On a Saturday morning the plan was to meet 5 friends at Takht-e Tavoos, a Persian restaurant located on College West for brunch.  Unfortunately for us, they do not take reservations, and we were told that the wait would be at least 1.5 hours! Hmm I don’t think so! So I quickly got on Yelp and began researching restaurants currently serving brunch in the area. The first restaurant on the list was Me&Mine, located a few doors down. As soon as I mentioned the name of the restaurant to my friends, my friend Genevieve’s eyes lit up, “I have been there for dinner, and I loved it!” Alright then, sold! So the 6 of us walked west to this mysterious restaurant. I am calling it mysterious because apparently their menu is always changing and we could not figure out what cuisine they served! During the two seconds it took us to reach the restaurant from Takht-e Tavoos, I could not help but prep myself for a wait. I can’t remember the last time I went out for brunch without a reservation and being seated immediately – specially with 5 other people! But lo and behold, the restaurant was only at 50% capacity. At noon on a Saturday? Hmmm that is a tad worrisome. Maybe the food sucks? Ick!

As soon as we entered the restaurant, we were greeted by a really nice gentleman who showed us to a table for 5, and he quickly added a 6th chair. The space felt bright, and welcoming, so inasmuch as I was prepping myself for average food (the place was not full!), the vibe and ambiance was comforting and very welcoming. Once situated we began analyzing the menu. And yes, I purposely used the verb “analyze” because nothing on the menu sounded simple! Feeling confused, I asked our server what cuisine they serve. He told us that it is modern-Canadian cuisine with a farm-to-table approach.

Farm-to-table? According to my Google search, “farm-to-table” means:

Chef’s relying upon fresh ingredients that have been barely modified, cooked simply and in a traditional  approach. The emphasis is on freshness, seasonality, local availability, and simple preparations.

So now I see why the menu is constantly changing! The menu is dependent on what it available and in season.

After some back and forth in my mind, I decided to go with the regular breakfast – I am sorry, I don’t know that the actual dish is called, but for some ridiculous reason I thought the menu would be available online and I would be able to tell you exactly what each dish we ordered was, and thus I did not make a note, or take a picture of the full menu. I have however contacted the restaurant requesting a copy of their brunch menu, but I have yet to hear back from them.

So…..

Until I figure out the actual menu, let me tell you what I loved, and did not love about our experience.

What I LOVED….

• The “interesting/unusual” menu options and ingredient combinations
• The beet butter. The colour was vibrant and it still tasted like butter!
• The bread was nicely toasted and it was not cheap bread either (similar to a baguette)
• Free coffee refills
• Eggs were perfectly poached
• The salad was fresh, flavorful and the addition of the nuts was a plus
• The portions were decent
• Good value for money – dishes under $15
• They omitted the onions – and they did not try to make me feel bad about it (yes! food still tastes great without them!)
• It was not packed or loud, so we were able to enjoy a nice leisurely brunch, and did not feel like we were almost sitting on each other’s laps or have to yell across the table to keep the conversation going
• They accommodated separate bills

What Disappointed Me

• The bacon! I ordered Canadian back bacon with my meal and it was soaked in some sweet sauce. It was nothing like maple syrup, and can’t recall a “sweet-syrupy” sauce being part of the dish. I took two bites and could not fathom how anyone could eat anything that even just touched that sauce!
• The 2 friends that ordered the meatball sandwich found the bread to be too hard and not the right fit for the dish. A softer bread would have been a better choice. One friend finished the bread and the other ate the meatballs by themselves.

In Sum

My friends and I really enjoyed our brunch at Me&Mine, and I specially loved not knowing what to expect. However, the only item that stood out was the butter, and that is not enough to entice me to return.