Breaking Brunch Regiment - Régine Café

(Sidebar: Okay, I'll be completely honest about my lack of blogging. Basically, Google is being an utter asshat, which has really put me off blogging. But my friend took me to this brunch spot a couple of months ago, which sparked something in my cold, Google-hate-filled heart. A second visit cinched it; I had to share this discovery with whatever few followers I had left.)

I know that brunch is a huge thing in Montreal. I mean, we probably have as many brunch spots as we do Starbucks, which is to say about five on every street corner (Starbucks... wat r u doing... Starbucks... stahp). To be completely frank, I never understood the fascination. Very few brunch places have every wowed me (Prohibition), and even then, on a scale of glassy-dead-fish eyes to giant-round-dinner-plate eyes, it only scored an eyebrow quirk and a slight surprised widening. For other much praise-lauded venues, I just didn't really understand the hype (Allo Mon Coco, L'Avenue - although the decor for the latter definitely gets brownie points). They were decent, but there wasn't anything that stood out about the food.

And then I met Régine. Oh, Régine. It really was food-love at first sight.

I mean, she really had the whole package going for her. Quirky but chic good looks, a menu with a unique personality, scrumptious food, voluptuous portions... 

Gawd, stop me before I embarrass myself!

Avenue O for Omnomnom - L'Avenue

L'Avenue is somewhat well-known in Montreal as the brunch place to go to, which is probably why it has insane line ups every day. From the outside, it's a pretty inconspicuous restaurant, with just a window lined with Nutella jars and fresh fruit that gives you a peek to the kitchen area behind the counters, and another window with a really odd-looking mannequin. That might explain whey my friend and I walked right past this place without a second glance while looking for it. Although how we managed to miss the epic long line-up leading up to the restaurant is beyond me... Because if you're planning on visiting L'Avenue, you better be prepared to wait for it.

There are no Prohibitions when it comes to brunch - Prohibition

I've noticed that there's a distinct lack of brunch posts on my blog, and I must rectify that situation. I've always been rather indifferent towards brunch, since the brunch places I most often frequent are the generic brunch franchises, and I usually only order the typical eggs with bacon. I figured, just how interesting can brunch get? Well, with sugar bacon and fried chicken, apparently, pretty darn interesting.

Knock knock. Who's there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you glad I went to Orange Café?

I know brunch is pretty big in Montreal, considering how there's a brunch restaurant on practically every street corner, but I've been to so many bad brunch restaurants that I've just lost interest in the concept altogether. I guess that's also because I haven't been actively seeking the good brunch places, but they're all so far away... Anyway, during one of my rare visits to NDG, my friend and I decided to check out a local brunch favourite, called Orange Café .