
But I’m glad it exists and is decent so I can tell breakfast aficionados in the neighbourhood.
I don’t know if I’d be willing to recommend it anymore after a couple of bad experiences there. It was very good the first 3-4 times but quality dropped of substantially the last two times we were there and we just haven’t gone back. Breakfast-wise the best option near JTM is probably to get fresh ingredients and make your own….but somtimes you REALLY don’t feel like it.
Thelonious
Taking advantage of the site migration to follow up on old posts. Spice Safar went down quickly after it started trying to be open every day like a regular restaurant and after a couple of bad breakfasts we stopped going and I became more and more embarassed with this review. Thankfully, it went out of business and that location now houses Basi, which has done its best to shoehorn the eclectic Spice Safar into looking like a respectable Italian restaurant. My breakfasts at JTM are now mostly at Cafe-In, where the food isn’t great but the people watching is just fine.
Thelonious