LUXOMME

SMASH BRUNCH

___________________________

Saturday mornings are for lazy sleep ins, rolling around in bed and hearty brunches.

Last weekend, these two lovely girls flew in from Winnipeg to visit me for the weekend in #the6ix. They thought they were coming to see the CN tower, but instead were given a full blown food tour of the city instead.

Smash is a special place for me for many reasons, but mainly because it's one of the only places in the city that I'll often crave on a Saturday morning whenever someone mentions brunch.

Their fare is simple with a short but diverse list of eggs benny and omelettes to french toast and chicken and waffles. The options are limited enough to not be overwhelming, but wide enough so you feel like you have a good selection.

My go-to is their classic eggs benedict with the meatiest ham possible. Their eggs are always perfectly done and it comes with a generous heaping of potatoes by default but I like to switch it out for an equally generous serving of fruit.

The girls went for the clubhouse sandwich and an omelette respectively. which judging by their expressions was as delicious as you would expect. All the brunch items come with the choice of making it into a prix fixe for a flat price of $20, which includes tea/coffee, a brunch entree and a choice between three of their decadent desserts.

Would recommend sitting on the patio if you come on a bright sunny day like we did, but do bring sunscreen so you prevent those nasty burns! The cherry on top is that main street Unionville is also a short 10 minute walk away, so enjoy yourselves but leave enough room for ice cream at the Old Firehall Confectionary!

All in all a perfect way to start our day.

A few weeks ago, I was procrastinating on Instagram when a photo popped up of the most delicious brunch spread. 

Going through a brunch phase, I was eager to find out more about this place and found out that Vogue  had recommended as a must try place in the Prairies. They praise it to being a restaurant that is "upping the breakfast game in a bacon-and-egg town" and describes the vibe as being "both a turkish cave and an airy Soho loft"

They weren't lying.

 Taking with me on this adventure is Karen, who maybe loves food as much as I do. 

We had a morning off from classes and was going to get our eyelash extensions done, but I kibosh that plan and convinced her to go for brunch with me.

This girl doesn't need the extensions anyways.

We arrived promptly at 10:30, which is prime brunch time, and pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Karen, who is clearly more on top of the restaurant game than I am, is a frequent here and expertly guided me through the menu. 

"You must try the smoked artic char!" she smiled.

After 15 minutes, we still hadn't made a decision, so she put on her thinking face and before we knew it, food magically appeared on our table!

The first dish that arrived at our table was the Smoked Artic Char [13], which features cubes of cured char on top of a crispy potato cake, garnished with creme fraiche, horseradish and cured dill cucumbers. 

Karen raved about it so much that I had to try it. 

 The second dish was Turkish Eggs [9], which were poached eggs served on a bed of hummus with a side of house-made sourdough bread. Talk about absolute comfort food.

Third dish that came (p.s we're sharing) was what I was most excited about. Coconut chia seed pudding, yoghurt, rose and date syrup, and garnished with raspberries and granola. [7]

Heavenly.

 Karen, being a blogger herself, is a natural when it comes to being in front of the camera and behind. Not only did she patiently wait for me to finish going snap-happy with the food, she helped me arrange it so that I could get optimal lighting.

#brunchdategoals right here.

Famished, we decided to start digging into our food.

Feeling stuffed, satisfied and deliciously happy, this beats going to class any day.

naomi

Can we just take a moment to appreciate this.

For those of you who have no idea what's going on, I was in your position - three months ago.

I've recently moved in Toronto (more accurately the GTA), and as if this was all planned, my new place is situated basically in between all of the restaurants that I've been wanting to try out for ages. Gonoe, Cho Sun Ok, and Kobi.

So that's what I did.

And I dragged along someone with me.

A new face on my blog, I originally tried to convince him to go to Gonoe (for the live moving octopus and sushi!), but this guy hates - like hates with a capital H - sushi, for a reason that still escapes me.

Let's pause for a moment. Who doesn't like sushi! 

Our order of dakgalbi comes in a large iron pan surrounded by a mixture of cheese and corn. The chicken itself is marinated in a spicy sauce, topped with onions, and mixed in with carrots, cabbage, and rice cakes. Add ons are available at an additional charge - rice, more rice cake, ramen, udon etc.

While we waited for the chicken to cook and for the cheese to melt down, I made this guy flash his billion dollar smile for my camera.

This sort of moment needs to be captured.

We can eat, but first - let me take a picture. 

Once it's cooked down, you can see the flavours meld together into a indulgently savory dish. We've got thick pieces of squid and chicken laced with vegetables and chewy rice cake.

Delicious.

And if you want to tingle your taste buds even more, you take a piece of the spicy chicken, and then dip it in the melted cheese. Rolling it around until you've got the perfect proportion of chicken to cheese so that you've got the sharp spice of the chicken blended with the mild and creamy mozzarella, with a slight sweetness that comes from the corn.

This dish is perfect for the chilly Winter evenings we are about to embrace. 

Kobi also specializes in more traditional BBQ as well other Korean dishes, but it's definitely a place you want to bring someone along to. Perfect for gatherings with friends, or a sweet dinner date.

Take me back. Please.

naomi