Brad's Takeout and Eatery for brunch

I have been walking past Brad's Eatery for a year, often stopping to check the menu, and I've always past it by.  My thought was that the food prices didn't match up with the way the restaurant looks inside.  There are plain black lacquered tables and chairs, checkered floors and what looks like an espresso bar towards the back.  I felt wary of a place that has $18 entrees but the feel of a coffee shop.  Maybe the food wouldn't be that good?

On Saturday we went for brunch.  I heard rumour of a sun room out back, so we walked the length of the restaurant and discovered a beautiful back room with whitewashed brick walls and lofty ceilings. While eating you can gaze into their sunny back garden.  It's a really interesting space that was such a pleasant surprise.

Everything on the brunch menu looked great, and ranged in price from $8-$13, it was hard to decide.  We started with an orange juice, $3 and a mimosa, $6.50 while we read it over.  The mimosa came in a wine glass, which I thought was strange, but halfway through I was glad of its largesse!  We finally decided on the omelette for $9 and the pancakes for $8.50.  The omelette comes with portobella mushrooms and rapini cooked right into the eggs which are folded over oven dried tomatoes and lots of goat cheese.  It was so much better than having all the ingredients in the centre, its exactly the way I like it.  I chose the salad, dressed with a light vinegrette, as a side and then ordered a plate of homefries for $2.75, to share.  The rye toast was a little chewy, but that was my only complaint.  One other comment, not so much a complaint but an question of personal taste; I thought the homefries tasted too much of paprika, while my friend thought they were delicious.

The pancakes are light and fluffy and come with a choice of two 'delicious toppings'.  He chose blueberries and caramelized bananas, which came sumptuously piled right on top.  They taste as gorgeous as they look!

The service was friendly but just the right amount of friendly, never intrusive.  The bill came to just over $30 before tip.  Next time I indulge in the Torontonian pastime of brunching you may just find me back at Brad's!  This experience was a reminder of the age old adage --don't judge a book by its cover.

Brad's Takeout and Eatery
325 Roncesvalles Ave
Toronto ON M6R 2M6
416 533-2723 

When I told our server about my allergies (to nuts, peanuts, seafood and fish) she told me that they couldn't gaurentee that food hadn't come in contact with nuts or fish because they have them in the kitchen.  I told her it would be a problem, for example that if my omelette was cooked on a flat top that had previously grilled fish. She spoke to the kitchen and told me I would be ok.